I love that there is one person at this library conference who can answer the "show me your pedalboard" question.

I'll be drawing inspiration from their talk and heading along to the @copim.bsky.social catch up shortly - but otherwise that will do for a really fun and interesting first day! 🙌 #UKSG2026

A slide showing "a roadmap for building your professional peer network"

And the final one, a bit of a hidden gem for me. A really involving & thought provoking talk on building professional peer networks from Sarah Sogigian, Denise Lyons, Matt McClain & Michelle Willis, who've come to #UKSG2026 from various public & state libraries from across the US.

Title slide of "The Red Thread" showing the University of Malmo

Various pictures of the library space at Malmo

A great talk by Emma Nolin from @mau.se about "The Red Thread" - a dynamic way of providing serendipitous discovery of print titles throughout their library, highlighting fiction, comics and research. Their portable shelf end displays were a big hit with attendees! #UKSG2026

A slide on research infrastructure, scoring elements by their impact on research income

A really informative talk on research infrastructure from @kenchad.bsky.social. Librarians need to think more about the value propositions behind various systems - being ready for that "elevator pitch" to show how enhanced infrastructure could help to win funding & reduce admin burdens #UKSG2026

The plenary panel on university presses

An insightful panel discussion and Q&A on university presses moderated by @scholtom.bsky.social covering mergers and acquisitions and various models of community and scholar-led publishing #UKSG2026

Tom Morley delivering his plenary with a slide about Lancaster University

Tom Morley at the UKSG Conference podium

A closing slide with the title "Courage in a Crisis" featuring an image and quote of Elaine Sykes

A moving and inspiring plenary by my @lulibrary.bsky.social colleagues Andrew Barker and Tom Morley on achieving #openaccess adoption for books - work hugely influenced by our friend and colleague Elaine Sykes, that continues on in her memory #UKSG2026

Chair Charlie Rapple welcoming attendees to the conference in front of a large screen with UKSG branding

A great first day at #UKSG2026! A really interesting day of talks and great conversations with contacts old and new. I've been far too slow at posting but here are a couple of highlights for me...

We have a splendid list of candidates standing for election as a Trustee this year - thank you to all of them! If you are a voter, please look out for the email! Candidate details here: dub.sh/sjRhVcz

Just under a week left to apply to the #CollectiveDevelopmentFund 2026. This fund is to support projects building capacity for Open Access Books, including networks and infrastructure. Read and apply in English, Spanish, French or Portuguese. #OpenAccess #OABooks #DiamondOpenAccess #DiamondOA

An exterior view of the SCONUL offices in London

My first visit to SCONUL HQ today for a really productive first meeting of the new Sustainability and Climate Change Task and Finish Group. Really good to talk about sustainability activity in libraries, the wider context in our institutions and shared challenges.

Pop in for a relaxed drop-in book exchange at Lancaster University Library on Monday 2 March, 12:00 - 14:00 - no registration needed.

It’s a great way to support the Library’s sustainable approach by reusing and sharing books, while celebrating reading and our community.

A great lineup of Library events for @lancasteruni.bsky.social Positive Change Week! 🙌

Great to see you too @cgknowles.bsky.social! Thanks to Leeds for the hospitality today 😊

Any 2026 conference worth its salt needs to showcase AI! @uksg.bsky.social has a whole theme on AI, misinformation & emerging technologies.

Register at www.uksg.org/events/confe... to join us

ps Whatever's keeping CISOs and librarians up at night, may I suggest valerian tea as an antidote?

The exterior of Cloth Hall Court at the University of Leeds

On the road today for a @jisc.bsky.social England Engagement Forum at Cloth Hall Court in Leeds. Looking forward to an interesting day of discussion!

Still time to apply for this year's NASIG/UKSG John Merriman Award which covers attendance at both the UKSG Conference in Glasgow and the NASIG Conference in the US. Closes Feb 15th!

Proper citation of research by journalists is necessary for more trustworthy news - LSE Impact Andy Tattersall shows how research is poorly presented in the media & argues better community standards for linking to research could improve trust in media.

Proper citation of research by journalists is necessary for more trustworthy news

A piece I wrote for @lseimpactblog.bsky.social

blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...

Looking forward to hosting this FREE @uksg.bsky.social webinar next week! It's part of our FE webinar series but this case study of AI use at Barton Peveril College sounds really relevant to the HE sector too.

You are very welcome @missoliviareads.bsky.social! You and Taran did a fantastic job once again. Shame I couldn't catch up with you properly, it was a busy day. Hopefully see you at a @uksg.bsky.social event again next year 😊

My UK Universities on @bsky.app Starter Pack has been updated and now contains 100 institutions with a Bluesky account.

Although it's fair to say, some may be fake given they've not added any information.

And only just over half seem active, posting in the last month or so.

go.bsky.app/Cw16PZq

The starting point for each Forum has been the feedback from the previous year - we really value it massively. So do please let us know what you think of both today and the Conference as well 👍

I have been involved with the Conference planning too, though it's a much bigger programme team for that. Hopefully you'll be excited about the programme when it's released!

Thanks, that's really helpful to understand! I wondered if it was about today as I do think we've had more on open research at past Forums. It is a challenge with just a day to work with, and with so much diverse work happening across the sector too. We had a lot of great submissions this year.

I wanted to grab a word on this but didn't manage to catch you. At this event or just generally?

Slides about the Zandra Rhodes Colourful Heritage project

Slides about the Zandra Rhodes Colourful Heritage project

Slides about the Zandra Rhodes Colourful Heritage project

The Zandra Rhodes’ Colourful Heritage project looks AMAZING too - as vibrant and energetic as its subject. Loved how engaged with practitioners and potential users it was - right down to co-created approaches to metadata. mylibrary.uca.ac.uk/colourfulher... #UKSGForum2025

Pictures from Dublin City's print collection management project

Far too many highlights to list! But l loved the talks from about collection development from Suffolk and Dublin City/Maynooth. Climbing into skips brought back memories of some of my more practical library experience #UKSGForum

A presentation on stock moves at the University of Suffolk

A case study on a major library move at Dublin City University

A presentation on UCLs work with the Zandra Rhodes Foundation

Digitization at the House of Commons Library

A great morning of talks at the #UKSGForum2025 encompassing print moves and collection development at both smaller and larger libraries, AI and digital literacies, digitization and more

Godwyns Onwuchekwa presenting a slide on why hidden data points matter

Godwyns Onwuchekwa presenting methods on engaging with communities

Great keynote from @godwyns.bsky.social on finding the hidden insight between data points - drawing on lived experience,meeting communities where they are and unlocking local knowledge #UKSGForum2025

A conference talk

#UKSGforum2025 is a lovely event. Really glad to have the chance to see everyone, hear ideas and talk scholarly comms all day