iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Summer is well underway. Our July link-out has some interesting LIS news! Manu Kapur argues that employers will need those who can reason – not only with AI but, more importantly, against it. There's more. Check it out over at www.libfocus.com

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

To mark #Bloomsday, Alana Mahon O'Neill writes about the Ulysses Book Club in DCU. Over a year two local Joyce enthusiasts led a group of DCU staff and community members through the influential novel where they discovered its vulgarity, silliness and intricacies www.libfocus.com

Collage featuring James Joyce statue, the James Joyce bridge and the title of his book ‘Ulysses’]

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Our latest guest post is from the HSLJ editorial team who highlight the latest issue of the journal and put out a call for submissions for their Winter issue. Congratulations to libfocus team member @eilisoneill.bsky.social whose co-written article features this month! More at www.libfocus.com

Picture of a butterfly under the text: Volume 2, Issue 1 Summer 2026 Health Sciences Libraries Journal Official Journal of the Health Sciences Libraries Group of the Library Association of Ireland

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Summer is well on its way. Our May link-out has some interesting LIS news! James O'Sullivan talks about the qualified nonsense and dangers of AI detection. Barry Andrews writes about publishers ripping off public libraries (no surprise there). There's more. Check it out over at www.libfocus.com

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Lauren Sneyd's guest post looks at the key messages delivered at the HSLG conference 2026 on the theme 'Finding Strength in Difference'. The presenters offered timely insights into how libraries can navigate rapid technological change. Find out more at www.libfocus.com

Two people standing in front of a large screen with the text: preparing future talent for the AI era

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

Get your roundup of library and information news from this month's link-out! Learn about DigitalArc and Opaque Publisher, airport libraries, library promotional strategies and much more over at libfocus.com.

Images featured in this month's link-out posts.

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

It's almost April already. This month's link-out has all the library and information news you need! Amber Dance makes the case that every scientist needs a librarian. Check it out and more over at www.libfocus.com

Images clockwise from top left: librarian advising a researcher in the library, Galileo’s handwritten notes found in ancient astronomy text, a held-up magnifying glass, forged Shakespeare manuscript

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Submissions are now open for the LIR Annual Seminar 2026. Focusing on supporting emerging literacies, it takes place in person at the Asiera offices, Dublin 1, on 13th May. Submit your abstract by 31st March! www.libfocus.com/2026/03/call... #LIRAnnualSeminar2026

LIR Annual Seminar 2026 call for papers. Theme: supporting emerging literacies: how do libraries design and deliver new literacy programes? Submission deadline 31st of March. Two hands on a blue and white background.

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

This month's link-out has all the library and information news you need! Carlo Iacono convincingly argues that our "inability to focus isn’t a failing. It’s a design problem. Check it out and more over at www.libfocus.com

Images featured in this month's Libfocus link-out articles.

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

This month's link-out has all the library and information news you need! A University library closure prompts outrage, the importance of librarians sharing what they do, AI, academic journals, the @warmwelcomeuk.bsky.social, mental health for library workers and more over at www.libfocus.com

from top left: Two people standing in front of book shelves, graphic with spotlights with the text all access, two people standing in front of plates of food, black and white picture of rows of seated men, a man sitting on the ground, a hand holding a red disc, people standing in a group, a statue outside a building and a brain between library shelves.

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

Find out how to submit an abstract for the CONUL Conference with this guest post by the @conulconference.bsky.social committee. Submit your abstract by 20th January and you could be presenting at #CONUL2026 in Galway on 27th and 28th May. www.libfocus.com/2026/01/call...

Conul: consortium of national university libraries. Conference 2026: 27-28 May 2026, Galmont Hotel, Galway. Transforming futures: Libraries leading through change and innovation. Call for papers now open. conference.conul.ie. #CONUL26. Image of a hand touching a whirlpool of white light against a background of multi coloured circles.

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Our first guest post of 2026 is from the editorial team of the Health Sciences Libraries Journal. They highlight the articles featured in the latest issue of the journal and share details about the deadlines for the Summer 2026 issues. www.libfocus.com

Volume 1, Issue 2, Winter 2025. Health Sciences Libraries Group. Health Sciences Library Journal. Official journal of the Health Sciences Libraries Group of the Library association of Ireland. Picture of trees in snowy weather.

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

Happy Christmas and New Year to all our lovely followers and to everyone who has engaged with us here and visited us at libfocus.com. The blog has published more than 40 articles this year, huge thanks to all our contributors. Find out what our most read article of 2025 was at tinyurl.com/4e6jsp6p

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

In our final guest post of 2025, Bennery Rickard @hselive.bsky.social looks at #HSELibraryDay which took place on 24 September 2025. Careful planning and promotion resulted in 50 events across the country highlighting libraries and librarians in the health service. www.libfocus.com

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

In her guest post Heather Wallace reflects on how her internship in @itmadublin.bsky.social helped her to connect with Irish culture and transformed her understanding of Irish traditional music, song and dance. Learn more at www.libfocus.com

Picture of a woman standing in front of a bookcase filled with books and a window

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

In our latest guest post Bord Bia's Mairéad McKeown shares key insights from the Knowledge Summit Dublin. Her post contains key learnings from the conference, with practical examples and thought starters to empower insight into action - all over at www.libfocus.com

Three people standing beside a banner that reads: Knowledge Summit Dublin

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

In our last link-out post of 2025 you’ll get the latest in open access, digital collections, declining social media use (yikes) and more. Read a call to action for #library staff, meet an anti-AI Librarian who teaches AI and learn about the perils of ignoring academic #libraries at www.libfocus.com

Images clockwise from top left: Engraving of an angel writing in a book beside a winged cherub, cartoon image of a man taking pages out of a computer screen, stacks of papers on labelled shelves, people sitting in a wood panelled library, hands holding a mobile phone

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

In our latest guest post Ashley Burke looks at the creative ways @mulibrary.bsky.social has worked around the limitations of the Dewey Decimal system, helping students both locate information and understand the systems behind it. Read all about it at www.libfocus.com

A person with black hair arranging books on grey shelves in a library

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

Our latest guest post is from Irene O’Dowd, Ann Byrne @the-librariann.bsky.social and Emberly Davey from the Digital Learning Department in Hibernia College. Learn about the team's Digital Literacy OER which has been re-launched with additional content. www.libfocus.com

Tablet, PC and laptop screens showing screenshots from a website

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Looking for the latest library and information news? Never fear, the libfocus link-out is here! Read about the incredible Internet Archive milestone, the latest AI and Open Access updates, librarians as keepers of truth and libraries of the future. This and much more at www.libfocus.com

4 images clockwise from top left: Man holding his hand up to the front of the picture, large room with several floors and white pillars, gloved hands filling test tubes in a laboratory setting, collage of a hand holding a book with colours exploding from it

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

Get your roundup of library and information news from this month's link-out! Discover the online rival for Amazon, the Live Aid archives, the good and bad of AI, forgotten children's classics, librarians fighting censorship and much more over at www.libfocus.com

Three images: A cartoon image of two policeman carrying a monkey over the text curious george, a man holding a pile of books, pictures of singers performing

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

Read our latest post from @jennylibrarian.bsky.social about the @lirheanet.bsky.social annual seminar. Learn about the insights shared by keynote speaker Dr. Daniela Bultoc around communities of practice in higher education at www.libfocus.com/2025/10/lir-...

A woman standing in front of two mounted screen facing a seated audience

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Congratulations to Hayley Brabazon from @dculibrary.bsky.social whose blog post 'What a TikTok ‘Thirst Trap’ Taught Me About Library Outreach in the Age of Disinformation' was highly commended in the 2025 @conultraindev.bsky.social Library Assistant Blog awards. Read it now over at www.libfocus.com

A photo showing a group of students in a classroom looking at an image on a large screen.

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

Well done to Rebecca Cairns from @ria.ie whose article 'Drawing from nature: The botanical drawings of Eileen Barnes' has won 3rd prize in the 2025 @conultraindev.bsky.social Library Assistant Blog awards. Read it now over at www.libfocus.com

Image of botanical drawings depicting various plants

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Well done to Alana Mahon O'Neill from @dculibrary.bsky.social whose article 'How I learned to stop worrying and love Leganto' has won 2nd prize in the 2025 @conultraindev.bsky.social Library Assistant Blog awards. Read it now over at www.libfocus.com

Sepia image that shows a tiny stick figure standing in front of a square at the centre of four patterned weaving paths

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

Congratulations to Claire Dunne @ucdlibrary.bsky.social winner of the 2025 @conultraindev.bsky.social Library Assistant Blog Award! Read her blog post 'Shells, Shorthand, and Skipping Classes: Documenting Prize Bookplates in the John Manning Collection of Children's Books' now at www.libfocus.com

Two rows of colourful books with white slips of paper in them

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

Unlike the current Irish weather our link-out is always reliable, bringing you the latest library & info news each month! Get up to date on the wicked scholarly publishing system, the endurance of libraries & the war on knowledge, AI & Open Access, the Google Graveyard and more at www.libfocus.com

Five images clockwise from top left: Two hands shaking, A smiling man sitting with a book in this hands, white shelves with green potted plants on them, graphic of hand taking a book off the shelf, an open book with blue sparkling lights above it

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

New on Libfocus: @helenfallon.bsky.social writes about her current project supporting prison libraries in Malawi. A powerful reminder of how libraries transform lives. www.libfocus.com/2025/09/pris...

Three people in Malawi Prisons uniforms stand in a library. A woman in the foreground reads an open book on a wooden table, while two men stand behind her, smiling and holding books. Shelves filled with books line the background.

A man in a tan uniform stands in front of a chalkboard, smiling and pointing to a physics textbook he is holding. In front of him, a table is stacked with boxes of exercise books and piles of school textbooks, including titles on chemistry, mathematics, geography, and English grammar

Two people stand smiling inside a shop. A woman in a cream and black dress holds a ream of paper, while a man in a tan uniform and cap also holds it. Shelves behind them display stationery, electronics, and office supplies

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Our August link-out is here and it's jam-packed with the latest #library and information-linked news! Get the latest updates about AI, publishers in crisis and librarians working with journalists. Look back on Live Aid and discover how #libraries inspired Martin Luther King www.libfocus.com

5 images: clockwise from top: A robot hand holding a pen, wavy line, a picture of two men (musicians Paul McCartney and David Bowie), a woman looking at a screen, a person standing in front of a stack of books

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Calling all library assistants in CONUL Libraries - have you submitted to the @conultraindev.bsky.social Library Assistant Blog awards yet? Only 3 days to go to be in with a chance to win 1 of 3 prizes including the top prize of €200 AND be published in @libfocus.bsky.social conul.ie/library-assi...

Hands typing on a keyboard below the text: CONUL consortium of national and university libraries training and development

Entries for the 2025 Library Assistant Blog awards for an article in the style of a blog post are now being accepted.

The competition is open to staff at all library assistant and equivalent grades in CONUL Training & Development member libraries.

The theme of your blog entry must be library related. This could include any aspect of your current work; your ideas on a particular library development; some training/developmental activity you undertook; an event/innovation in your library; a particular item in your library’s collection; your library building etc.

The closing date for entries is the 31st July 2025.

1st Prize €200

2nd Prize €150

3rd Prize €100

Please see the following Blog Guidelines and Judging Criteria for further details.

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

Today's guest post is by Anne Charlotte Danhiez from the Robert de Sorbon Library in France. Learn about her thought-provoking and inspiring visits to CONUL Libraries as part of the @conultraindev.bsky.social Erasmus Library Staff Mobility Week in Dublin #ErasmusDub25 www.libfocus.com

Sixteen people standing or sitting in a row, facing the camera.

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

In her @conulconference.bsky.social review, @hollymeadekennedy.bsky.social from @mulibrary.bsky.social shares how empowering it was for her to hear from so many female library leaders at #CONUL25. Read more about a conference experience that was 'rare and radical' at www.libfocus.com

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Michelle McMeekin's @conulconference.bsky.social review gives an excellent snapshot of #CONUL25 in Tullamore. It is the first of three conference reports from this year's bursary winners. Read all about the conference talks, trends and tastes at libfocus.com

Graphic of a rectangle with a heart hands and feet and a magic wand with the caption something that you would do differently. A suitcase with the caption one thing you'll take away with you. A thought bubble that reads something you will remember and a bin that reads something you didn't like.

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

Our latest guest post is from Isabell Seeger, soon-to-be MLIS graduate from @ucdischool.bsky.social. She outlines her motivation for a career change from tech into librarianship and the surprising parallels and transferable skills from one to the other over at www.libfocus.com

A picture of a woman, white computer text on a purple screen that beings with 'how do large language models work? and a picture of books on shelves

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

Our latest link-out covers #library controversies and #libraries championing climate action, endangered crafts and book-inspired songs, must-read LGBTQ+ authors to celebrate #pridemonth, the latest in AI and open science and more at www.libfocus.com

5 images clockwise from top left: Hands holding a flame to red plastic material, two men with dyed hair standing shoulder to shoulder, a building viewed through slatted blinds, a woman with an SFSU tshirt lying on pages, a red circle with an x on it in the middle of a picture of a map system

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

Our latest guest post is from Paraic Elliott @dculibrary.bsky.social who shares his thoughts about censorship and what the current issues around censorship are for libraries www.libfocus.com

An AI generated image of the interior of a wooden building containing tables and lit candles. Blue flashes of lightning can be seen at the top of the picture.

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Our May link-out is finally here! Read about libraries as political battlegrounds and as champions of good, get the latest on open access and ChatGPT and find out what the pope thinks about AI. This and more at www.libfocus.com

Images clockwise top left to bottom right: A large yellow building with a turret, the pope dressed in white addressing an audience of cardinals with red hats, two people sitting in a bright room with tables and chairs, a man with his hand to his head standing between rows of books, a woman dressed in red, a graphic of a man standing in front of a keyhole

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Our latest guest post is by Kevin Tuohy who writes about his archival and cataloguing project for the Cape Clear Heritage Centre in West Cork. The materials in the collection offer a rich insight into 20th century cultural, linguistic, and political life in Ireland. This and more at www.libfocus.com

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

Our April link-out has arrived! Get up to date on the latest library and info news with articles covering the Big publishers vs digital preservation, the secret history of the ENIAC women, threats and developments in open access, book bans, Brian Eno and more libfocus.com

Images clockwise from top left: Graphic depicting different types of storage media under the text vanishing culture, a red road sign that reads reduce speed, a black and white photo of a woman in front of a large wall computer, a raised hand, a man with a beard looking out from foliage

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Today's guest post is by Sharon Corrigan from @dculibrary.bsky.social's SC&A directorate. Get lost in the pages of their early printed books from the 1500s where you will find intricate woodcuts, mythical creatures and insights into printing in 16th Century Europe. libfocus.com

A man and a woman looking at a book placed on a cushion. Picture credit: DCU Library/ Kyran O'Brien

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

Dive into our March link-out and discover the Masochists' Book Club, the pros and cons of AI use in Open Science, the future for systems librarians, the renaming of @tcddublin.bsky.social's Berkeley Library and much more - all over at libfocus.com

Images clockwise from top left: Two women beside a sign that reads Eavan Boland agus Coláiste na Tríonóide, The CRAAP Test Currency Relevance Accuracy Authority Purpose, Woman holding a book standing beside book shelves, SCONUL The Future of the Systems Librarian, Woman sitting at a desk, picture of a woman (poet Eavan Boland), circular graphic depicting open science

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Our February link-out is hot off the press! Find out about disappearing data, AI junk science, inclusive library collections, the first Valentine's love letter, the fight against publisher package deals, how to show up for your students and much more at libfocus.com

Six images clockwise from top left: Advice for discouraged sailors written under a painting of a boat on the sea; illustration of a woman with two ducks; latin text above an illustration of a man kneeling in front of another man with a sword raised over his head; a black and white photo of three seated children; a collage of people sorting files, a building and a large room of wall cabinets and a body and arm shelving books

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

In our latest guest post, Holly Meade-Kennedy describes the career journey that has brought her to @maynoothuni.bsky.social #Library. Discover the transferable skills and shared goals that have made her transition from teacher to library assistant so successful www.libfocus.com #libraries

A library atrium that shows a double staircase in an open plan area with indoor plants

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Get all the library news you need in our first link-out of 2025! Discover the #library that lends out people, read about welcome and wellbeing in #libraries and uncover the latest in open access, censorship and AI at www.libfocus.com

Two seated people talking, a blue circle with AI written in the centre being touched by a hand, a bin filled with crumpled up paper, a person holding out cupped hands that have paper cut outs of people in them, colourful cups spelling out welcome

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

This month's link-out is our early Xmas present to you! Learn about the threat of junk papers, plagiarised theses, must-read banned books and toy books, OER and advocacy in public libraries, AI or not AI and who is citing information science research? This and more at www.libfocus.com #libraries

Six images show: a large wave with papers floating in it about to crash onto a boat of people; the book cover of Maus by Art Spiegelman featuring two mice in trenchcoats under a mouse face with a swastika through it; two woman sitting at a table; a magnifying glass over text; a graphic of a man with symbols and question marks over his head; two children holding signs that say book! and I am a reader

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Congratulations to @dculibrary.bsky.social's Alana Mahon O'Neill winner of the blog series contest at the CONUL Teaching and Development AI and Libraries seminar! Read her blog post which shows you how to get AI to do what you want through a series of well thought-out prompts. bit.ly/3Zn9ol1

A woman in a green coat standing in front of a sculpture with plants and trees in the background

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

Catch up on the latest library-related news with our November link-out! Learn how to boost engagement in your library, read about how Irish public library staff are withstanding calls for censorship and make the leap to Bluesky. This plus more on AI and Open Access at www.libfocus.com #libraries

Five images: A woman sitting down in a library is speaking with a woman and a security guard, graphic of colourful book shelves, a magnifying glass over a Google Scholar search page, green cover of a book with the title The Greek Mythology, a hand touching a button that says AI under a red circle with a line through it

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Amy Bond from @Bordbia shares valuable library tips and knowledge from the members of GLS Ireland. Library staff in all sectors will benefit from insights into everything from collection management to communication. Read on at www.libfocus.com

Four people sitting around a table with laptops on it. Three people are looking at a woman standing at the top of the room who is putting postits on a wall.

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libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

In one of our most popular guest posts from this year, Emma Persson from Sweden wrote about taking part in the Irish Erasmus Library Staff Mobility week in June. Find out what she thought of the CONUL Libraries she visited and of the people she met www.libfocus.com/2024/07/eras...

A woman standing on a balcony she has her arms raised and is smiling

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