What Happened at the Talis Insight London Meet-Up 2025
Posted on 25th November 2025
Posted on 25th November 2025
On Tuesday 18th November, we welcomed libraries from across the UK to the Talis Insight London Meet-Up. The event brought together long-standing Talis Aspire customers and institutions exploring the resource list software for the first time—all eager to share insights, discuss challenges, and share thoughts on topics such as OER, Open Access resources and the library’s role in guiding student use of AI.
From the very first coffee of the morning, the atmosphere was energetic. Many attendees commented on how valuable it was simply to connect with others navigating similar library challenges and opportunities. It set the tone for a day filled with lively conversation and thoughtful discussion.
Here’s what happened at the Talis Insight meet-up.
The morning opened with a joint introduction from Rob Moore, Development Manager at Talis, and Ronan Grimes, UK Sales Director at Kortext. Ronan outlined Kortext’s recent acquisition of Talis and shared Kortext’s excitement and vision for exploring and developing Talis Aspire further. He highlighted the opportunities this acquisition creates for libraries, including simplifying workflows through data and AI, reducing costs through improved licensing models for commercial content, and streamlining OA/OER discovery workflows.
Next, Katy Maydon, Library Systems Coordinator, Regent’s University London delivered a fantastic session on Talis hierarchies. Katy explained:
Her session sparked plenty of questions and “lightbulb moments”, with many attendees commenting that they left with concrete ideas they could implement back at their institutions.
Academic engagement is a challenge familiar to almost every university, which made the session from Jacqui Hunt, Learning Resources Librarian, and Catherine Parkin, Academic Librarian at Leeds Beckett University, especially impactful.
They shared findings from their work on improving student and academic engagement with reading lists, offering practical techniques that resonated strongly with the audience. The topic prompted thoughtful discussion, and many attendees said they were inspired to rethink their local approaches.
Talis’ Head of Product Scott Gibbens then took the stage to walk through recent releases and upcoming roadmap plans. Attendees appreciated hearing both the immediate next steps and the longer-term vision.
Feedback from the room highlighted how valuable these transparent roadmap updates are for planning and strategy within library teams.
After lunch, Rob Moore, Development Manager at Talis returned to explore Advanced MIS. The session prompted some constructive questions which Rob answered openly. The discussion also made one thing clear: customers are united in their desire for stronger, more intuitive analytics at a basic level. This feedback is being firmly taken on board as part of our future development planning.
The final session from David Renfree, Senior Customer Success Consultant, offered an honest and practical look at Talis Engage. Copyright questions (as always!) were front and centre, but the conversation also helped many attendees see Talis Engage in a new light.
Several customers commented afterwards that they hadn’t realised how flexible the settings could be and that they could now imagine using Talis Engage more confidently in their own contexts.
The day closed with group discussion followed by an optional Q&A surgery with the Talis team. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive and attendees told us how valuable it was to hear from other institutions, share experiences, and gain practical insights they could take back to their libraries.
Perhaps the strongest theme of the day was community. People loved being together, learning from one another, and having honest conversations about their challenges and hopes for the future.
The best news? This is just the beginning.
We have plans for more Talis Insight Meet-Ups next year, with locations to be confirmed.
We look forward to seeing you at a future meet-up!
