Call for submissions for Health Sciences Libraries Journal (HSLJ) - Summer 2026

Our friends over at the LAI Health Sciences Libraries Group are looking for submissions for the next issue of their journal. Over to them now
Thank you to all those who contributed to the first issue of our journal and for all of the great feedback we received.  
The winter 2025 issue is being finalised and will be published at the start of December so we are now seeking submissions for the summer 2026 issue. The deadlines will come around quickly.
HSLJ came into existence through the Health Sciences Libraries Group but is not just for librarians working in health. Research articles will be peer reviewed and the deadline for these is 10th of January 2026. We also welcome practice-based pieces as a means of knowledge sharing and so we can hear about your special expertise. If you are a recently qualified librarian, you might like to write up your dissertation for us and get on the publication ladder. That can make a difference when you are looking for a post. You could also write and tell us about what drew you to librarianship if you have previously been in a different career.

For our Professional Lives features, we welcome contributions on any aspect of working in a library setting, traditional or non-traditional. Tell us about a day in the life of your work. We love to receive historical pieces about interesting librarians or reflections on a life in librarianship. Readers will also want to hear about great CPD you attended or books or podcasts you would recommend. We are not looking for literary criticism, just something you enjoyed and think other colleagues might too.
The 2026 HSLG conference will be celebrating strength in difference and all that that means. The summer 2026 issue of HSLJ will be published in Pride month and in addition to our regular content, will have special features celebrating difference. So articles on any aspect of diversity, neurodiversity, equity, belonging or inclusion will be very welcome.  The deadline for all submissions that are not research pieces will be April 1st 2026.
So please put the deadlines in your calendar: 
Research submissions – January 10th and all other submissions – April 1st. https://journals.ucc.ie/index.php/hslj/index
Please feel free to email us at hslj.hslg@gmail.com,if you have any questions, concerns or ideas.
The Editorial Team

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Finding Peace Among the Periodicals: Reflections on working in an Academic Library

Congratulations to Holly Meade Kennedy from Maynooth University Library, whose blog post was highly commended in the CONUL Training and Development Library Assistant Blog Awards 2025
The MU campus begins to stir as 8.30 am approaches, and the quiet is broken only by the faint click of my staff card scanning at the library entrance. Steam curls from my cup as I unlock my computer and take the first sip from the water bottle I will inevitably forget exists for the rest of the day. I answer an email from a lecturer and double-tap a post on Instagram from a fellow academic library reminding students they can’t eat in shared spaces. I laugh as I remember the delivery driver who dropped off four pizzas to waiting students one evening during exam time, and how the sight of them amenably sitting on the green across from the library sharing slices in the fading daylight was oddly heartwarming. They had found the perfect loophole - food delivered straight to campus, but technically not eaten in the library. It was a masterclass in student logic: bend the rules just enough to survive, but not quite break them.

(Image is my own) Maynooth University Library 

I glance at this week’s to-do list. A meeting on Tuesday about our Athena Swan gender equality initiative. A webinar on Wednesday on ‘The Importance of Bibliodiversity’. Social media content to post about Pride Month on Friday. These are things I care about, and I feel lucky I get to engage with them as part of my professional world. My phone buzzes to tell me the New Yorker has taken their monthly fee in exchange for a digital subscription and I begin to roll my eyes until I remember how much I’ve spent on coffee this month and feel a sense of perspective.
I sip my cappuccino while it’s still hot - to get my money’s worth – and feel a sense of gratitude as I notice the peace that has fallen over my mornings since I took up my role in MU Library. Coming from a background in teaching and media, unsustainable levels of busyness became the norm. I didn’t go to work every day; I continuously existed within it. Assignment corrections late into Saturday evenings were standard and having completed three degrees along the way, I had forgotten what it meant to switch off.

(Image is my own) : Information sign for the MU Nature Connection Trail

But my life came to a halt three years ago with the passing of my dad, and the anxiety that accompanied my grief caused me to reflect on the role that work and study had come to play in my life. I began to reset my view on things when one rainy Tuesday evening my counsellor said “we’re on this earth to be, not to do.” It takes the right person at the right time to say something that strikes you exactly the way you need it to, and from there I began to consciously look at the work I wanted to spend my days doing.
I adore writing, and feel passionately about its therapeutic effects as it allows me to remove the scramble of thoughts in my head and share them with others as a means to connect. I wanted to find a job that would allow me to be creative and have time to write while still existing within the academic space as I am a self-confessed nerd. I attended a Montessori school up to the age of 12, and this alternative way of learning grounded my passion and belief in the transformative power education holds.

(Image is my own) ST Patrick's MU Chapel

As a past student of MU, I cherished the sense of community alive on campus and the beautiful grounds it exists within. So when I saw a job advertised in the university library, I began to think there may be a way for me to merge my passions and skills to achieve a work-life balance us perfectionists have only heard about! I began working here a year ago and within that time I’ve learned the work you do can be important, innovative and plentiful without being all-consuming. I am still learning about balance, but now when the work day is complete, I sign off without guilt.
Amid global threats to peace, equality and democracy, it's timely to reflect on how fortunate we are to work within the Irish academic library field. The quiet environment of the buildings we occupy, the grounds that surround them, the routines librarianship is built upon, the inclusivity of the community, the genuine collegiality of the people who work in the sector – these are all elements that lend themselves to a positive relationship to work, particularly for those of us dealing with anxiety in some way.
Routine, structure, respect and stillness – these can be truly cherished if you’ve lived without them. Like those students with their four pizzas and a plan, I’ve found my own loophole – learning to work and live with both purpose and peace.

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Libfocus Link-out for October 2025

Welcome to the October edition of the Libfocus link-out, an assemblage of library-related things we have found informative, educational, thought-provoking and insightful on the Web over the past while.

Images from the articles featured in this month's linkout

The Myth of Open: Academic Libraries’ Role in Open Movements and Its Contention with Capitalism.
Emma Beck and Tessa Withorn discuss in the inaugural issue of the Journal of Open Initiatives in Academic Libraries, an open-access, peer-reviewed, scholarly publication, the complex role of academic libraries in open-source software (OSS) and open access (OA) movements.

It’s ‘Absolutely Vital’ I Pursue My MLIS Now.
MLIS student Erica Sikma looks at her place as a school library volunteer and what ultimately convinced her to go back to college and earn an MLIS degree for School Library Journal.

Open educational resources should be central to the public mission of universities.
Niamh Tumelty and Caroline Ball argue on the LSE Impact blog that Open Educational Resources should form a central part of university strategies for public engagement.

Bob Geldof: Why We Gave The Live Aid Archives to the National Library of Ireland.
Bob Geldof speaks to Hotpress on the decision to donate the Live Aid archival collection to the National Library of Ireland, despite other institutional offers.

A tool in the fight against Amazon: independent bookshops to begin selling ebooks.
Ella Creamer's article in The Guardian looks at Bookshop.org. The online store is launching a platform through which independent bookshops in the UK will be able to sell ebooks as an alternative to Amazon’s Kindle offering.

Peer Review in Transition: Helen King and Christopher Leonard on AI and the future of peer review.
A nuanced look by Roohi Ghosh in The Scholarly Kitchen at how peer review might adapt, fracture, or reinvent itself in the AI era.

Uni students are using AI to ‘ask stupid questions’ and get feedback on their work.
Jimena de Mello Heredia reports in The Conversation that found almost half of students (49%) are using AI for feedback to help them improve their university work. Students found both AI feedback and teacher feedback helpful, but some feel safer asking AI “stupid questions”.

The Library's First Responders.
In The Purist, Dimitri Ehrlich reviews film festival favourite 'The Librarians.' The film documents the commitment of school librarians to making literature available despite attempts by public officials and lobby groups to ban 'inappropriate' titles.

Harry Potter and the Memory Gap: How cultural memory edits our shared reading list.
This one is for the book lovers - MD Kenney writes about the cultural trends and tastes that influence which books get passed down through the generations. The marvellous books that get forgotten can be rediscovered in second-hand bookshops, in family collections or through simple word of mouth.

Libraries are palaces for the people. Their ramparts need defending.
Richard Ovenden's Observer article argues that UK public libraries are essential “palaces for the people” — free, open institutions for knowledge and community — and warns that decades of funding cuts and closures are eroding their role, urging renewed public and governmental support to defend their future.

Publishing futures: Working together to deliver radical change in academic publishing.
Cambridge University Press reports on its recent sector-wide, empirical research into the strained state of the current publishing ecosystem. While many of the issues have been raised before, their objective was to understand the challenges in moving towards a more open future for academic publishing.

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Mentorship: Creating a fertile ground for character growth and academic advancement at DCU Library

Congratulations to Lorcan Cahill from Dublin City University Library, whose blog post was highly commended in the CONUL Training and Development Library Assistant Blog Awards 2025
Mentorship involves the guidance of individuals or groups towards a common goal. Mentors are those in a position of influence who adopt an attitude of forward thinking. They achieve this outlook by placing value on an individual or group’s trajectory in life. They understand that confidence breeds competence. Mentors empower others by delegating opportunities for character growth and possess the skill of anticipating the future by setting forth a vision that is grounded in the realities of today.(Burnison. 2012. Chap 6) 
At DCU Library, we are aware of the importance of mentoring students and staff. We hold the personal and academic development of our library users in equal measure. (DCU Library Strategy. 3) We endeavour to facilitate an engaging environment that simultaneously encourages people to academically succeed and grow in character. This culture is not born out of passive activity, but rather it is born through high-contact engagement and meaningful relationships with our users. 
The front-facing library assistant, who assists in identifying educational resources, is fundamental to mentorship. The initial interaction at the front desk is crucial as it can either positively or negatively impact the individual’s future relationship with the library. Moreover, the library’s greatest asset is its staff, especially those who are front-facing. Library users must feel comfortable asking for help. To seek assistance is to make oneself vulnerable to a lesser-known concept. It is the library assistant’s job to be conscious of that and address the user’s needs. These include explaining the use of an online search catalogue, showcasing the use of an online journal database, providing advice on a reading list, resolving library account queries, or even giving directions to a lecture hall. 

Patrick Dennan, DCU Library Assistant at Cregan Library, assisting students at our library reception

Credit: Kyran O’Brien

At Dublin City University, we value a shared mindset ‘to transform lives and societies.’ (DCU Strategy 2023 - 2028) This mindset permeates all positions within the library and is keenly felt at library assistant level as the help desk is where active engagement is most evident. The advantage of a front-facing role is that participation and interaction are inevitable. Similarly, the potential for authenticity and connectivity to flourish is paramount. Authenticity and connectivity, in this context, mean removing excessive individualism and favouring a shared sense of purpose. (Goffee & Jones.2015. Introduction) Once these conditions are evident, an environment is made fertile for not only academic advancement to occur, but for character growth to materialise. 
To achieve this climate of personal and academic development, DCU Library remains collegial and collaborative. (DCU Library Strategy 2023 - 2028. 3)We understand our geographical importance of being situated on the northside of Dublin and the close proximity we share to local primary and secondary schools. Mentorship at DCU Library, therefore, is not exclusive to DCU staff and students, but it is extended to the local community. Our outreach initiatives such as Leaving Certificate students availing of a study environment in the lead up to their examinations is illustrative of this. The library also offers Leaving Certificate students an opportunity to avail of free masterclasses in subject areas like English, Irish and Mathematics. Similarly, community engagement is fostered through long-standing campaigns including regular creative writing workshops and competitions, art exhibitions, and inviting members of the community to celebrate cultural heritage on Culture Night. 

Dave Rudden introducing a Leaving Certificate masterclass on English, Seamus Heaney Lecture Theatre, DCU St. Patrick’s Campus

Credit: DCU Library

As well as building engagement, mentorship is primarily provided to our students and staff. This provision is made possible by forward thinking. Forward thinking, in the context of an academic library, means drawing upon the real-life experiences of our users and implementing new strategies to improve their overall experience. It means, in other words, leveraging our user experience by enlarging and evaluating the already existing experience of our users. 

Woodlock Hall Library, DCU All Hallows Campus (Mahon and O'Neill)

                                    Credit: Kyran O’Brien 

Forward thinking occupies the liminal space between the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of an organisation. At DCU Library, we are particularly committed to championing and empowering users with neurodivergent needs. Woodlock Hall Library, which was opened to our users in 2021, was initially designed as a quiet alternative library. It has since become popular with patrons in need of a sensory-friendly study space. Consequently, the quiet study environment is frequently promoted via our social media channels. This is reflective of our commitment to mentor our diverse community by eliminating educational barriers and anticipating their needs. It is also illustrative of our adherence to value our people. 
We are aware that by valuing our users, DCU Library, as an organisation, grows in value itself. There is a symbiotic relationship between the library and our patrons. If one augments in value, the other follows. By committing to our purpose of mentoring both the academic success and wellbeing of our users, DCU Library remains inwardly sound and outwardly engaged. Mentorship is extended to our users by offering a study and social environment that encourages collaboration, engagement and participation. Furthermore, our ultimate goal is to equip users with self-confidence. By building confidence, the ground is made all the more rich for our patrons to gain self-awareness and thrive both academically and socially. 
Bibliography
PRIMARY MATERIAL 
DCU Strategy 2023 – 2028, Dublin City University (accessed 05/06/2025). 
DCU Library Strategy: 2023 – 2028, Dublin City University (accessed 05/06/2025), 
pp. 1-14. 
SECONDARY SOURCES 
PUBLISHED WORKS 
Burnison, Gary, The Twelve Absolutes of Leadership (New York, 2012, eBook edition). 
Goffee, Rob & Jones, Gareth, Why Should Anyone Be Led by You? With a New Preface by the Authors: What It Takes to be an Authentic Leader (Boston, 2015, eBook edition). 
O’Neill, Alana Mahon, & Shanahan, Rosemary, ‘All Hallows Campus and Woodlock Hall Library’, LibFocus, 18 July 2024 (accessed 05/06/2025). 
INTERNET RESOURCES 
Definition of Mentorship, Merriam-Webster Dictionary (accessed 05/06/2025). 
 

 

 

 

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LIR Annual Seminar 2025: Communities of Practice

This guest post is written by Jenny O'Neill on behalf of the LIR Community.

Daniela Bultoc speaking at the LIR annual seminar. Picture credit: HEAnet User Group for Libraries, 2025. 

Four Questions to Ask When Forming a Community of Practice

In April 2025, the LIR HEAnet User Group for Libraries held its annual seminar at the HEAnet offices in Dublin. This year’s theme focused on community engagement within the library sector, particularly through communities of practice and social media networks.

One of the keynote speakers was Dr. Daniela Bultoc, who delivered an insightful talk on Communities of Practice in Higher Education. Daniela outlined three key goals for her presentation:

1. To define what we mean by communities of practice
2. To understand their benefits in higher education
3. To identify opportunities for incorporating them into our work

What Are Communities of Practice?

The concept of communities of practice has its roots in the apprenticeship model, where learners would meet and learn from one another. This approach is supported by social learning theory, which suggests that around 70% of what we know is learned through others, through doing, and through experimentation.

In the complex organisational structures of universities, many professionals find themselves working in isolation or as the sole expert in a particular area within their department. Yet, others across the institution may be working on similar challenges. Communities of practice offer a way to break down these silos, enabling us to connect, share, and learn from each other.


Membership and Sustainability

There are several models for community membership. Members may self-select or be nominated based on their expertise. However, it is passion and commitment that truly sustain a community. Crucially, line management support—linked to appraisals, career development, or talent development—is essential.

Daniela made an important point: a community of practice will last only as long as there is interest, passion, and energy. When that fades, it’s perfectly okay for the community to come to a natural end. Flexibility is key to the lifecycle of a community.


Why Libraries?

In libraries, communities of practice can be transformative. They support professional development, encourage innovation, and ultimately enhance library services and student support.


Benefits of Communities of Practice

Daniela’s evaluations revealed compelling benefits:

• 80% of members said they were generating innovative ideas and solving problems
• 77% were sharing resources, information, and experience
• 72% felt a stronger sense of belonging and connection

Other benefits included:

• Improved awareness of where and who to go to for information
• Better communication across departments
• A collective vision of excellence
• Service alignment
• A stronger sense of professional identity

Ready to Get Started? Ask Yourself These Four Questions

1. Purpose: Why Do We Exist?

Communities of practice aim to produce, extend, and exchange knowledge, connecting people with shared interests. They represent a grassroots model of change. Clarify your shared goals, skills, and expertise, and define what you want to achieve together. A clear and motivating purpose is essential.

2. Members: Who Belongs?

Once goals are clear, it becomes easier for individuals to decide if they belong. Typically, there’s a core group of active members who both learn and share. There may also be wider members with an interest but less expertise, and key stakeholders who contribute occasionally.

Daniela recommends a co-leadership model. Communities can be:

• Self-organised/informal – member-driven and less visible
• Supported/formal – intentional, strategic, and more visible
• The “third space” – autonomous but with strategic support via a Champion

Strategic sponsorship helps align the community’s purpose with organisational goals.

3. Activities: What Are We Going to Do?

Define your collaborative projects and events. Create opportunities for meaningful interaction and focus on solving shared challenges. And celebrate successes!

Activities might include:

• Relationship building
• Knowledge sharing
• Collaborative problem-solving
• Learning-focused initiatives
• Strategic alignment efforts

4. Process: How Are We Going to Do It?

Establish your meeting rhythm, communication channels, and processes. Start meetings with light, engaging interactions and prioritise psychological safety. Focus on quick wins to maintain momentum and energy.


Useful resources:

• Co-creating your communities of practice - Toolkit: https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_829077_smxx.pdf
• Devis-Rozental, C., & Clarke, S.R. (Eds.). (2024). Building Communities of Practice in Higher Education: Co-creating, Collaborating and Enriching Working Cultures (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003330554

To join the community and keep up to date about future events please sign up for the LIR mailing list 

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A Turn Up From the Books. Unanticipated discoveries from Early Printed Book Cataloguing.

Congratulations to Sharon Corrigan from Dublin City University Library, whose blog post was highly commended in the CONUL Training and Development Library Assistant Blog Awards 2025.

There tends to be a smattering of surprises each week working in special collections, unexpected connections between the past and present that pop up and elicit a quiet ooh from me along my journey as a library assistant currently working with early printed books (EPBs) at DCU. In these collections each book has been on its own individual saga and it is the uniqueness of both items, (a handwritten dedication inside), and manifestation (the printer’s chosen dedicatee for that edition) that I am endeavouring to capture when cataloguing, together with the usual publication information and descriptions that will lead researchers to find the records in the first place.

Unanticipated considerations have included how long one can spend finding the apt term for a quirky binding or stamp, and how differently cities in Latin sound compared to their modern Anglicised names. Luckily RBMS have an invaluable table of Latin place names providing that all important consistency.

Local history hidden amid foreign texts.
Latin is not my first language, I have picked up a little on the job. I do, however, feel confident in saying that 800+ page tomes on ecclesiastical theory are not ‘light reading’. Inevitably even the most committed cleric needed study breaks. So, secreted in the pages of some EPBs are bookmarks, beautifully preserved, forgotten pages, that give a glimpse of 19th century Dublin. A Dublin, where you might have correspondence with shopkeepers on personalised stationery. These include a linen order from Webb’s wholesalers, Upper Bridge-Street, on the back of which are listed the necessities of the day, a grocery list, including mustard and beer. Hopefully used after ‘the messages’ had been fetched. A receipt for two baskets showcases the wares of the weavers of the Richmond Institution for Instruction of the Blind, on O’Connell Street. Finally a letter of reply to a query about a flute was found bearing a letterhead from M. Gunn & Sons at 61 Grafton Street; now home to the Disney store.

A receipt from James Webb, wholesale & retail linen draper and importer of English flannels, 15 and 16, Upper-Bridge Street, (Joining Corn-Market) dated 21st April 1826.

The reverse of the same receipt on which is a hand written list of groceries signed by a John Taylor.

An order slip for two baskets from the Richmond Institution for Instruction of Industrious Blind, located at 41, Upper Sackville Street,Dublin [Now O’Connell St] dated July 1855.

The letter head from a response to an enquiry for the costing of the repair of a flute showing the letterhead of M. Gunn & Sons, Music & Musical Instrument Warehouse. 61 Grafton Street, Dublin, dated January 2nd [18]71.

Folios don’t fool around, or do they?
What lies within the covers of an EPB? Even the wisest cannot know; at least from the binding alone. Occasionally it has been a desiccated spider leering up at me. When noting books’ heights in the physical description (300) field I also add their format, useful when differentiating books from other printings during the hand press period. Upon checking a suspected folio one day I looked towards the light through a page and could see what Gaskin (1995, p.82) describes as the “chain lines in the paper running up and down the leaves (vertically)... and that the watermark was in the middle of one of the leaves”. These are left imprinted in paper from when it was dried on molds during its making. This particular watermark was very clearly a jester wearing his hat. Having grown up with British art and craft TV shows, an old term they - and therefore I - often used, sprang immediately to mind… that’s a foolscap!

The ‘foolscap sheet’ is still sometimes used in the art and law fields, being the Imperial size of paper in the UK, or folio in Europe, and was once the term for a standard sheet of paper, though it has been replaced mostly by the slightly shorter A4 size now (Pearce-Moses, 2005, p.174). There is a quick guide to identifying formats available from the STCV if you’re interested in checking what format a book in your collection is using the watermark.

Two leaves showing the white outline of the foolscap watermark, a jester in his hat with beads. Both taken from the book whose title page appears on the left Historical collections : of private passages of state, of weighty matters in law, of remarkable proceedings in five parliaments. Beginning the sixteenth year of King James, anno 1618. And ending the fifth year of the King Charls, anno 1629. Published 1659.

The Human Touch in the Sphere of Don’t Touch
EPBs are generally stored in climate controlled, dark places, to preserve them until they are requested so that they can appear heroically on a glowing cushion, or so I tell them as I tuck them away to wait. EPBs can seem remote and intangible. Handling them, performing light cleaning, and basic preservation, enclosing detached material in acid free paper and using a human touch to flatten, straighten, and secure what isn’t too brittle. Gloves are used only rarely, and for specific tasks, as the LOC (2025) recommends clean dry hands except for “photographs and film, metals, ivory”. The dexterity of my fingertips, so far, are giving me an edge over AI. The surprising durability of handmade paper composed from cotton or linen fibres leaves me constantly astonished, even inside bindings that seem battered and bruised there often sits a perfectly sewn text block of bright white paper waiting to impart the words it’s held stable for nearly 500 years.

While there have been many more unexpected surprises during the cataloguing of EPBs at DCU they may have to wait to be shared a little longer in their fuller glory.

Bibliography
Boydell, B. (2021). Gunn, M. (& Sons). Dublin Music Trade. https://dublinmusictrade.ie/node/186

Gaskell, P. (1995). A new introduction to bibliography. St. Paul's Bibliographies, Winchester
Library of Congress. (2025). Frequently Asked Questions: Preservation. Ask a Librarian. https://ask.loc.gov/preservation/faq/337286

Maxwell, R.L. (1997). RBMS/BSC Latin Place Names File. Rare Books and Manuscripts Section Association of College and Research Libraries A Division of the American Library Association. https://rbms.info/lpn/

Rushworth, J. (1629). Historical collections : of private passages of state, of weighty matters in law, of remarkable proceedings in five parliaments. Beginning the sixteenth year of King James, anno 1618. And ending the fifth year of the King Charls. Thomason, G.

National Built Heritage Service. (2013). MRCB, 10-13 Cornmarket, Bridge Street Upper, Dublin 8, DUBLIN. https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/50080556/mrcb-10-13-cornmarket-bridge-street- upper-dublin-8-dublin

Pearce-Moses, R. (2005). A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology . The Society of American Archivists. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a1c710fbce17620f861bf47/t/5a35fffe41920241eb892a75/15134883 87901/SAA-Glossary-2005

Vlaamse Erfgoed Bibliotheken. (n.d.). List of Bibliographical Formats. STCV Bibliography of the Hand Press Book. https://manual.stcv.be/p/List_of_Bibliographical_Formats

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