When information specialists imagine – EAHIL 2025

By Margot Verleg, Medical Information Specialist, Martini Hospital, Groningen, Netherlands.

Who knew that information specialists could dance? On 11^th June, Margot (Martini hospital), Floor, Karlijn and Ingeborg, (RIVM) left for Łódź in Poland where EAHIL 2025 was being held. What a party it would be. The theme of the conference was IMGINE, but there was a problem first to be solved. How do you get to the airport when there is no public transportation because of a strike? Luckily Floor and her imagination came to the rescue and booked a nice hotel for us close to the airport.

At the conference Floor and I hosted a workshop on Medsyntax. For those who don’t know Medsyntax.org is a free open-source tool created by me and my partner Ted Gremmen Verleg. The tool aids in visualizing and improving search strategies for databases. Since Floor is our only shareholder, I naturally asked her to co-host the workshop. Participants got complex queries that were full of syntax errors and the users were given instructions on the most common mistakes found in search strategies. The feedback we received was very valuable and was a nice start for further development.

After the workshop I joined some interesting lectures and workshops. You could tell that everyone really worked hard on their workshop or presentation. There was a variety of lectures to choose from, including talks about fake news. AI, mental health and predatory journals. What I learned on the conference is that medical information specialists are great at creating a safe environment for discussing and debating. We can imagine a world where everyone uses information to find out what the truth is. There was also dancing at the end in the ballroom. Most people got up and showed their best moves. So yes, who knew that information specialists could dance?

But more importantly, we imagine, build, share, and explore. From navigating strikes, to debugging search strategies and debating truth in the age of AI. EAHIL 2025 showed that our work is both meaningful and fun. Łódź , you were a blast. Onward to the next conference, until then we’ll keep dancing.