Afraid to Ask? Watch and Learn

We're always here to help in the Library, but for those of you who don't make it so far as our Information Desk we've made some short "movies" showing some basic functions on our Catalogue and website.

As Library productions of course they're silent (shhh...), and we won't be packing for the Oscars just yet, but we hope they'll be of assistance to some users.

For starters we've covered the following areas

(if they're too small to follow just click on the full screen option on the bottom-right of each window)

How to renew a loan


How to reserve a book that's out on loan


How to find and read an ebook on the Catalogue


How to search, copy and print with an ebook


These clips can also be found on our website by clicking on Online Tutorials in the Online Resources page.

They were made using free software so if you think you'd like more of the same (for other tasks) let us know at info.library@spd.dcu.ie and we'll see if we can get Spielberg in again...

An IAR to the Ground...

Irish Archives Resource (www.iar.ie) is a new web portal which allows cross-searching of some noteworthy online archives. The portal harvests content from 16 prominent repositories with material ranging from the 17th Century up to the present.

The searchable records and objects include contents of 11 County and 3 City archives as well as the Guinness Archive, Irish Film Archive and Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

You can limit your search either to a single repository or to 'Collection Types' with options including Literary Papers, Theatre, Folklore, Trade Unions and Archives of Private Clubs and Societies.

The project was part-funded by the Heritage council and should be useful to researchers in a wide range of areas.

Lá Fhéile Pádraig

The Library is closed tomorrow, March 17 for St. Patrick's Day. We reopen on Friday at 9am. See our full opening hours here.

Síol Workshops and Training

As part of Library Ireland Week (March 7-13), we are pleased to launch Síol Information and Research Support Service.

Good library and information services are an essential underpinning for research, just as they are for successful teaching and learning. Success in research depends critically on the quality of the information services to which researchers have accesss. We would like to invite you along to our refresher courses and basic demonstrations in using our Online Resources.

Over the next three weeks we are offering basic and refresher demonstrations in

• RefWorks Bibliography Manager
  
• Online Databases
• Using the Catalogue
• Journal searches
  
• Accessing Ebooks

For details of when and where these courses are taking place check the Síol page on our website.

Taispeántas Leabharlainne

The Library is currently exhibiting a selection of poems from contemporary Irish poets. The poems revisit traditional Gaelic folklore in a contemporary way. See below for more information.

Filí Comhaimseartha na Gaeilge agus an Traidisiún

Gné lárnach de chuid na filíochta comhaimseartha sa Ghaeilge is ea an úsáid chruthaitheach a bhaineann filí áirithe as foinsí dúchasacha. Agus iad ag tarraingt go comhfhiosach as acmhainní na scéalaíochta liteartha agus an bhéaloidis, ath-insíonn siad na scéalta sin i gcomhthéacs comhaimseartha, díríonn siad isteach ar phearsana, ar eachtraí agus ar théamaí ar leith, agus músclaíonn siad ceisteanna nua faoi bhrí agus faoi thábhacht na mbunsaothar féin.

Is éard atá sa taispeántas seo ná blaiseadh beag den phróiseas atá i gceist agus léiriú ar an gcaoi ar cuid bheo dhinimiciúil dár gcultúr na scéalta Rúraíochta agus na scéalta Fiannaíochta a bhfuil athleaganacha díobh tagtha anuas chugainn i lámhscríbhinní agus ó bhéal. Feicfear sa taispeántas seo: eagráin scolártha de na bunsaothair Ghaeilge; leaganacha do pháistí óga de chuid de na scéalta is cáiliúla; aistriúcháin go Béarla; leabhair thagartha; agus samplaí ó shaothar filí ar leith.

New Literature Resource

Staff and students of the English Department should try out Literary Encyclopedia, a new online database we have obtained access to.

This resource is a unique collection of specially commissioned articles written by university teachers and academics around the world and relating to authors, works, and themes of English literature.

Use the left-hand navigation bar to browse or search the collection by author, work or topic. Alternatively the 'bookshelves' tool provides clusters of articles based on time period, literary movement, or theme.

You can also create an individual account using your @mail.dcu.ie or @spd.dcu.ie email address. This allows you to create your own custom bookshelves for easy retrieval at a later date.

Check it out by clicking on the links above or from the databases a-z on our website.

Seachtain na Gaeilge

Mar chuid de cheiliúradh Sheachtain na Gaeilge an tseachtain seo, táimid ag cur na leabhar Gaeilge agus na leabhar Béaloidis is fearr linn ar taispeáint.

Tá siad le fáil in aice bhealach isteach na Leabharlainne agus tá an chuid is mó acu ar fáil do mhic léinn agus do bhaill foirne a dteastaíonn uathu iad a léamh. Mar sin, buailigí isteach chugainn!