Librarian staff members from RCSI attended the European Association of Health Information Libraries (EAHIL) workshop, held recently in Dublin Castle.

Minister for Health and Children Mary Harney officially opened the event, which was attended by approximately 300 delegates from across Europe.

The EAHIL counts more than 1000 members from 30 European countries, including librarians, libraries and commercial companies with an interest in health sciences information. Its main aim is to improve co-operation amongst health care libraries throughout Europe as well as keeping health librarians and information officers professionally informed.

The annual conference, which is held in different locations across Europe every year, was this year hosted by the Irish Health Sciences Libraries Group and the Health Research Board (HRB). Some of the speakers at the conference included Enda Connolly CEO of the HRB; Dr Stephen Simpson Director of Life Sciences at SFI; and Dr Conor Galvin UCD.

Paul Murphy from the RCSI Library was International Programme Chair of the Conference and was responsible for the sourcing and co-ordination of papers, presentations, workshops and continuing education events.

RCSI speakers at the event included Professor Tom Fahey from the Department of Family Medicine and General Practice, who gave a plenary address on collaborative learning in evidence based practice in medical education. Head librarian Kate Kelly and former head librarian Beatrice Doran presented separate research papers on information skills competencies in the Irish healthcare sector and the Clinical Informationist project in the RCSI Department of Medicine, Beaumont Hospital. Members from the Mercer Library along with Mary O’Doherty and Mary Gavin hosted a visit to the antiquarian book collection by a group of European health librarians interested in the history of medicine.

Commenting on the event, Paul Murphy said: “This was a significant opportunity to collaborate with European and North American colleagues in discussing ongoing developments in the application of healthcare information resources and systems supporting education and research. The experience will directly impact the quality resources and services RCSI Library delivers to students, clinicians and researchers alike.”