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Business Librarians Association @blalib.org · 16/09/2026

❗ Summer Conference 2027 announcement! ❗ Dates: Wednesday 30th June - Friday 2nd July Location: the University of Sheffield INOX Conference Centre. Stay tuned for more updates!

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Sjoukje Schots @sjoukjeschots.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Nearly there for #bla26. Some members enjoying a tour of the library. We had our AGM, confirmed new Committee Member and last keynote by Cara Clarke and Algirdas Kraunaitis on “The Other Side” – Working as a lecturer and a librarian in a private provider of higher education. Safe travels.

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maretteh.bsky.social @maretteh.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

#BLA26 provided Alice Cann of Brunel University and her developing skillset with EBSCO. An example of a professional showing how they keep learning to be a valuable asset for lecturers and students.

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Business Librarians Association @blalib.org · 03/07/2026

And that's a wrap! Thank you for everyone who attended our Summer Conference! We hope you had a lovely time, learned a lot and made friends with other professionals! #bla26

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Business Librarians Association @blalib.org · 03/07/2026

Huge congratulations to the wonderful Fred Milton – Teeside University, for winning Leslie Baldwin award for his presentation: "Would have gotten away with it, if it hadn't been for you meddling librarians: Unmasking AI ghost and phantom references"! #bla26

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Business Librarians Association @blalib.org · 03/07/2026

Our final Keynote presentation was delivered by Algirdas Kraunaitis and Cara Clarke. Their presentation focused on the partnership delivery model practiced at QAHE and highlighted some of the challenges/opportunities for librarians and lecturers. #bla26

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maretteh.bsky.social @maretteh.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

#BLA26 Day 2 finished with a visit to i360 on the Brighton seafront.

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maretteh.bsky.social @maretteh.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

#BLA26 shots of Brighton, myself and sociable librarians.

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Alice Cann @alicecann.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

The final #bla26 keynote is Cara Clarke and Algirdas Kraunaitis (our wonderful BlA Marketing officer), QA Higher Education on From “The Other Side” – Working as a lecturer and a librarian in a private provider of higher education.

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Sjoukje Schots @sjoukjeschots.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

A huge thank you to our wonderful #BLA26 conference organiser, Dan. And to the University of Brighton for hosting @blalib.org.

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Business Librarians Association @blalib.org · 03/07/2026

#bla26 final day - final Key Presentation loading!

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Sjoukje Schots @sjoukjeschots.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Another stimulating day at #BLA26. Members enjoying a little time to explore Brighton. Before some of us are going up in i360 for pre-dinner drinks (others staying on ground floor). Followed by gala dinner sponsored by our Gold sponsor EBSCO.

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maretteh.bsky.social @maretteh.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

#BLA26 hard core members drinking and discussing the night away.

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Business Librarians Association @blalib.org · 02/07/2026

@alicecann.bsky.social , a long time BLA supporter is delivering our final Members Paper! Her knowledge on systematic searching, databases (such as EBSCO) is truly admirable and it is such a pleasure to watch her share things she is genuinly passionate about! #bla26

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Alice Cann @alicecann.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Now at #bla26 @hporter.bsky.social Hannah Porter, from the University of Portsmouth is doing a members paper on Using Interactive H5P Workbooks to Teach Library and Referencing Skills.

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Business Librarians Association @blalib.org · 02/07/2026

The wonderful Hannah Porter presented our 5th Members Paper - an honest exploration on how to make teaching more interactive. This is something a lot of teaching librarians tackle, so her presentation is timely and quite inspiring! #bla26

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Alice Cann @alicecann.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The next Members paper at #bla26 has been @maretteh.bsky.social Marette Hickford, talking about the BIPC (British Library) Business & IP Information Clinics: Matching user needs to our business collections and experts on their entrepreneurial journey.

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Alice Cann @alicecann.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Now we’re hearing from Andrew Jack, journalist from the Financial Times (silver sponsor). #bla26 Value of current examples for teaching.

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Sjoukje Schots @sjoukjeschots.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Final Silver Presentation from FT Professional. Hearing from one of their journalists on linking their content across ages. Highlighting rankings, their free acres to schools and research across academia. Have a look at the Business news insider. Focus on how embed FT content into teaching. #BLA26

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Alice Cann @alicecann.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Next at #bla26 is another wonderful members paper. Becky Whyley-Smith from the University of Huddersfield, talking about Race across the Library: a cross-team collaboration to demystify the library space. First ran in 2024, and again this year.

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Sjoukje Schots @sjoukjeschots.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Race across the library up next at #BLA26. Using a map and passport with timed activities (getting to various checkpoints). Becky Whyley-Smith from the University of Huddersfield.

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Business Librarians Association @blalib.org · 02/07/2026

Making libraries more welcoming with gamification - what an interesting presentation by our 4th Members Paper speaker, Becky Whyley-Smith! #bla26 You can also read about this in our Year in Review publication.

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Business Librarians Association @blalib.org · 02/07/2026

A very special presentation by FT - our Silver sponsor! A bit of inside view of how FT prepares their publications, their guiding principles and hard work in contributing to a healthy research environment. #bla26

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Business Librarians Association @blalib.org · 02/07/2026

@britishlibrary.bsky.social is a wonderful institution and we are honoured to have Mary Hickford speaking at the #bla26 conference! Information clinics sounds like a great innitiative and we hope our business students will take adventage of them!

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Business Librarians Association @blalib.org · 02/07/2026

Our members, hard at work completing the Sponsors Bingo in between talks! #bla26

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Alice Cann @alicecann.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Now at #bla26 we are hearing from one of the Silver Sponsors, Statista. Nataly asked us about obstacles to positioning the Library as a strategic partner

Polling website. Word cloud. Common answer (among others) is Time.

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Business Librarians Association @blalib.org · 02/07/2026

Statista - our Silver Sponsor - doing a little presentation! Statista is incredibly popular, being often a visual resource that students like to use. They have established itself as a reliable and diverse source for reseaech. #bla26

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Business Librarians Association @blalib.org · 02/07/2026

This is true for almost anything, but for librarians to be honest and open with academics, and to get the buy-in from the higher ups, to achieve anything - is so important! Thank you to Lee and Phil for reminding us of this! #bla26

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Business Librarians Association @blalib.org · 02/07/2026

Invaluable discussion about adopting open access resources. There is a sense that librarians are both keen and sceptical - University of Coventry is showcasing how an institution could champion this to their benefit! #bla26

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Business Librarians Association @blalib.org · 02/07/2026

Many librarians have heard of Sylla, but not many libraries use it. Hearing about University of Coventry taking it up is truly inspiring. #bla26

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maretteh.bsky.social @maretteh.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

#bla26 featured a presentation from UWE Bristol about how involved the library service is involved in contributing towards international students critical thinking and writing skills in the English language.

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maretteh.bsky.social @maretteh.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

#bla26 showcased the University of Manchester's work to integrate Bloomberg into their students'studies. The role of the lecturer is fundamental in encouraging student usage.

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maretteh.bsky.social @maretteh.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

#bla26 started with a wonderful affirmation of how integral library services are for academic learning and research. Academic libraries need to feed this into the wider library sector to build an information literate society.

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Abi @sisuabi.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Ready for Day 2. #BLA26.

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Alice Cann @alicecann.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Day 2 of #bla26 and the second keynote is Keynote 2: Sylla: The Matchmaking Tool to Discover Open Access Resources by Lee Dickerson and Phil Braben from University of Coventry. We have worked with Sylla at Brunel, so I know a bit about it. Interested to hear more.

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Sjoukje Schots @sjoukjeschots.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Starting of day 2 of #bla26 with 2nd keynote by by Lee Dickerson and Phil Braben from Coventry University. Talking about one of their partnerships with Sylla.

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Business Librarians Association @blalib.org · 02/07/2026

What a start of the day! 2nd Keynote presentation, delivered by Lee Dickerson and Phil Brabban - University of Coventry. Starting strong, with a discussion about financial struggles in academic libraries and the importance of partnerships. #bla26

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maretteh.bsky.social @maretteh.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

#bla26 finally moved onto the impact of AI on referencing citations. Teeside University provided a speedy but lively presentation about their efforts to make students "resilient learners". Useful statistics about the high number of hallucinated references and ghost publications.

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maretteh.bsky.social @maretteh.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

#bla26 wrapped academic content with presentations by EBSCO and Clarivate about their new or forthcoming products, both which feature the use of AI for finding their material.

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Sjoukje Schots @sjoukjeschots.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Inspiring first day #BLA26. Now for a little break before the drinks reception (kindly sponsored by our Silver sponsors FT Professional, @clarivateag.bsky.social and Statista. Followed by dinner and the Quiz.

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maretteh.bsky.social @maretteh.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

#bla26 gave me a lovely surprise in having a seafront room with a lovely view of #Brighton beach.

A photo of Brighton beach in the late afternoon, taken from a hotel. The sky is blue with the sea partly gleaming.

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Abi @sisuabi.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Some highlights so far from #BLA26. A great keynote to start, and, of course, the Quiz!

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Alice Cann @alicecann.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Top priority during the short break between the first afternoon at the #BLA26 conference & the evening drinks, meal & quiz is to finish formatting the blog post about the conference that I wrote on the way here (I am a bit obsessive!). Includes info on the members paper I'll be presenting tomorrow.

researcherlibrarian.wordpress.com

Back to the Business Librarians Association conference

A business librarian’s reflections before attending the Business Librarians Association conference 2026, including plans for a members paper about EBSCO databases.

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Business Librarians Association @blalib.org · 01/07/2026

Silver sponsor presentation - Clarivate. "Your students shouldn't be mini librarians." Clarivate positions itself as a good alternative to "easy sources", like Google, by providing structured search results. #bla26

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Alice Cann @alicecann.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Now at #bla26 (before the football starts, then meal, quiz etc) we have our Sliver sponsor, Darren Robert from Clarivate. I do miss my Oasis account (and it’s only been two days!). @robertsdj.bsky.social is lovely though.

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Sjoukje Schots @sjoukjeschots.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Great start to #BLA26 opening address by Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor Rusi Jaspal. Librarians play critical and valuable part in education and research. Very much a strategic partner.

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Business Librarians Association @blalib.org · 01/07/2026

The relationship between AI hallucinations (ghosts) and predatory journals, a topic that needs further investigation. #bla26

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Sjoukje Schots @sjoukjeschots.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Winner of best title surely? Moving onto 2nd member paper. #BLA26 Would have gotten away with it, if it hadn't been for you meddling librarians: Unmasking AI ghost and phantom references, Fred Milton – Teeside University

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