#asl2015 Thats all folks ...until next year

#ASL2015 Crowd, a tuned in bunch 

Take a bow 

The dust has settled on another great A&SL conference and the committee are contemplating going off to hibernate for a few weeks.

Before we do that though all that remains to be done for #asl2015 is to extend our thanks to all the amazing folks who made it possible.      


To our speakers - what can we say but take a bow one and all. Every year we put out the call and every year we are blown away by the sheer volume of talent on display across the two days. To each and every one of you who stood up and presented...from our amazing keynotes Malachy Browne, who had us all running to check privacy settings and Helen Shenton who set us looking to the future, to our case study presenters, parallel sessions, workshops and pecha kucha's a big big round of applause all. Taking to the podium is not always easy and only the brave do so, so if you presented last week, take it easy...you've earned it. Extra kudos to Martin (the show must go on) O' Connor who embodied the spirit of Sir Henry's breezing through the sound of alarms to keep the show running. 

To all our speakers ... THIS ONE's for all of you, hard as nails the lot of you.     

Big thanks too to our great sponsors; IEEE, ProQuest, LM Information, Taylor & Francis, Dublin Business School, EBSCO and IET you are a vital part of getting the show on the road.

Thanks also to the wonderful HEAnet for providing live strreaming services again this year. Videos of the talks will be available on the A&SL website within a week (as will presentations).  

Trending Info Pros 

Finally, thanks to our delegates ... the hardest working most engaged conference attendees ever. You dont just have to take my word for it, our delegates generated so much twitter action that by mid morning on Friday #asl2015 was trending and continued to do so as the day went on. Check out the Storify (below) of the twitter participation over the two days.        

And finally ...          

The committee will now go off and sleep for a few months (we wish). So the only question remaining now is ....where to next year? That one is up to you, so inspire us.
A&SL committee

From team #asl2015  (Ann, Caitriona, Erin, Eva, Laoise, Laura, Marie, Mick, Niamh, Sean & Sile) its over and out.      

#aslspotlight - Check out our venue - The Gibson Hotel

   

For #ASL2015 we have taken things up a notch and are delighted to be hosted for the two days in the fabulous Gibson Hotel. We think you are going to be pretty impressed with the venue.  

The Gibson is located beside the 3Arena and is right beside The Point Luas stop on the Luas red line.  

Full Hotel location details are available HERE and map HERE 

If you are driving, parking spaces are available in the Point Village carpark behind the hotel for a day rate of €10.   

Take in the surroundings   

Parallel sessions will be held in the Stratocaster Suite which has a stunning view over Dublin. On your way in don't forget to check out the musically inspired ceiling.       


Delegates are in for a treat after the last presentation on Thursday as the A&SL committee will host a Drinks & Canape reception in the Concourse Bar...and there might be a few tunes too. 

We're looking forward to seeing you there on Thursday afternoon. All details of speakers and programme are available on the A&SL website.  

Remember if you cant be with us in person - you can follow along on the livestream HERE and track the conference conversations on Twitter on #asl2015.     

#aslspotlight - 12 Months in the planning & a word from your hosts, the A&SL committee


Disclaimer - Not the actual committee, actual committee not made of lego 
The annual conference is only days away and the A&SL committee is putting the icing on the info cake that is 'The Inside Out Library: Collaboration, Inspiration, Transformation'.    

A 12 Month project planning exercise

The annual conference marks the end of what is usually an almost 12 month long planning process, often starting when the previous year's conference closes. The ideas and trends emerging after one conference are usually used as the starting place to brainstorm a theme for the following year. The A&SL committee meet once a month for two hours to plan our regular networking or training events, discuss LAI business, talk about new ways to give back to our members and as the conference gets closer to flesh out the theme and put together a programme. A half day yearly planning meeting usually takes place in the summer and this is where the foundation for the next ASL conference starts to be laid.  Once we have a theme and a date the committee members fall into place with everyone taking the lead on a specific aspect of the conference project plan ... collaboration in action!  Each year one brave committee member takes on the role of overall project manager, kudos go this year to Marie Cullen who has ably captained the good ship #ASL2015 to this point.           

Every year we look to the Academic and Special Library community to inspire and each year the bar gets raised higher. 

This year we are really proud of the standard of speakers and presentations. We hope that the 21 speakers, presentations, pecha kuchas and workshops will make #asl2015 delegates as proud of the profession as we are.  

Committee members will be on hand throughout Thursday and Friday to answer any questions, address any concerns or just have a chat about how the conference is going for you. You will be able to spot us we'll be the ones with the green badges ushering you from talk to talk & generally trying to keep things on track. So feel free to grab any us us (not literally of course) for a chat - we like to think we take all feedback and input on board. 

Full details of the current A&SL committee: 
Chairperson: Dr. Eva Hornung (CDETB Curriculum Development Unit/Trinity College Dublin)
Secretary: Caitríona Honohan (Contemporary Music Centre)
Treasurer: Laoise Doherty (Royal Irish Academy of Music) 
Membership Officer: Marie Cullen (Maynooth University)
Communications Officer:Laura Rooney Ferris (Irish Hospice Foundation)
Committee Members: Erin O’Mahony (Houses of the Oireachtas); Mick O'Dwyer (Maynooth University); Ann O’Sullivan (Houses of the Oireachtas); Seán Hughes (Trinity College Dublin); Sile O'Shea (King’s Inns);  Niamh O’Sullivan (Irish Blood Transfusion Service). 

We very much look forward to seeing you in the Gibson Hotel on Thursday & Friday ...bring it on! 

Find out more on the A&SL Committee >>> 


#aslspotlight - A word from our sponsors

A vital part of the #asl2015 mix

There are three very important components that are vital to making the A&SL annual conference a success: 
The fantastic speakers who raise the bar every year, our delegates who register to come along and keep the conversation flowing and finally our wonderful sponsor companies. Without our sponsors we really couldn't have taken the conference to the level it is now at and their attendance acts as an opportunity for conversation between the information community and resource vendors.
     

We are delighted to have seven great sponsor companies on board this year. We hope delegates will take time over the two day event to drop by the sponsor stands and chat with the representatives about their products and services. Browsing by the sponsor stands at the conference is a great way of getting up to date about new products that might be perfect for your library, finding out about new features of familiar resources, sharing your resourcing challenges or just providing your insight into what information professionals really need from vendors and providers. 
The time catching up with information professionals is also really valuable for the company representatives who are always eager to find out about what is happening in academic and special libraries and how they can respond. 

Our sponsors will have stands set up in the concourse area and will be on hand for the duration of the conference to talk with delegates. Our platinum sponsors this year, IEEE and Proquest will also each deliver a five minute lightning presentation on their latest developments. 

Full details of all our sponsors and the contact names for the representatives who will be with us on 26th & 27th are ...

Platinum Sponsors        

IEEE Explore Digital Library 
Contacts:  Paul Canning, Steven Tweedie & Richard Steedan  
            
 Proquest 
Contact;  Vanessa Gamet & Paul Carlin 

Gold Sponsors 


LM Information Delivery 
Contact; Jan Donnelly & Simon Jackson     

                                                
Taylor & Francis Group 
Contact; Sinead Feeney 

Silver Sponsors 

 

Dublin Business School 
Contacts; Brian Hickey & Maria Rogers  

EBSCO 
Contact; Phil Sykes & Chris Atkinson 

The Institute of Engineering (IET) 
Contact: Chris Grandy 

For more information on all our sponsors and links to their websites - visit our website >>  

If you havent booked your place yet - BOOK NOW 

#aslspotlight - Let's get workshopping!


Time for the flipcharts

After lunch on day two of a conference might be the time for the slump to set in but at #asl2015 we are making sure you avoid the afternoon adrenalin drop. 

Our Friday afternoon schedule will get the ideas flowing with three unique workshops examining different aspects of information provision. 

Jane Burns,  Research Manager at the Health Professions Education Centre at the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland and lecturer at UCD school of Information Studies will get us out on a scavenger hunt.
Jane's workshop demonstrates the use of the scavenger hunt as a tool for teaching collaborative working skills.   

Jessica Eustace Cook, SFI Research Support Officer Trinity College Dublin sets her sights on filling the empty cup. Jessica will share her tips and tricks to source and manage fundraising for events. 

Roy Murray,  Digital Marketing Executive with An Oige will show us how to find our social media brand voice in his workshop. Roy will ease our fears of the dreaded 'marketing speak' and show workshop attendees how development of a social media brand voice can be done in a few simple steps.  

With three diverse workshops on offer the problem won't be beating the afternoon energy crash but deciding which workshop to sign up for when you register ... we'll leave that dilemma to you. 


      


#aslspotlight - Pecha whatcha?




'Pick & mix childrens sweets candy' by Shirley via Pixabay

Pecha Kucha, the bite sized presentation treat 

Extending the A&SL conference has enabled us to add some new presentation formats to the schedule. This year, to shake things up a bit we will offer Pecha Kucha presentations.

What the @*%$ is a Pecha Kucha you say?

The Pecha Kucha presentation format traditionally allows for 20 images or slides each timed for 20 seconds. The format aims to keep presenters focused on a fast paced and visual delivery of their topic.

Since we aren't sticklers for the rules at A&SL central command we're giving our Pecha Kucha presenters a nice round ten minutes rather than the rather messy 6 minutes 40 seconds.

So, if you are joining us on Thursday February 26th you'll be in for a bite size treat between 4.05 & 4.35.
We'll be spotlighting our three Pecha Kucha presenters on the A&SL Facebook and Twitter this week, so stay tuned or check them out HERE          

If you haven't booked your place at #asl2015 yet ...get booking HERE 


#ASL2015 Spotlight - Dont forget the posters

Selection of posters from #asl2014 


Cast your vote for the best poster of #asl2015 

We at A&SL central command like to make sure the annual conference is a veritable smorgasbord of Information professional talent. With the extension of the event in 2014 parallel sessions, lightning presentations and posters were added to the format. 

This year we will have 9 poster presentations on display in the Stratocaster suite for the duration of the conference. 

The posters by Library and Information professionals in academic, health and special libraries present projects covering topics from digitisation  and resource development to collaboration and professional development. 

Delegates are encouraged to browse posters and take the opportunity to talk with poster presenters about their projects. 

Delegate packs will contain voting forms to be submitted by lunchtime on Friday 27th so you can cast your vote for the best poster presentation. 

So, make sure you take time to vote ... see you on Feb 26th & 27th