by Rob Penfold | May 21, 2026 | Events
🖌️ Background
The Australasian Evidence Based Practice Librarians’ Institute is entering an exciting new chapter in 2026, marked by fresh leadership, an innovative learning model, and a vibrant updated identity. Reflecting the Institute’s growing reach and engagement across the Asia/Pacific region, AEBPLI has formally transitioned from the Australian Evidence Based Practice Librarians’ Institute to the Australasian Evidence Based Practice Librarians’ Institute, recognising the strong participation and collaboration from colleagues across Australasia.
In response to evolving learning needs, AEBPLI is transitioning to a fully online delivery model in 2026. The program incorporates both synchronous and asynchronous components, providing flexibility for participants to engage with content at their own pace while still benefiting from live sessions, collaborative discussions, and real-time support from tutors and peers. This approach has been carefully designed to maintain the interactive, supportive environment that AEBPLI is known for, while expanding access across Australasia.
AEBPLI 2026 is designed for a broad range of participants, from those who are new to evidence-based practice through to experienced librarians looking to refresh or strengthen their skills. The Institute is ideal for health librarians wanting to build confidence in evidence-based practice concepts, searching, critical appraisal, and teaching, as well as those seeking a contemporary update on current approaches and best practice. The new online format also creates opportunities for people who may previously have been unable to attend due to travel costs, time away from their workplace, or other commitments, making AEBPLI more accessible than ever before.
At the same time, AEBPLI has a refreshed look and feel. This updated identity reflects a modern, engaging aesthetic while preserving the Institute’s core spirit—its sense of community, collaboration, and commitment to excellence in evidence-based practice. The result is a contemporary learning experience that remains true to what participants have always valued about AEBPLI.
We are delighted to introduce our new Convenor team, led by Co-Convenors Nikki May (SA Health Library Service) and Janene Batten (Yale University), supported by Kathryn Ritchie (Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service), Rosie Glynn (Queensland University of Technology), and Tony Courtenay (Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service). Bringing a wealth of experience and a shared passion for evidence-based practice, this team is committed to building on AEBPLI’s strong foundations while guiding the Institute into its next phase.
Working alongside them is an exceptional team of tutors, Blair Kelly (Deakin University), Mina Nichols-Boyd (Austin Health), Kathryn Rough (Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine/Australia and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists), Jeph Ko (Flinders University), Mario Sos (Monash University), and Dawn Carlisle (University of Auckland), who are central to the AEBPLI experience. Their expertise, enthusiasm, and commitment to participant learning ensure that the Institute continues to deliver high-quality, practical, and engaging education.
✍️ Register
Expressions of Interest (EOI) for AEBPLI 2026 are now open and will close on 30 June 2026. Registration offers will be sent to the first 24 participants on the EOI list. Successful applicants will have six weeks to complete their registration and submit payment. Any remaining places will then be offered to those on the waiting list, with all remaining waitlisted participants receiving first offer for the 2027 Institute.
🕒 Time
The Institute will be held every Thursday from the week commencing 19 October through to the week ending 23 November 2026.
Sessions will commence at 12:00 pm AEST, 9:00 am WA time, and 2:00 pm NZ time, with each session running for 3 hours for each session, with approx. 2 hours prep time for each session”.
💸 Cost
Registration costs are:
- ALIA Members: AUD $500
- Non-ALIA Members: AUD $650 (yet another reason – along with 13 others – to consider HLA Membership)
AEBPLI 2026 represents an exciting evolution—honouring its legacy while embracing new opportunities to connect, learn, and grow. We look forward to welcoming participants to this next chapter.
❓Questions
If you have any questions or would like further information on the institute, please don’t hesitate in emailing us at aebpli.convenor@gmail.com
by Rob Penfold | Mar 31, 2026 | Events
✅ Get in quick as spaces are limited and capped!
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW:
Reviews (systematic or scoping) are a great way to answer research questions or summarise evidence on a topic, but they take a long time and are a lot of work. Fortunately, there are now tools and methodological innovations that can help with doing reviews. One of these tools available is the Evidence Review Accelerator (TERA) built in Australia by a team at Bond University. TERA improves the speed of conducting reviews by accelerating all the tasks in a review. This workshop will cover all the tools available in TERA, but will focus on using the tools of most value to information specialist/librarians. Attendees will gain practical experience using TERA quickly design and run precise search strategies, while also gaining background information on the other review tasks to better enable review support at their institution. TERA is available at the following website: https://tera-tools.com/, and a 12-month subscription to TERA is included in the workshop fee.
🗣️ PRESENTER:
The workshop will be presented by Justin Clark, a Research Fellow in Evidence Review Acceleration and lead of the Automation program at the Institute for Evidence-Based Practice (IEBH) at Bond University, Gold Coast Australia. He is also the Cochrane Information Specialist for the Acute Respiratory Infections Group, was a member of the Cochrane Information Specialists Executive and the Co-Lead of the search group of the Living Evidence Network. He is one of the inventors of the Two-Week Systematic Review (2weekSR) method, a founding member of the International Collaboration for the Automation of Systematic Reviews (ICASR) and leads the development of the Evidence Review Accelerator (TERA), a suite of automation tools that accelerate the production of evidence synthesis. His research focuses on improving evidence synthesis methods to reduce the resources needed to conduct reviews of the evidence.
For more information about Justin’s research please visit his Research Profile: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=55311800800
💸 COST: ALIA – $120; Non-ALIA – $180
🕧 TIME: 10am – 4pm (face to face)
WHAT TO BRING:
BYO laptop; lunch (or head to nearby eatery at lunchtime)
🌏 WHERE: Face to face in either Melbourne, Brisbane or Sydney
Melbourne
Tuesday May 26th 2026
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons – Skills & Education Space
250/290 Spring St, East Melbourne VIC 3002
Register here: Advances in Systematic Review Automation Methods – Melbourne Workshop
Brisbane
Thursday May 28th 2026
Pathology Queensland (CSIRO site)
Block 1 (make yourself known at security)
39 Kessels Rd, Coopers Plains QLD 4108
https://maps.app.goo.gl/14zowXMdZuUg6w61A
Register here: Advances in Systematic Review Automation Methods – Brisbane
Sydney
Friday June 12th 2026
Royal North Shore Hospital – Kolling Institute
10 Westbourne Street, St Leonards NSW 2065
Register here: Advances in Systematic Review Automation Methods – Sydney Workshop
by Rob Penfold | May 13, 2026 | Events
Evidence based healthcare methodology for the future
Visit the website for more information
by Rob Penfold | Jan 5, 2026 | Events
📗 Event Description
Join us for a practical session on literature searches, focusing on how to present results effectively to clients.
Learn strategies to make your search outputs clear, actionable, and tailored to client needs.
🗣️ Presenters
Jana Waldmann – The King Prince Charles Hospital – Metro North Health
Susie Moreton – Epworth Healthcare (Epworth Knowledge Services)
Jackie Edwards – Murrumbidgee Local Health District
Maddie Beer – Monash Health
Jana is the Manager, Library Services at The Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane, Queensland. You’ll find her most days trawling medical databases for evidence to support patient care, organisational change, and research. With a background in magazine and technical publishing, she is a big fan of templates and making documents functional but pretty. She has a passion for evidence synthesis methods, working with research teams on reviews and raising awareness of best practice through education and training.
Susie trained as a teacher before completing her Masters in Information Science. She has worked in academic libraries and publishing, and joined Epworth in 2009 where her passion for autodidactism, discovery and access has enabled her to contribute across all domains. EKS is a fully accessible web-based knowledge service which is integrated with Epworth’s clinical, education, research and quality activities. Susie has positioned literature searching as EKS’s premier service for doctors and senior staff, leveraging our expertise in discovery, access and understanding of our requestors’ needs.
Jackie is Library Manager at Murrumbidgee Local Health District, located at Wagga Base Hospital. I support MLHD staff and affiliated students from UNSW Rural Medical School and CSU School of Rural Medicine. I have extensive experience in local government, health, and University libraries. My interests include user experience, digital resources, and research.
Madeleine is a Medical Librarian at Monash Health Library with extensive experience in advanced literature searching to support clinical care, research, and organizational decision-making. She also delivers training webinars to enhance literature searching skills among healthcare professionals.
✅ ALIA HLA Competencies
C3: Resources
C5: Digital, ehealth & technology
View HLA Competencies
🕐 When
Thursday, 5 March 2026
1-2 pm (Vic/NSW/TAS/ACT) | 12-1 pm (QLD) | 12:30-1:30pm (SA) | 11:30am-12:30pm (NT) | 10-11 am (WA) | 3-4 pm (NZ)
🗺️ Where
Online webinar Zoom – a link will be sent the day prior.
This event will be recorded and sent to attendees following the event.
💰 Cost
ALIA Members – Free (One of 14 reasons to consider HLA Membership)
Non-Members – $30
📝 Register
Register / Additional Information
🧗♀️ Professional Development
One CPD hour towards Health Professional Development Scheme
by Rob Penfold | Oct 3, 2025 | Events
👉 If you register then you will be sent a link to the recorded video to watch later at a more suitable times
👉 These are not run by ALIA or HLA
1️⃣ Open Science & Evidence Synthesis Thursday, October 23, 2025 @ 15:00 UTC/11 am EDT Register here
In this webinar, attendees will learn about the importance of Open Science principles in evidence synthesis and how adopting Open and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) workflows are vital for maintaining rigour in evidence synthesis. The session will cover both theory and practical advice, indicating the tradeoffs and cost implications of each component of Open Synthesis. We will discuss examples of good and bad practice, as well as becoming aware of tools to support open practices.
2️⃣ Framing the Research Question & Managing Search Volumes Monday, November 24, 2025 @ 16:00 UTC/11 am EST Register here
We’ll cover the importance of question framing in evidence synthesis as the foundational step in any review project. Attendees will learn about what types of questions can be answered with evidence synthesis and see examples of diverse types of questions. We will cover the theory of question formulation and practical examples of questions formulated for real-world review projects. We’ll discuss the practicalities of the implications of question framing – namely, the volume of evidence we then have to screen for relevance. The session will discuss how to manage this tradeoff of sensitivity (getting everything) versus specificity (staying manageable), and show examples of the time needed for different breadths and types of question.
3️⃣ Adaptive Approaches to Reviewing Evidence & Diverse Workflows Thursday, December 11, 2025 @ 16:00 UTC/11 am EST Register here
What happens if your review isn’t quite standard practice? How can you ensure you finish your review if time runs out? This webinar will focus on real-world application of evidence synthesis methodology best practice and give practical suggestions of ways to ensure you finish your review if resources, time or staff are limited. We will cover the nooks and crannies that lie between standard review types, not the traditional systematic review and meta-analysis but the more unconventional types of review – part-map, part framework. These often more exploratory methods are vital for maintaining rigour and allowing for ongoing work whilst still producing a high-quality, publishable output. We will cover what to do and what to call them. We will also cover practical ways in which you can plan for limitations in your workflows, ensuring you still have a rigorous product even if you run out of time.
About the Speaker
Neal Haddaway is an independent interdisciplinary researcher working in the field of environmental and social policy, but with a particular interest in agri-food supply chains. He has been working as an evidence synthesis methodologist since 2012 and has authored almost 200 publications, including methodology articles, systematic reviews, systematic maps and other forms of syntheses. He has contributed to best practice guidance for systematic reviews and maps. He has worked with the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence as Centre Director and Trustee, the Campbell Collaboration as Co-lead of the Climate Solutions Coordinating Group, and within the Cochrane Climate-Health Working Group. He established the Evidence Synthesis Hackathon and Evidence Synthesis and Meta-Analysis in R Conference, and has personally produced a suite of free online tools, including PRISMA2020 flowcharts and citationchaser. He has been teaching evidence synthesis methodology for 13 years and provides methods courses and training workshops across the world.
