12 Feb 2018

SLIP Ireland Conference 2018




Guest post by Helena Byrne one of the founding members of SLIP Ireland


The schedule for the SLIP Ireland Conference 2018 has just been released and has a bumper schedule of students, recent graduates, academics and practitioners well established in their careers. Tickets for the event are FREE and include lunch. This year’s conference theme is “To be or not to be an information professional, that is the question”

Conference Details
Venue: Dublin City Library & Archive, 144 Pearse St., Dublin 2.
Date: 24/02/2018
Time: 10:20-4:30

Student Librarians & Information Professionals Ireland (SLIP Ireland) is an independent group founded in 2015 to bridge the gap between theory and practice in Library and Information Studies and facilitate discussion on both theoretical and practical issues in the field. This is the third annual Conference and takes place at Dublin City Library & Archive, Pearse Street.

Attendees will include current Libraries, Archives & Records Management and Digital Humanities students, as well as librarians and archivists from academic, corporate and public sectors. A main feature of previous conferences was a panel discussion with the three heads of Library schools in Ireland (University College Dublin, Dublin Business School and Ulster University). This year we are extending the invitation to the two archive schools in Ireland. The question for the academic panel will be “Libraries and Archives, is there a difference?”

The question for the academic panel - Libraries and Archives, is there a difference? is something that as a new professional I got asked quite often from people outside the field and we think it will spark an interesting discussion and give attendees lots to think about and use when engaging with the general public.

The last session in the conference will be a panel of practitioners from a variety of information roles who are members of a of professional bodies that represent their sectors. The theme for the practitioner’s panel will be "what kind of information professional will you be?". We will be asking the panel about the professional body they joined, why they joined it and what benefits do they get from it? It is hoped that the new professionals attending the conference will then go on to join a relevant professional body for their field.

Although the call for presentations is only open to current students and recent graduates the conference is open to anyone information professional to attend regardless of what stage they are at in their career.

If you can’t attend you can still follow the events via Twitter through the hashtag #SLIP2018 

1 Feb 2018

CONUL Conference 2018 - Bursary announcement



We are delighted to announce that CONUL (Consortium of National & University Libraries) is once again providing funding for two enthusiastic individuals to attend its 2018 conference, with the theme ‘Transformative Experiences’, to be held in the Galway Bay Hotel on 30-31 May. This is a wonderful opportunity for those beginning LIS careers to attend an internationally regarded conference, with ample provision to attend sessions, network with delegates, and learn about key issues facing research libraries.

Two bursaries in total are available, one for each eligible category of applicant: 
1. LIS students currently studying a LAI accredited course
2. LIS graduates who have graduated from a LAI accredited course within the last 5 years
LAI Accredited courses can be found here and here.


CONUL 2018 bursaries will cover:
Full CONUL 2018 registration - entrance to conference sessions and sponsors’ exhibition, all conference documentation, lunch and refreshments, drinks reception and conference dinner on Wednesday 30 May
One night’s accommodation on Wednesday 30 May, with breakfast the following morning
Transport costs from within Ireland to and from Galway
Appointment of a mentor for the duration of the conference


To apply please email Michelle Agar (magar@tcd.ie) with a letter of expression of interest (maximum 500 words) that includes:
An outline of why you would like to attend CONUL 2018
Your anticipated learning outcomes, and why you would benefit from attending
Confirmation of your agreement to submit a report of the event to the Libfocus library blog within 4 weeks of attending the event, which may be published on both the Libfocus and CONUL websites (mandatory)

Successful applicants will be notified via email by Monday 19 March

In addition to attending conference sessions successful applicants will be required to:
Submit a report on the conference within 4 weeks of the event for potential publication on the Libfocus library blog and CONUL website
Be present at the conference venue in Galway for the full conference programme


*Closing date for applications is 17:00 on Wednesday 28 February 2018*