Report from the Fourth International Evidence Based Library and Information Practice Conference
| Date | 10 July 2007 |
| Published date | 10 July 2007 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07419050710823274 |
| Pages | 14-14 |
| Author | Nicole Theis‐Mahon |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Report from the Fourth International Evidence
Based Library and Information Practice
Conference
Nicole Theis-Mahon
14 LIBRARY HITECH NEWS Number 6 2007, p. 14, #Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/07419050710823274
The Fourth International Evidence
Based Library and Information Practice
(EBLIP) conference was held in Chapel
Hill, Durham, North Carolina, May
6-11, 2007 and focused on the
transformation of the profession through
the use, incorporation, and study of the
best evidence. Over 200 people attended
EBLIP4, with attendees coming from all
over the world and from a variety of
different libraries and settings.
The sessions, posters, keynotes, and
discussions provided a forum for
participants to present projects or
demonstrate the role of evidence-based
practices in their libraries. The
conference opened with a keynote by
Margaret Haines, University Librarian
at Carleton University in Ottawa,
Canada called ‘‘Professionalism and
Evidence-based Practice Reflections of
a University Librarian’’. This set the
stage for the rest of the conference
where the sessions and presenters
outlined the evidence and methodology
of their research. The conference
sessions talked about all aspects of the
library including collections, the use
of electronic journals, reference
services, and funding. Although this
conference centered on evidence-based
methodology and how this model
has change the profession, the role of
technology and its impact on
librarianship was also evident.
There were numerous sessions
throughout this conference that used or
talked about the use of technology
within the EBLIP model. This was most
prevalent in the post sessions which
encompassed topics such as digital
archives, collective tagging of places in
Second Life, open access, and
other topics. Clearly the transformation
that technology has had within the
library profession could be seen
in the EBLIP4 conference program
www.eblip4.unc .edu/downloads /eblip4_
final_smaller.pdf
Following the three-day conference
there were two days of post-conference
workshops. One of these was a two-day
workshop, ‘‘Implementing Evidence-
based Library and Information Practice’’
taught for the first time in the USA by
Andrew Booth and Anne Brice. This
workshop outlined and demonstrated
how the EBLIP model can be
implemented into the mainstream library
and information practice. Andrew and
Anne mentioned numerous evidence-
based resources that are available on the
web, including this site
(www.newcastle.edu.au/service/library/
gosford/ebl/) from the University of
Newcastle, Australia, which lists
LISTSERVS, blogs, a social networking
site, and other online tools to create a
resource for those interested in EBLIP.
Nicole Theis-Mahon (theis025@
umn.edu) is Head, Technical Services,
University of Minnesota, Biomedical
Library, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
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