What we learned from our conferences : Academic Support Librarians and professional engagement

Posted on August 22, 2025 by cloverodgers

Conference attendees in a classroom look at a presentation

At the RLUK Conference, 2025

The Academic Support Librarians are a learning team, who have attended professional development events in line with the prioritised themes in our team workplan. Ishbel Leggat attended the RLUK conference in Liverpool in March, where she learned “how colleagues at other institutions are embedding AI skills into the curriculum, how Generative AI is changing the HE landscape and how AI could be used to optimise library-related working practices”. The AI theme in our workplan was also explored by Anna Richards at the BIALL (British and Irish Association of Law Librarians) conference, with a view on how AI tools are being used in legal practice and library-led support. Jane Furness attended the CALC online conference in May which enabled her to “build my ability to contribute to and support the work of the ASL EDI group and in my support of ECA students and staff.” In June, SarahLouise MacDonald and Rania Karoula attended the SCURL Conference in Aberdeen which had an EDI focus, where they learned about “new avenues for research based on relevant presentations (specifically on radical hospitality and supporting diverse communities).” And Ruth Jenkins attended the LILAC Library Information Literacy conference in Cardiff, bringing back notes that were shared with team colleagues “… who picked up on different talks and themes so our conversations were different every time.” We share our learning with library colleagues in the ASL blog : https://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/asl/ Continue reading →

It’s August and induction season is here!

Posted on August 12, 2025 by lawlibrarian

White lettering on a green background which reads: Come in, we're open.

Image by Geralt via Pixabay

Did you know that Academic Support Librarians (ASLs) work year round, even while most students are on their summer break? Here at UoE we have courses starting at different times throughout the year so some members of our team have already been hard at work helping students get settled in and familiar with Library Services right at the beginning of their university journey in Edinburgh.

For example, we have a lot of students who arrive for pre-sessional courses such as the ‘Essentials of English for Academic Purposes’ who began in July in order to complete some language courses before their PG study begins. We like to meet these students and make sure they’re familiar with which resources will be relevant for them, and how to ask for help in the very early part of their course so the information stays with them no matter what they go on to study.

A leaflet display on a table, with other stands around the room and small groups of students stood in between them.

ASLs had a stall at the Community Fairs organised by The Centre for Open Learning (COL) in July

We’ve been providing library introductions for new and returning students in the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, and we’ll soon be welcoming the latest cohort of Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) students who will be arriving on the Holyrood campus on Monday 18^th August. This group of students traditionally start before other cohorts and spend limited time on-campus as they go out on school placements at the start of the academic year.

To facilitate early arrival on-campus, Ishbel (ASL for Moray House School of Education and Sport) has liaised with Programme Directors for PGDE Primary & Secondary to find out how many new students are expected to arrive for the 2025-26 session (PGDE Primary: 100 approx. & PGDE Secondary: 145-160 approx.) She has liaised with the Moray House Library EdHelp Team and with Pam Wells at the Main Library to arrange for student ID cards to be sent to Moray House Library in advance, which allows PGDE students to collect cards before ‘official’ card collection events take place during Welcome Week. This year, we’ve also had assistance from Jade Fenton (Graduate Library Trainee) and Tim Gray to arrange for Library tote bags to be delivered to Moray House Library in time for PGDE student arrivals.

We’ll also welcome Access students in August. Access courses are designed for adults who are returning to learning after a break and will go on to Undergraduate work in the future – they begin almost a full month before welcome week and continue on for two semesters.

We often talk about how there’s no one-size-fits-all scenario for our students and that’s because there’s so many different courses, circumstances and timetables to account for in our planning. This is just one example of how we’re trying to make sure everyone has a valuable and meaningful library experience no matter when they join us!

5 things: using the Library over the summer

Posted on June 13, 2024 by cstirling

It’s officially the summer vacation period at the University and our libraries remain open for business. So whether you are planning on using Library resources, facilities or services during this time or if you will be away from Edinburgh for the summer and want to forget about University as much as possible, here are five important things to remember about the Library over the summer period.

1) The Main Library and all 9 site libraries remain open throughout the summer vacation period.

Opening hours and staffed hours will be reduced in many libraries so check the opening hours website before you visit and follow the Library on social media for any updates – Instagram, Twitter/X, Facebook.

The Main Library will continue to be open 24/7 throughout the summer but EdHelp staffed hours will be slightly reduced between Friday 7 June and Friday 6 September 2024. Continue reading →

Library summer opening and changes to service

Posted on July 5, 2023 by lawlibrarian

Although this blog mainly focuses on the work of the ASL team (who are library focused but often work remotely) we realise that many readers may associate this blog with the physical library spaces, so we wanted to highlight a few things happening over the summer in our library buildings.

Summer opening hours: Main Library

The Main Library is now operating on Summer opening hours. This means the following hours of operation apply:

Day	Building	EdHelp Service Desk
Monday – Thursday	24 hour opening	9am – 7:50pm
Friday	24 hour opening	9am – 4:50pm
Saturday	24 hour opening	12 midday – 4:50pm
Sunday	24 hour opening	12 midday – 4:50pm

Please note that this week new gates will be fitted to the Main Library entrance and exit, Café exit gates and the High Use Books exit gates. The works will be carried out between Tuesday 4th July-Thursday 7th, 9:00-5:00pm. You can still access the Main Library, alternate entrances and exits will be clearly marked. You can find out more about this (as well as opening hours for the Centre for Research Collections, Main Library Cafe and links to other information) on the Main Library Opening Hours page.

Summer opening hours: Site libraries

The majority of our site libraries open for reduced hours during the summer. Information can be found on the individual sites listed on the Library Opening Hours page.

The vast majority of our libraries operate from 9am to 4.50pm, Monday to Friday during the summer and are closed at weekends. Exceptions this summer are the Art & Architecture Library and New College Library, which we have detailed below.

Art & Architecture Library

Due to building works in Minto House there is currently an alternative entrance to the Art & Architecture Library. Entering Minto House either via the main reception area or the Maltings entrance, follow the signs downstairs to the temporary library entrance door in the lower ground floor (basement) corridor.

UPDATE: Due to disruption as a result of essential building works within Minto House, it will be necessary to close the Art & Architecture Library between Monday 10th July and Sunday 3rd September. Please email us at library.account@ed.ac.uk for any enquiries or if you urgently require any print resources during this time and we will endeavour to make them available within 2 working days from the Law Library in Old College. Please consult the Art & Architecture Opening Hours page for more information.

New College Library

Due to essential maintenance works all New College Library’s current services except for Special Collections were transferred to the temporary library at 40 George Square in 2020. A schedule for the move of New College Library services and collections back to New College Library, Mound Place in 2023 has now been agreed. The main expected dates are :

9 August 2023 : New College Library, 40 George Square closes for General Collections moves.
11 September 2023 : New College Library, Mound Place opens for access to services and collections.

Until 9 August 2023, NCL General Collections and Library services will remain fully available for students in the library at 40 George Square. For more information please see the New College Library page.

We hope this is useful for anyone wishing to visit our lovely libraries over the summer. The ASL team will be available throughout July and August, so please contact us if you have any queries, either by email or by leaving a comment on this post.

5 things to remember if using the Library this summer

Posted on June 2, 2023 by cstirling

The summer vacation period officially started this week! And while many of you are probably thinking the last thing you want to do is use the Library over the summer break, there will be a large number of students who will need to (or just want to) use the Library during the summer vacation period to continue with their studies or research.

So if you are one of the many who is planning on using Library facilities or services over the summer then read on. And for those of you who are not planning on doing this, we’d recommend you read on anyway (particularly if you have not returned books you have borrowed from the Library).

1) The Main Library and all our site libraries remain open throughout the summer vacation period.

Academic Support Librarians

Helping you get the best from the Library, its collections, resources and services

Category Archives: Summer