Speakers Biographies

Speaker Biographies

Morning Keynote:

David Streatfield, Global Libraries Initiative Consultant

David Streatfield has been involved with impact evaluation for more than twenty-five years.
He is Principal of Information Management Associates a consultancy, training and research team formed in 1991. The main IMA focus is on evaluating library and information service provision and particularly on assessing the impact of these services. IMA has conducted consultancy and research work for many national and government organisations in Europe, Africa the Middle East and South East Asia.
David is an Independent Impact Consultant to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where he supports the Global Libraries initiative. This work has included supporting performance measurement and impact evaluation development in Bangladesh, Brazil, Bulgaria, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Lithuania, Romania, South Africa, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam; helping to manage the Cross-Europe survey of public perceptions of public libraries in 17 European Union countries; working with Regional Organisers of the International Leadership Development Program (INELI) and editing the special issue of the journal Performance Measurement and Metrics (vol. 16 number 2, 2015) devoted to impact evaluation work in Global Libraries countries. With his partner Sharon Markless, David has also provided consultancy support to the Global Impact Study and to various IFLA initiatives including the current International Advocacy Programme.
This experience was distilled into the book (co-authored with Sharon Markless) Evaluating the impact of your library published by Facet Publishing in 2006 and, in a new and fully revised edition, in 2013. David has also presented a series of international conference papers and has led many training workshops on impact evaluation. He was previously (1981-1991) Head of Information Research and Development at the National Foundation for Educational Research in England and Wales.

 

Afternoon Keynote:

Dr Emma Coonan, FHEA, Academic Librarian (Information and Digital Literacies), Library, University of East Anglia

Emma is the Information and Digital Literacies Librarian at UEA (University of East Anglia). She holds an MSt and PhD in literary theory and an MSc in Information and Library Management, and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Emma’s chief research interests are information literacy, learning development and the scholarship of teaching and learning.

In 2011 she was seconded to a fellowship at Wolfson College, Cambridge, to develop ‘A New Curriculum for Information Literacy’ in collaboration with Dr Jane Secker of City University. Since then she has jointly edited two books and is currently writing a third. In June 2015 she became Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Information Literacy. She has just enrolled on UEA’s MA in Higher Education Practice, and is far too excited about being a student again.

Emma tweets as @LibGoddess.

 

CONUL Teaching & Learning Award 2016 Winner

Barry Houlihan, Archivist, NUI Galway

Barry Houlihan is an Archivist at the James Hardiman Library, NUI Galway. Work projects include primarily theatre and literary collections, such as Druid Theatre Company archive and as Project Board member of the Abbey and Gate Theatre Digital Archive projects. Barry teaches on a range of embedded archive courses in undergraduate and postgraduate disciplines for Archives, including drama and theatre studies, English, History and Children’s Studies. Barry is also a Phd student in the Discipline of English, researching the archives of Irish theatre and society in modern Ireland and is the editor of forthcoming book, “Navigating Ireland’s Theatre Archive: Theory, Practice, Performance. (Peter Lang Press, 2018)

Dr Paul Flynn, Technology Enhanced Learning Methodologist, School of Education, NUI Galway

 

L2L Expanding horizons:
Dr Brendan Devlin is currently the College Librarian of Science and Health in DIT Kevin Street. He was the chair of the LIR Committee from 2012 to 2013 and is currently the secretary of the CONUL Research Group. He is also on the Steering Group of the L2L project. He has an interest in continued professional development and the theory and practice of research. His doctoral thesis explores the nature and limitations of research from a pragmatist perspective.

Niamh Hammel is currently a Library Assistant in Dundalk Institute of Technology where she is involved in delivering Information Literacy classes and undertaking the Certificate in Teaching and Learning course provided by DkIT. Niamh has a Joint Honours Degree in English and Media Studies, and in 2016, graduated the Information and Communication Studies Masters from UCD with a first class honours. Previous experience includes working as an Archives Assistant in RTE and volunteering as a cataloguer in the Irish Agricultural Museum, Wexford.

 

Lightning Talks, Morning

  1.  Sarah-Anne Kennedy, Dublin Institute of Technology
    Sarah-Anne holds a BA (Hons) from the National University of Ireland Maynooth (MU) in English and History and a Masters of Library and Information Science from University College Dublin (UCD). She has been with the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) since 2006 and is currently supporting the College of Business, the School of Media and the School of Law. Sarah is interested in engaging and supporting students through blended learning and looking at new ways of bringing the Library to the student.
  2.  Elaine Harrington , University College Cork
    Elaine Harrington is Special Collections Assistant Librarian in UCC Library. This role includes managing the Special Collections Desk team through to facilitating user engagement of reference, early printed books and unique and distinctive collections. Elaine focuses on the ways users engage with Special Collections’ services and collections, and the necessary skills that are required for effective engagement. Her research interests include teaching as a valid form of research and scholarship. To this end Elaine has presented this year on a collaborative music mapping module between UCC’s Music Dept & Special Collections at CONUL, on redefining Special Collections’ space through the use of technology at HEAnet and on preservation to UCC’s Digital Humanities community.
  3.  Geraldine Fitzgerald, Trinity College Dublin
    Geraldine Fitzgerald is Subject Librarian for the School of Education and the School of Psychology in Trinity College Dublin. Prior to working in TCD, Geraldine worked in a number of special, corporate and academic libraries in Ireland and Sweden. Geraldine is passionate about improving the user experience of students and has developed a number of digital resources including tutorials and floor plans to aid wayfinding. She is presently collaborating with a colleague in the School of Education to establish a new online journal in the area of Inclusive Education.
  4.  Sue Miller, Dublin City University
    Formerly Head of Library Services in CICE, Sue joined DCU Library as education librarian in 2016. With many years experience working in education libraries she has developed a great deal of expertise in linking library collections to impact on student learning. This experience has facilitated a collaborative approach to working with academic colleagues linking library collections to programme design and delivery. A professional interest in children’s literature has led to collaborations with academic colleagues on externally funded research projects including the National Collection of Children’s Books, G project (Creative Europe) and MathsthroughStories.
  5.   Kris Meen, National University of Ireland Galway
    Kris Meen is Assistant Librarian Academic Skills and Marketing & Engagement at NUI Galway Library. Kris gained his MLIS at the University of Western Ontario in 2010

 

Lightning Talks Afternoon

  1.  Jayne Dunlop, Ulster University
    Jayne has been a subject assistant librarian at Ulster University, based on Coleraine campus, since 2008 and is currently chair of the Library’s Digital and Information Literacy working group.  Currently working with three faculties she has a broad subject portfolio and also looks after the special collections on Coleraine campus.  In previous roles she has been a careers information officer and worked in special libraries including the Royal Geographical Society London and a theological library. Outside work Jayne has been actively been involved in politics for almost twenty years and has served on a number of organisations including her local council.  Now much of her spare time is devoted to entertaining a lively poodle called Ted.
  2.   Fintan Bracken, University of Limerick  
    Dr. Fintan Bracken (MLIS, ALAI) is the Research Services and Bibliometrics Librarian in the University of Limerick. In this role, Fintan is responsible for providing services to researchers in many aspects of the research process including bibliometrics, open access, reference management, publication strategy and maximising research impact. Prior to joining UL in October 2013, Fintan worked with IReL, the Irish Research eLibrary. He has also previously worked in the Marine Institute’s research library. Fintan completed a PhD in zoology in 2004 and has published research on various topics including bird biodiversity and usability studies.
  3.  Carole Connolly, Maynooth University
    Began working in Academic Libraries in 1979 when she joined Client Services in University College Dublin as a Library Assistant.  In 1990 she was appointed Senior Library Assistant to Collection Services and remained there until 1999.

Carole joined the Collections & Content Department in Maynooth University in November 1999.  At the beginning of 2017 she was appointed Senior Library  Assistant to the Academic Services Department, joining the Teaching & Research Team. One of her key objectives in this role is the management, delivery and  review of LIST (Library Information and Skills Tutorials)

Carole is also a member of CONUL Communications & Marketing Group.

  1. Marta Bustillo, University College Dublin
    Marta Bustillo is College Liaison Librarian for the Social Sciences at University College Dublin. She previously worked as Metadata Cataloguer in Trinity College Dublin and as Visual Resources Librarian at the National College of Art & Design in Dublin and the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence,    Rhode Island. Marta is the current chair of the LAI’s Career Development Group.’