Thursday, December 13, 2012

24-Hour Loans

All of our 24 hour loans are now issuing over the Christmas break until Monday, January 7.

Students looking to renew 3-week loans over the break should make sure their account is clear of overdue items and/or outstanding fines.

This will ensure that you can renew your books online using your student number and Library PIN.  For a 'how-to' guide on renewing and reserving books online check the guides and tutorials page on our website.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Chronicling America

History researchers may find the Library of Congress digital collections worth a look, a variety of open access resources offering various types of content covering different aspects of culture and history.

One of particular note is Chronicling America which allows you to search and view over 5.2 million digitised newspaper pages drawn from newspaper titles from 26 US states (3 more are to be added next year).  The collection currently covers 1836-1922.

At first glance we came across an article about Arthur Griffith written by Padraic Colum for the New York Tribune on December 25, 1921 - "The man who taught Erin to find herself".

Have a peek, who knows what you might find!

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Christmas Tree

Everyone knows that all our books started off as trees....well, we thought we'd mix things up a bit and so decided to make our Christmas tree out of books this year.  It seemed like a good idea at the time...

It lives just outside the Library so come up and have a look at the greatest tree you'll see this Christmas.

A happy festive period to all friends of the Library!

Ebooks Unavailable 8/12/12

Our ebook providers are carrying out an essential upgrade of their platform this Saturday, December 8.

As a result all Library ebooks will be unavailable between 10am and 6pm on that day.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Plagiarism.org & Turnitin

Any staff currently using turnitin.com OriginalityCheck to help their students with proper citation and referencing may also find plagiarism.org of interest.

Plagiarism.org is an information resource created by turnitin which contains guidelines on plagiarism and best practices for ensuring originality in written work. It includes an "ask the experts" feature, FAQs, and a resource section with downloadable handouts for students.  Please note that some   information may refer to other resources not currently available to SPD staff.

Any lecturers who would like to get started with turnitin should contact the Library to request an instructor account.  This will allow you to create classes and assignments for your students to register in and submit their own assignments to.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Library Book Sale


The library is holding a used book sale today and tomorrow, Wednesday 21st & Thursday 22nd of November outside the Library entrance. Each book is one euro.

UPDATE 26/11/12: All remaining books are now free to take away! They will be available outside the Library only until tomorrow, Tuesday 27th November so come up and give a few lonely books a good home!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Library Ireland Week

This week is Library Ireland Week and to mark it we're having a competition!  Yipee!!

We have two book vouchers to give away to two lucky winners.  To be in with a chance of winning one all you have to do is send us in a picture which promotes the "literacy: everyday, everyway" theme of Library Ireland Week 2012.

It could be a photo of you reading something somewhere interesting...even if it's the back of a tin of beans, though obviously we'd prefer if it's something more high-brow...

So get a snap, send it in to info.library@spd.dcu.ie and the two best entries will receive a €50 or €25 book voucher!  Closing date for entries is November 30.

If you're short on ideas, we've hung up a few of Library staff (or volunteered friends/family) at the Library to get the ball rolling, along with reviews of some of our favourite books.

Happy Library Week!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Turn-it-in for Staff

The Library is running starter sessions for staff looking to use turnitin OriginalityCheck software this week.

Our sessions are in the E-block boardroom at the following times:
13:05 / 13:35
Tuesday / Wednesday, 13th / 14 November 

The seminars will take no longer than 20 minutes and will cover the basics of how to get up an running with the program.

These sessions are complemented by a more advanced session hosted by Teaching and Learning Committee next Tuesday which will look at the pedagogical aspects and implications of using turnitin with students.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

October/November Hours

Please note that the Library will be closed on the following days:

Monday, 29 Oct
Thursday, 1st Nov
Friday, 9th Nov
Saturday, 10th Nov

For our full opening hours around these dates check our website.  

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Open Access Week

This week is Open Access Week, a global event in its sixth year which promotes awareness of and participation in open access initiatives.

When the fancy takes us we like to point out relevant and interesting open access resources here, so for the week that's in it we'll list a couple of our current favourites...

World Digital Library
Created by UNESCO and Library of Congress, WDL is a digital collection and portal for "significant primary materials" from countries and cultures around the world.  Digitised objects vary from a first edition of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass to a map of Ireland from Abraham Ortelius' Theatrum Orbis Terrarum.  

BambooDIRT
A great one-stop shop for digital tools for researchers and teachers. Not all the resources listed are open access but the majority are, and the site itself is a really quick way of seeing what tools or resources can help you in your line of research or work.  They are neatly categorised into typical research tasks such as
  • analyse data
  • make a dynamic map
  • organise research materials
  • annotate resources
  • write collaboratively
Clicking on a task opens up a list of what online tools are available for that particular aspect of research, along with brief descriptions and links.  The lists can be further narrowed by cost (including 'free'!) and platform (Windows, Apple etc.) so you can quickly see what you're looking for.

Happy Open Access Week!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Booker Shortlist

The 2012 Man Booker Prize winner is announced tonight.  We don't like to leave anyone out so we have all six shortlisted titles available for loan in the Library...
  • Tan Twan Eng, The Garden of Evening Mists (Myrmidon Books) 
  • Deborah Levy, Swimming Home (And Other Stories/Faber & Faber) 
  • Hilary Mantel, Bring up the Bodies (Fourth Estate) 
  • Alison Moore, The Lighthouse (Salt) 
  • Will Self, Umbrella (Bloomsbury) 
  • Jeet Thayil, Narcopolis (Faber & Faber)

Catalogue Access

Our Catalogue is down at present due to a technical problem. This is currently being investigated.
If you want to check whether a book is in stock at present please ask at the issue or information desk or contact us at 8842170 / info.library@spd.dcu.ie.
Our apologies for any inconvenience.
***UPDATE 17/10/12 - Access has now been restored***

Monday, October 15, 2012

Maths Week: Concept of Chaos

As part of the College's Maths Week celebrations we have three videos on display in the Library explaining and illustrating the Mathematical concepts of dynamical systems and chaos.

These videos are not yet released on the web but are available to SPD for Maths Week 2012 by kind permission of Etienne Ghys, Director of Research at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Lyon.

The films each last just over 13 minutes. The titles on display in the Library are:
  • Panta Rhei – Everything Flows
  • The Lego Race
  • Newton’s Apple
Three more of the films will be shown by the Mathematics Department on Thursday 18th October at 18:30 in D210, SPD. See full details of the Maths Week 2012 events in the College here.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Foilseacháin An Gúm

Tá cnúasacht, beagnach iomlán, sa Leabharlann de na haistriúcháin a deineadh sa Ghúm ó na daicheadaí i leith.

I measc na leabhar seo tá claisicí, mar shampla
Árda Wuthering (Emily Bronte) aistrithe ón mBéarla ag Seán ó Cíosáin; Ise (H.Rider Haggard) aistrithe ag Níall Ó Domhnaill; Mná Beaga (L.M. Alcott) aistrithe ag Nioclás Tóibín; Ivanhoe (Sir Walter Scott) aistrithe ag Seosamh Mac Grianna agus Filéad na Banríoghaine (Canon Sheehan) aistrithe ag Séamus Mac Gríanna nó "Máire".

Bhí taispeántas de na háistriúcháin seo sa Leabharlann i mbliana mar chuid de chúrsa a bhí ag micléinn sa 3ú bliain acadúil, cúrsa roghnach faoí stiúir Gearóidín Laighléis.

SAGE Research Tools

For the month of October SAGE are offering FREE access to their set of online research tools:
  • SAGE Journals
  • SAGE Research Methods
  • SAGE Knowledge
You may already be familiar with SAGE Journals through our journal subscriptions or if you have accessed DCU Library resources.  SAGE Research Methods and SAGE Knowledge are two other online tools which allow you to refine and focus your research further and are well worth a look.

SAGE Knowledge - SK - is a social sciences digital library containing more than 2,500 eBook and eReference titles.  The platform allows researchers to cross-search all of these titles and seamlessly access a wide breadth of reference and monographic content from one source.

SAGE Research Methods - SRM - aims to help you create research projects and understand the methods behind them. It retrieves content from various sources - books, journals, reference sources - to provide a single information source for research methods and research design questions.  It contains explanations and definitions of more than 1,400 research methods terms.

If you want to try out any of these tools just go to http://www.sagepub.com/freetrial2012/ and register for free access until October 31.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Banned Books Exhibition

This week is banned books week and we are joining the American Library Association in celebrating the freedom to read. Our headline quotation by Jo Godwin is:
“A truly great library has something in it to offend everyone”. 
Come see our display of once-banned titles that help make our library great!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Library Inductions

All new B.A. and B.Ed. students should make sure to attend a group tour over the next couple of weeks (if you haven't already).

They are quick and snappy and tell you all you need to know to hit the ground running with your studies and assignments.  

New B.Ed.students are scheduled according to their B.Ed. group - you can see your group's timeslot on the Síol section of our website here.

Tours for B.A. students were offered last week but if you missed yours for any reason please let us know either at the information desk or by email - info.library@spd.dcu.ie.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Culture Night

The College's first contribution to Culture Night on Friday last was a great success.

In addition to the musical and architectural offerings, visitors on the night were given a rare opportunity to view four Irish language manuscripts held by the College.

Indexed as Lamhscríbhinní I, II, III, IV) they contain mainly religious or devotional material , including versions of Aodh Mac Aingil’s Scáthán Shacramuinte na hAithridhe.  LIII is of particular interest in that is it is written on the back of printed acts of the parliament in Dublin, which date from 1772.

The main event of the evening was a recital of César Franck's 'Violin Sonata', Arvo Pärt's reflective 'Spiegel im Spiegel' and the 'Andantino malincolico' by George Enescu by Darragh Morgan (violin) and Mary Dullea (piano), both members of The Fidelio Trio, the newly appointed ensemble-in-residence at the College's music department.

Congratulations to all involved!

Friday, September 21, 2012

Fáilte!

The Library welcomes all new staff and students for 2012/13.

We'll be running inductions for all incoming students at the beginning of term and our handy Library Guide is available at the Information Desk (or you can download it in pdf format here).

If you have any questions or problems with anything in the Library do let us know - we are here to help!

Monday, July 16, 2012

BAMBOO for Researchers...

BAMBOO DIRT is very a useful one-stop-shop for digital research tools of all shapes and sizes.  Whether or not your research itself has a digital bent, you are likely to find something of interest.

The various resources and tools are neatly categorised into typical research tasks such as
  • analyse data
  • make a dynamic map
  • organise research materials
  • annotate resources
  • write collaboratively
Clicking on a task opens up a list of what online tools are available for that particular aspect of research, along with brief descriptions and links.  The lists can be further narrowed by cost (including 'free'!) and platform (Windows, Apple etc.) so you can quickly see what you're looking for.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Laureate na nÓg Display

At the entrance to the main Library we currently have a selection of titles from the new Laureate na nÓg Niamh Sharkey on display.

The role was established in 2010 to recognise the role and importance of literature for children, and Niamh takes over from the inaugural Laureate, author Siobhán Parkinson.

Niamh is an award-winning author and illustrator of children’s picture books.  Her first two books, Tales of Wisdom and Wonder and The Gigantic Turnip won the Mother Goose Award for the Best New Illustrator and The Bisto Book of the Year respectively. Her most recent title, On the Road with Mavis and Marge won the 2010 Junior Book of the Year award at The Irish Book Awards and was shortlisted for the Bisto Book of the Year Awards.

Laureate na nÓg is an initiative of the Arts Council with the support of the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Children’s Books Ireland, Poetry Ireland and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
www.niamhsharkey.com
www.childrenslaureate.ie

DIB Unavailable

Dictionary of Irish Biography online is currently unavailable due to a technical issue.  The vendor's developers are currently working on a fix and hope to have a resolution shortly.

UPDATE: Access to this resource has now been restored.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Teaching and Learning Award

Congratulations to the Síol Team in the Library who won an award for excellence in Teaching and Learning.

Genevieve Larkin, Ben Staunton and Victoria Smyth were presented with their award by the College President at a special ceremony on 31st May in recognition of the work they do in Information and Research Support.

Friday, June 1, 2012

June Bank Holiday

The Library is closed over the June Bank Holiday from Saturday, June 2 to Monday, June 4 inclusive.

We reopen on Tuesday, June 5 for summer hours (10am-1pm, 2pm-5pm).  For our full opening hours check our website.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Good Luck!

The Library staff wish all our students taking exams at present the very best of luck.

Remember, if you're having trouble with anything while studying in the Library please be sure to ask a member of staff for assistance.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Extra Opening Hours

To accommodate students taking exams, the Library will stay open until 10pm on Fridays and 5pm on Saturdays for the next three weeks.

Fridays (May 11,18 & 25): 9am-10pm
Saturdays (May 12,19 26): 10am-5pm

You can see our full opening hours for the coming months on our website.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Short Loans for Study Week

From tomorrow (Thursday) evening all items from our short loan collection will be issuing over study week until Monday, May 21.  This applies to all of our 24-hour loan items including DVDs.

Friday, April 27, 2012

New Look Catalogue

We've given our Catalogue a facelift to make it even easier to find what you're looking for.  The new version, which can be accessed here or via the 'Catalogue' links
on our website, has various new features which should help spend you less time searching and more time reading...
  • single search box for quick and easy searching
  • more search options link for advanced searching
  • refine your search by date, author, collection or subject 
  • export records to Refworks
If you want to stay retro, the old version will still be accessible for a while yet at http://library.spd.dcu.ie/TalisPrism/ but if you're trying out the new version we'd love to know what you think of the new look - you can email us at info.library@spd.dcu.ie or use the feedback link at the bottom of the Catalogue screen.

World Book Night

Our World Book Night celebration last Tuesday night proved very popular with both students and staff, as a lucky 50 borrowers got a free copy of either Cormac McCarthy’s The Road or The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella.

Thanks to all who came up to the Library on the night, and sorry to those who were too late!  The only pity was we didn't have more to give out as the 50 copies were snapped up in double-quick time.

We'll just have to try and rustle up a few more for next year's event...

Thursday, April 19, 2012

FREE BOOKS!!

As part of World Book Night 2012, the Library is offering a FREE BOOK to the first 48 staff or students to come through our Library doors after 5pm on Monday, April 23.

FIRST COME FIRST SERVED!!
FREE!!


We have 24 copies of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and another 24 copies of The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella to give away.

So come up to our Information Desk from 5pm and while stocks last we'll give you the book of your choice!

Cregan Library's participation in World Book Night is organised by The Reading Agency, the reader development agency for libraries’ work with readers.

The World Book Night 2012 titles were selected in part by members of the public who participated in an online ballot leading to the World Book Night top 100 books for the 2012 give-away. The full list can be seen at: www.worldbooknight.org/your-books/the-wbn-top-100-books

Now in its second year, the event is an industry-wide initiative launched in 2011 and will see one million free books given away by passionate readers to other members of the public across the UK and Ireland. It takes place on April 23, UNESCO’s International Day of the Book and Shakespeare’s birthday.


Wednesday, April 18, 2012

One College, One Book

In conjunction with the English Department, the Library is delighted to present inaugural John McGahern Writer-in-Residence Claire Keegan in conversation with Dr. Noreen Doody, Head of English here in St Patrick's College.  

The event will take place next Tuesday, 24th April at 6pm in D210 and forms part of the One College One Book initiative encouraging staff and students of St. Patrick’s College to read Foster by Claire Keegan.

All staff and students are invited to attend including those from our linked campuses.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Cáisc Shona Daoibh!

Our opening hours over the Easter break are as follows:

Mon, April 2 9am-5pm
Tue, April 3 9am-5pm
Wed, April 4 9am-1pm

April 5-10 Closed

Wed, April 11 9am-5pm
Thu, April 12 9am-5pm
Fri, April 13 9am-5pm
Sat, April 14 Closed
Sun, April 15 Closed

We return to normal term-time hours on Monday, April 16.

From Thursday evening, March 29 (after 5pm) all 24hr loan items will be issued until Monday, April 16.

We wish all staff and students a very happy Easter!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Lá Fhéile Pádraig

The Library will be closed from Saturday, March 17 to Monday, March 19 inclusive for the St Patrick's Day Holiday. We re-open on Tuesday, March 20 for normal term-time hours.

 For our full opening hours for the coming months check our website.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Proquest Upgrade

Users of any of our Proquest-hosted resources (such as IIMP - International Index of Music Periodicals) should note that they may be temporarily unavailable next weekend (Sat/Sun, March 18/19).

This is in order to allow for maintenance work on Proquest's database infrastructure to be carried out.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Mapping Your History

Historical maps are increasingly available in digital format these days but they are often difficult to find, tucked away in various locations on the web.

Old Maps Online is a new portal for web-based historical maps which aims to make that task a whole lot easier.

The interface allows you to browse and search old maps by panning and zooming across a world map.  A search bar and a date slider allow further narrowing of your search.  Alternatively the 'magnifying glass' icon allows you to highlight a particular area on the map (so you can just search for maps available of Ireland, for example).

Whatever search method you use, the results update accordingly in the right sidebar, which provides links to the maps in their hosting site or institution.

At present the maps contained are drawn from five different digital resources:
  • A Vision of Britain through Time, Historical Map Library
  • British Library, Map Library
  • Cartography Associates, the David Rumsey Map Collection
  • Moravian Library, Czech Republic
  • National Library of Scotland, Maps of Scotland
It was created by the Great Britain Historical GIS Project in University of Portsmouth and Klokan Technologies GmbH, Switzerland with funding from JISC and will continue to add further digital map collections through 2012.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Irish History Online

 History students and staff may be interested to check out Irish History Online, an online bibliographic guide to what has been written on Irish History through the centuries.

Hosted by the Royal Irish Academy Library, this open access resource currently contains over 77,000 records relating to books, pamphlets, articles, proceedings and book chapters on all aspects of Irish History.

The resource forms part of a European network of historical bibliographies, currently contributed to by thirteen countries.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Teaching and Learning Resources

In our Main Lending Collection we have many titles relating to different aspects of Teaching and Learning.

They're not all in the same spot so to help you find them we've put a list on the Subject Resources section of our website under Teaching and Learning, giving a quick reference of what we currently stock in that area, along with the relevant shelf numbers. They're all on our Catalogue too so you can check there whether they're out on loan.

Any staff who wish to add titles in this area can request them in the usual way through our website.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Hey! Mr. Tambourine Man...

..won't you play a tune?

We are now offering Music Packs for loan to all SPD staff and students.  Each pack contains 17 instruments so whether you're a maracas man or leave them agog with your agogô (sorry) you'll find something in there for you!  

We hope students in Music and Education in particular will find the packs useful for use both their own use and while on teaching practice.

They are available on request at the issue desk but we have one on display in the Library foyer so you can check it out.  

Our thanks to the Quality Promotion Committee and the Music Department for their support of this initiative.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Seachtain na Gaeilge

Tá an Coláiste ag ceiliúradh Sheachtain na Gaeilge go luath i mbliana (ón Luan, 6 Feabhra, go dtí an Aoine, 10 Feabhra)! Mar chuid den cheiliúradh sin tá ábhar Gaeilge ár mBailiúchán Speisialta á thaispeáint againn:

  • Bailiúchán Dolmen Press 
  •  Bailiúchán Three Candles Press 
  •  Bailiúchán Patricia Lynch 
  •  Bailiúchán DVDanna 
Le haghaidh tuilleadh eolais ar ár mbailiúcháin speisialta téigh chuig: http://leabharlann.spd.dcu.ie/IrishSite/Collections/CollectionsG.html agus le haghaidh tuilleadh eolais ar imeachtaí oifigiúla Sheachtain na Gaeilge féach ar www.snag.ie.

----------------------------------

To celebrate Seachtain na Gaeilge the Library has curated an exhibition of the Irish language material currently held in our various Special Collections:

  •  The Dolmen Press collection 
  •  Three Candles Press collection 
  •  The Patricia Lynch collection 
  •  DVD collection 
For more information on our special collections see our here: http://leabharlann.spd.dcu.ie/EnglishSite/Collections/Collections.html and for more information on the official events of SnaG see www.snag.ie

Monday, January 30, 2012

Laptops for Loan!

This term we are running a pilot scheme offering laptops for loan in the Library.

We hope this will help ensure users can access our databases, e-journals, e-books and other web-based resources such as Refworks during your Library visit.  The laptops also have MS Office installed to enable borrowers to work on assignments or research papers.

They are available as 3-hour loans on request at our Information Desk.

Please note that their use is subject to the College's Code of Conduct for the Use of IT Resources and students will be asked to sign a terms & conditions form when borrowing.  

Monday, January 23, 2012

Oxford Handbooks Online Trial

We have trial access to Oxford Handbooks Online: Political Science until February 18.  This module of the Oxford Handbooks series comprises of 24 titles each covering a different aspect of the area.

Titles available in this module include:

  • The Welfare State
  • Local and Regional Democracy in Europe
  • Climate Change and Society
  • Public Policy
Political Science is one of four modules in the Handbooks series, the others being Business Management, Philosophy and Religion.  

If you find this resource helpful or would like a look at any of the other modules please let us know at info.library@spd.dcu.ie.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Info & Academic Skills Week

For the start of the new term the Library is running Information and Academic Skills Week (January 23-27) with events and training sessions for students.  Have a look below at what's on offer:

1) Academic Writing Skills Workshop
12 noon, Wednesday, 25th January in E201:
Writing consultant Lawrence Cleary from the Regional Writing Centre in University of Limerick will give a workshop on academic writing to all interested students. This event is presented in association with the Teaching and Learning Committee.  All are welcome so make sure not to miss it!

 2) One-to-one sessions
All week, at whatever level or area suits your needs:
  • Where to start 
    • develop a search strategy
    • find what you need in the Library
    • search the Catalogue
    • save searches 
    • locate books/journals
  •  Using the internet for academic purposes 
    • find online journals
    • search the Library’s academic databases
    • use other subject gateways and search engines
    • use Google Scholar
    • set up alerts/RSS feeds 
    • get updates on new research in your area
  • Give credit where credit is due 
    • cite sources correctly and build your reference list
    • use Turnitin to check you have referenced properly
    • basic Refworks for beginners 
    • advanced Refworks (write'n'cite for in-text citation, formatting your paper and bibliography, and using Refshare for group projects and sharing references with others). 
Just call to the Library or email us with details of what you want to cover in your session and we will set up an appointment for you with one of our SÍOL team.

3) Complete Our Survey
Finally, we'd ask you to help us improve our service by completing a quick online survey. This will help ensure that future events and training are tailored to YOUR needs!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Vacation Week

Please note the Library is open for office hours only next week (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm).  We return to full term-time hours on Monday, January 23.