Wednesday 12 July 2023

CILIP Conference 2023 - Day One

It was a packed first day at the Hilton Metropole Birmingham. I wanted to capitalize on the chance to establish connections in non-health sectors and orient myself on new developments. The day commenced with CILIP CEO, Nick Poole, who introduced the Mayor of Solihull, Cllr. Diana Holl-Allen. The Mayor gave a speech where she extended a warm welcome to the Borough. The CILIP President, John Trevor-Allen, was next to address the delegates. He talked about the impact different library sectors make and how the conference gives delegates the opportunity to gather ideas to cascade to colleagues so that the whole profession can move forward together.

The opening keynote was by Rebecka Isaksson on driving business value through AI-powered knowledge management. She shared that she got into knowledge management through her passion for communities of practice. The significance of perceiving artificial intelligence as a prospect to enhance the scope of tasks we can accomplish, rather than a threat to our employment, was emphasized. Despite its challenges, we can use artificial intelligence to drive knowledge management. She shared three guiding principles: 

  • human intelligence and artificial intelligence should complement each other to get the best results. AI can help eliminate the drudgery of work but it must be handled responsibly. In the wrong hands, AI can do harm.
  • start with your organization's culture - consider what you are doing and how you are doing it. What culture do you want to foster?
  • engagement is key for driving great experiences to ensure everyone feels included, seen, and heard. 

The next session I attended was a panel discussion on data & AI chaired by Liz White, British Library. I confess that I had the notion that it would primarily involve a Q&A session, and was therefore a bit surprised by the presentations. Dr Andrew Cox, University of Sheffield, started us off with AI as a strategic priority, it's different applications , and ethical challenges. He considered it exciting but problematic requiring a balanced response. Next was a pre-recorded presentation by Aaron Tay, Singapore Management University on AI applications for searching. Although he pointed out the deficiencies, he also noted that they could result in better relevancy, direct answer generation, and information extraction from papers. This was followed by Sam Thomas, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust on AI in health libraries. He pointed out that clinicians are utilizing AI, so health librarians should also have a working knowledge of the technology. He gave three practical tips on how to approach it:

  • engage your library team - try to change negative perceptions where possible. Exchange ideas, share papers, embed it in conversations, identify training and development needs, consider the ethical implications, set outcomes and work towards them.
  • focus on your users - work it into conversations with library stakeholders.
  • use AI yourself - use it openly and share your experience with others. Test it out and see how it goes.
The second keynote was a pre-recorded one by Dr Navina Evans, NHS England on shaping the workforce of the future. She gave insights into developing workforce strategies for developmental needs as well as the need to build a pipeline to recruit the next generation of talent for the future. She emphasized the importance of driving excellence through diversity, equity, and inclusion and widening access routes to welcome people into the workforce. She also pointed out that library services have a pivotal role to play in developing a workforce that is ready for digital age.

The next session I attended was on wellbeing for personal resilience and impactful leadership by Ninez Piezas-Jerbi. We started off with a 5 minute mindfulness exercise where delegates were required to be still and present to give us the opportunity to read messages our bodies give which we may take for granted or be completely unaware of (I discovered I had pain in my right shoulder). She emphasized the importance of aligning your personal values with those of your organization to avoid stress, as constantly transitioning between work and home mode can be challenging. She talked about the need for psychological safety in the workplace so that it is pleasant, encouraging team engagement through events and breathing consciously. She provided four questions we can ask ourselves to promote resilience:

  • What triggers me? - events from the past or present, fear of reflection
  • What sustains me? - family, friends, nature
  • What drives or inspires me? - professional excellence
  • What do my body and soul tell me? - listening deeply to your mind, body, and soul
I attended the evidence-informed practice session chaired by Alison Brettle, University of Salford which focused on developing a research culture for library services and the importance of evidence for quality and service improvement in libraries. She was joined by Clare Edwards, NHS England who focused on how this related to Outcome 5 of the Quality Improvement Outcomes Framework. Judy Wright, University of Leeds and Gillian Siddal, University of Northampton then talked about the research project the Library and Information Research Group are conductingon workplace research by librarians. The survey for this project has just been launched and is open to professionals at any stage in their career. It closes on the 8th of September.
The CILIP 125 list, which features new librarians, information and knowledge management professionals who are making a significant impact in the industry was launched to celebrate the 125th anniversary of CILIP's Royal Charter, A hearty congratulations to all those who made it onto the list. Feeling a little wiped out but looking forward to Day 2 of the conference. 

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