Knowledge Exchange Week 2024 – Reflections

Last month, team members Marian and Miranda attended Knowledge Exchange Week, hosted by the University of Edinburgh. This was the fifth time the event had been held, and the theme was the ‘Open Library.’ The event also incorporated the Edinburgh Open Research Conference. After a whirlwind week of programming and networking, we thought it might be interesting to hear more about what they learned and experienced.  

Marian’s Reflections: 

Knowledge Exchange Week was overall a fantastic experience, and I came away from it with an increased appreciation for the work being done by my colleagues in L&UC. I loved having the opportunity to speak to and learn from others working in the field and have made connections I hope to maintain for years to come. It’s difficult for me to choose a ‘favourite’ presentation, as each one taught me something new. Finally getting to visit and tour St Cecilia’s was a highlight, as I always welcome the chance to explore spaces outside of the Main Library, and I really enjoyed ‘404 No More: Web Archiving to Preserve the 21st Century’ presented by Sara Day Thomson and Alice Austin. Web archiving is a subject I find endlessly fascinating, and it was great to gain some insight into all the challenges faced by web archive projects. For example, they touched on issues such as the ethics of using publicly shared sensitive information by marginalized groups, which inspired some excellent discussion amongst our group. 

I was nervous about delivering our presentation on utilising digitised collections on social media, but the response couldn’t have been more positive! I’m grateful to have spent the week with such passionate and accomplished people. 

Miranda’s Reflections: 

Knowledge Exchange Week was a really great experience to be involved with. Like Marian, I found it interesting to hear about what my colleagues at the library and beyond are up to and share a bit about the work we do at the CHDS. I enjoyed hearing how services such as the reading room are being made more accessible for different groups and how St Cecilia’s are looking to welcome a broad range of audiences to the museum and concert hall through their programming. Another big theme of the week was Open Research and I enjoyed hearing from the Library Research Support team in the form of some lighting presentations in how they are supporting Open Research at the University. It was also great opportunity to get out and about to other bits of the University campus – including a tour of the dramatic looking New College. We even managed to fit in a presentation of our own looking at using digitised images in social media which resulted in some interesting discussions.   

Knowledge Exchange Week was certainly an experience we won’t soon forget, and we’d like to extend our sincere thanks to the organisers and presenters for such a positive and educational experience. We’d also like to thank our fellow attendees, for their warmth and willingness to share. We would encourage anyone considering attending in the future to give it a go!  

Marian Conlan, Digitisation Operator 

Miranda Strachan, Digitisation Operator