Considering attending Talis Insight? Allow Matt Bryan from Harper Adams to convince you…

During one of our routine Services calls with Harper Adams University, Matt Bryan, librarian was explaining about the progress made with academic engagement following a session he ran, inspired by Allie Taylor’s Insight Europe 2017 presentation and the implementation of Talis Aspire’s Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) integration.

We asked Matt to share a few words on how he has found his experience at Talis Insight Europe to inspire his promotion of reading lists at Harper Adams University:

I was a Library Assistant from Harper Adams University College when I first attended a Talis Aspire annual get together, at the last Talis Insight event in April 2017 I was a Librarian at Harper Adams University. The way I’m dropping letters off the end of my job title and place of employment, by the time I go to a future meeting I’ll be a Lib from Harp.

I can clearly remember the first time I went to one of these events; there was a smattering of Talis staff accompanied by a couple of handfuls of clients. I barely had a clue what people were talking about (APIs, SFX, other random letters strung together) but the lunch was good, the lunch is always good!

By Talis Insight Europe 2017 the event had taken on a whole new life. No longer was it in a meeting room with a co-hosting university library it was in a huge venue with lots of rooms all with stuff going on and people, lots and lots of people. Now I understand what those random letters strung together mean!!! The lunch is still good, although the queues are a little longer (note to self: always sit by the door). They even put on a proper smart dinner event with awards and everything.

The event itself has really taken on a life of its own and looks at the larger University experience rather than just focussing on Aspire products (though there is always superb signposting on where these are heading). We have had members of staff in the past who are not directly involved with reading lists/digitisation attend Insight due to the breadth of the subjects covered. The opportunity for networking with fellow library professionals with similar issues is always good too.

This year’s Insight 2017 had numerous excellent presentations but the one that really stood out for me, and has subsequently seen a major drive in changing the way our University approaches reading lists, was by Allie Taylor from the University of Worcester. Her presentation inspired me personally to re-address how we promoted the use of reading lists to academic staff and has, along with the new LTI integration, seen a significant increase in the amount of staff not only populating their own lists but also interacting with them as teaching tools.

Talis Insight has become a much larger being (the amount of Talis Aspire staff seems to grow by the minute) but it hasn’t lost any of the personal touches which were so apparent at those smaller get-togethers I initially attended.

Thanks Matt for your sharing your experience on Talis Insight.
Don’t forget to register before 20th December to make the most of the Early Bird Discount! See the agenda on talis.com/insight