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This year's LILAC information literacy conference was held from 30 March - 1 April 2026 at the University of Sheffield with two members of the Library Academic Support Team in attendance, Jade Fenton (Graduate Library Trainee) and Ishbel Leggat (Academic Support Librarian).
Jade and Ishbel have put together a summary of their reflections and picked out some highlights from the conference below.
I arrived in Berlin on Monday 16 March as one of the twelve University of Edinburgh
Library colleagues participating in an international exchange visit with the Freie Universitat Berlin. We were blessed with glorious weather and a very warm welcome from colleagues at the FUB, who joined us on the first evening for a welcome meal at the Schwartzes Café. On Tuesday morning, I was greeted at the FUB by Dr Helen Younansardaroud, subject specialist for Ancient history, Orient and Religions, who I had previously met at UK and European theological library conferences. I was also welcomed by Dr Peter Smolak, who recently visited the UoE Library on a two week placement where he gave us the benefit of his Hebrew skills as a Jewish Studies specialist to catalogue some of the New College Library book collections.
...continue reading "Librarians in Berlin : visits, views and vital connections"
The Academic Support Librarians are a learning team, who have attended professional development events in line with the prioritised themes in our team workplan. Ishbel Leggat attended the RLUK conference in Liverpool in March, where she learned “how colleagues at other institutions are embedding AI skills into the curriculum, how Generative AI is changing the HE landscape and how AI could be used to optimise library-related working practices”. The AI theme in our workplan was also explored by Anna Richards at the BIALL (British and Irish Association of Law Librarians) conference, with a view on how AI tools are being used in legal practice and library-led support. Jane Furness attended the CALC online conference in May which enabled her to “build my ability to contribute to and support the work of the ASL EDI group and in my support of ECA students and staff.” In June, SarahLouise MacDonald and Rania Karoula attended the SCURL Conference in Aberdeen which had an EDI focus, where they learned about “new avenues for research based on relevant presentations (specifically on radical hospitality and supporting diverse communities).” And Ruth Jenkins attended the LILAC Library Information Literacy conference in Cardiff, bringing back notes that were shared with team colleagues “… who picked up on different talks and themes so our conversations were different every time.” We share our learning with library colleagues in the ASL blog : https://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/asl/ ...continue reading "What we learned from our conferences : Academic Support Librarians and professional engagement"
We recently celebrated the success of the latest member of the Academic Support Librarian team to gain Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, Ruth Jenkins. I caught up with colleagues to find out more about what this qualification means to them. ...continue reading "Professional Recognition for Library teaching with the Higher Education Academy"
Part of the professional development we're involved in as library staff includes attending conferences and reading journals relevant to our profession. Recently the ASL team realised that we don't have dedicated time in our schedules to get to grips with issues facing libraries at the moment, and so we decided to resurrect the L&UC Journal Club! We'd like to invite our colleagues from across Library & University Collections to join us to discuss articles and developments in libraries and information sectors at regular meetings throughout the year.
Are you a member of Library and Universities Collections staff interested in keeping up to date with issues and events in the Library and Information sector, but struggle to make time for professional development? Would you like to prioritise improving your academic discussion skills and network with colleagues from across L&UC?
We will alternate online and in-person meetings from November, and have a rotating chair and moderator system so everyone gets the chance to suggest articles and lead discussion. Our first meeting will be on Wednesday 23rd November 2022 at the Digital Scholarship Centre in CRC, Main Library. We'll be discussing What Academics Really Think About Information Literacy by D. Stebbings et al.
If you fancy joining us or finding out more, search for L&UC Journal Club on Teams or contact Christine Love-Rodgers or SarahLouise McDonald.
