Library News
News Archive 2009
New features in our library catalogue
We are pleased to offer three new features in "My Library Card":
- A notice following login, if you currently owe money and/or have overdue loans
- Your current total of accumulating fines on overdue loans
- Itemised details of accumulating fines on overdue loans
Library training available during Re-Orientation Week
1 to 5 February 2010
December 2009
Maynooth Pathways Project visits the Library. The visit included a tour of the Russell Library and the Museum
Arts Week - Exhibition in Library
7 - 10 December 2009
An exhibition of artworks by students and staff is currently on display in the Library
November 2009
University Open Day
First visitors to the library stand at the NUIM Open Day, Muireann Ní Raghallaigh, Allan Fox and Sarah Smith from Boyne Community School.
More visitors to the library stand
Mícheál Konstantine, Conall Mac Clonnaith
and Conor Nolan, Coláiste Cois Life
Syafiqah Cullen, Scoil Mhuire, Trim
with Shauna Callagy, 1st Arts NUIM
Vicki Kielty, Aoife Murray, Jessica Ward, Nicole Fitapatrick, Jennifer Wilson and Sarah Boland,
Hartstown Community School
Seonaidh Jordan and Realtéin McCann, Coláiste Rís, Dundalk
Meabh Farrelly, Eureka Secondary School, Kells, Ciara Maguire, Loreto Secondary School, St. Michael's, Navan and Mark Smith St. Patrick's Classical School, Navan
Patricia Curran and Áine Allen, Eureka Secondary School, Kells
Mark Gleeson, Árdscoil Rís, Griffith Avenue and Aoife Whelan,Our Lady Of Mercy College, Beaumont
Damien McGuinness, Natasha Bird, Elaine Byrne and Emma Connolly, Jesus & Mary Secondary School, Enniscrone
Shane Firel, Anthony Friel, Donna Crossan and Karen Friel, Carndonagh Community School
Orlagh Duggan, Karen Phelan, Deirdre Slattery and Edwina Nolan, Mount Rath Community School
Book launch in the Library
The Library hosted the launch of Dr. Mureann Ní Bhrolcháin's new book An Introduction to Early Irish Literature on Monday the 9th of November.
This major new work makes Irish literature accessible to the general public, exposing an important part of our heritage.
Women in Science Exhibition in the Library
The “Women in Science Exhibition” is on display in the library foyer until the end of November. The exhibition includes Irish and European women scientist from the eighteenth century to the present day. Some of the notable Irish women scientists represented are Maynooth’s own Susan McKenna-Lawlor Emeritus Professor for her contributions to space science, botanist Professor Phyllis Clinch (1901-1984) and Newbridge born, x-ray crystallographyer, Dame Kathleen Lonsdale (1914-2005).
October 2009
National Information Literacy Awareness Month
Maynooth’s Irish manuscripts now accessible on the web
Anne Marie O’Brien digitising some of Maynooth’s Irish manuscripts,
in the Russell Library, as part of the ISOS project
Ten of Maynooth’s Irish manuscripts now accessible on the web and more to come!
Meamram Páipéar Riomhaire or Irish Script on Screen project (ISOS) is run by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. The object is to make digital images of Irish manuscripts available on the web for the use of scholars and students, and to highlight this very important part of Ireland’s heritage. Eleven institutions are participating to date.
ePrints: NUI Maynooth ePrints and eTheses Archive
Do you want to promote your publications to a worldwide audience and increase your citations?
Contact Suzanne Redmond Maloco Tel: 7083898 to deposit your publications.
Click here to browse the NUI Maynooth ePrints and eTheses archive.
Over 900 people attended LIST
Thanks to all who attended LIST and for your feedback on the programme. We will continue to run training sessions during the year. Check the library website or Moodle for further updates.
The Many Faces of Europe's Capitals" Exhibition Opens
Sinead McKeogh, Laura Scanlon and Sarah Scanlon visit the exhibition in the Library
"The many faces of Europe's capitals" picture exhibition opens in NUI Maynooth.
A picture exhibition entitled "The many faces of Europe's capitals" was launched in the NUI Maynooth library by Professor Lawrence J. Taylor, Vice President for International Affairs, NUI Maynooth on Tuesday 6th October.
This Picture Exhibition was organised on behalf of the Union of Capitals of the European Union (UCEU) to inform people about the work and role of the UCEU and the richness and variety of Europe's capital cities. It has been displayed in different libraries since last October and we have had a very positive response.
At the launch Prof Taylor said “Here, in the University, the exhibit naturally reminds of the richness that has come to us in the persons of students from these marvelous places. Now we need to send more of our students to these close and far flung corners of Europe as they will not only be individually enriched by the experience, but they will also be adding Irish voices to the collective creation of an ever-evolving Europe”
The exhibition will be on display for the month of October in the library.
National Information Literacy Awareness Month
Strapped for cash to get those essential text books?
Get the Library to buy your books for you!
Design a NOISE poster
The library is offering a fantastic prize of a €150 book token for the design of a poster which addresses the issue of noise in the library. The winning poster will be produced by the Library and used for highlighting the issue. All entrants will be included in a raffle for a €50 book token. So it’s time to get designing!
Guidelines:
Posters should be in PDF or Powerpoint format. Please submit as an A4 attachment no bigger than 100kb. Closing Date: 27th November, 2009. Submit entries to Helen.b.fallon@nuim.ie. The judging panel will include members of the Student Library committee.
100% attendance at LIST - Library Information Skills Training
Jenny Cunningham, 1st year Theology & Arts student, discussing the training courses with Mary Antonesa, Head of Information Services.
Jenny, who attended all the sessions, gives us her comments on LIST: "Very beneficial and important to come at the early stages".
September 2009
Library winner
Seán Kelly, 1st Arts, one of the lucky winners of the library orientation draw, with Mary Antonesa, Head of Information Services.
Welcome to all our new students!
The Library would like to give a warm welcome to all our new students and we are looking forward to meeting you in September. We have a full range of training courses to help you with your studies.
Full details
August 2009
Library Poster a Winner at AISHE 2009
Helen Fallon, Deputy Librarian NUI Maynooth and Ellen Breen, Head of Information and Public Services with their poster which was awarded joint first place in the 2009 AISHE Conference Poster Competition.
View the poster:
The Learning and Teaching Information Resources Toolkit
Rachel Hynes, Subject Librarian, presented a poster with Michael Kenny, Adult Education Action Research: A Learning Tool that Engages Complexity
Helen Fallon, NUI Maynooth,
Dr. John Willison, University of Adelaide and Ellen Breen, DCU
Exhibition in John Paul II Library
Into the light:
hidden items from reserve and store collections
The current exhibition shows diverse items from the store and reserve
collections. From a signed Scottish binding to a late 19th century history of Afghanistan, Irish defence forces uniforms from 1945, to the Irish Farmer’s Association Year Book of 1963 - half of the exhibits are available electronically.
The Russell Library and the oldest copy of the Bible in the world
A copy of the original Codex Sinaiticus was acquired by Charles Russell, a former president of St. Patrick's College Maynooth from the Emperor of Russia in 1864. It takes its name from the Monastery of Saint Catherine, Mount Sinai, where it was preserved for many centuries. The 4th-century Codex represents one of the earliest examples of the transition from papyrus roll to book and is written in Greek. Codex Sinaiticus is one of the most important witnesses to the Greek text of the Septuagint (the Old Testament in the version that was adopted by early Greek-speaking Christians) and the New Testament. The Codex is split up and is now in four different parts of the world. It was the subject of a recent major conference.
Contact the Russell Library to view the copy of the Codex and Charles Russell's Russian correspondence. You can also visit the Codex Sinaiticus website.
July 2009
Visitor from the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca
Maribel Manzano, Assistant Director of the Library at the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca visited the Library on a one-week study tour. The visit afforded her the opportunity to see operations in the John Paul II and Russell Libraries, the new OPW-NUI Maynooth Archive and Research Centre at Castletown and to visit both Trinity College and the Chester Beatty Library. Maribel met Monsignor Hugh G. Connolly as part of the visit. Monsignor Connolly warmly welcomed her, noting the strong links between St Patrick's College Maynooth and the Pontifical University of Salamanca.
Book Launch in Russell Library
Dr Michael Dunne and Dr. Mette Lebech at the launch of The Irish Contribution to European Scholastic Thought edited by Professor James McEvoy (QUB) and Dr. Michael Dunne (Department of Philosophy, NUIM). A reception to mark the event was hosted in the Russell Library.
Dr Eoin Cassidy, Head of Philosophy, Mater Dei Institute, Dublin City University launches The Irish Contribution to European Scholastic Thought on Friday 10th July 2009
May 2009
Historic document arrives at NUI Maynooth from Castle Howard
Read the Irish Times article on the scroll
On Monday 18 May 2009, as a result of a collaboration between NUI Maynooth and Castle Howard, a 300 foot scroll returned to Ireland for the first time in 160 years. It will now be the focus of an important scholarly investigation carried out by the Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates (with research led by Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Dr Patrick Cosgrove), An Foras Feasa and the staff of the Russell Library at NUIM.
Some time ago Prof Christopher Ridgway, curator of Castle Howard, discovered the scroll in a wooden chest that had a bronze plaque to say that it had been presented by a committee organised by the Duke of Leinster (Carton House) to a previous owner of Castle Howard, Lord Morpeth (later Lord Carlisle), who had been the British chief secretary in Ireland.
Prof Ridgway, who is also Adjunct Professor at the History Department at NUI Maynooth, has worked for the last number of years on a number of collaborative projects with Dr Terence Dooley of the Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates at NUIM.
The scroll is a petition that had been organised in 1841 by the Duke of Leinster and ‘the Reformers’ of Ireland to mark the end of Morpeth’s tenure as chief secretary. It was signed by an estimated 300,000 people and is effectively a pre-Famine census of people of rank (the nobility, gentry, clergy, merchants, traders) throughout Ireland. This number constitutes perhaps 3-4% of the population of Ireland in 1841 (8.2 million). Looked at in this light, just before the calamities of the 1840s, this record of names acquires a very special status, and one might decide to ask of these names, where were they at the end of the decade?
It includes the names of many people from the Maynooth and surrounding areas. The first few sheets contain the names of Dominick O’Reilly who was a deputy lieutenant of Co Kildare; James O’Rorke of Johnstown house in Enfield; Alexander Mansfield of Morristown Lattin near Naas. One of the first signatures is that of Charles Bianconi of Clonmel, Co Tipperary, the pioneer of public transport in Ireland. The scroll has probably never been unrolled since the day it was first presented to Morpeth in September 1841 by the Duke of Leinster at the Royal Exchange in Dublin.
Dr Terence Dooley said the roll was a hugely significant social document that NUI Maynooth was delighted to have on loan and he thanked Simon Howard, the owner of Castle Howard, and Prof Ridgway for their enthusiasm for the project.
Cathal McCauley, Librarian said: ‘The arrival of this document in the Russell Library is a welcome example of collaboration between the Library, researchers and our international partners. Such collaboration ensures that NUIM continues to contribute to the development of our knowledge of the past while preserving this knowledge for the future.’
Prof Margaret Kelleher, Director of An Foras Feasa said that she welcomed the arrival of the petition and that the digitisation of the roll offered an excellent opportunity to build on the innovative digital humanities projects at NUI Maynooth led by Dr John Keating. NUI Maynooth now has a world-class imaging laboratory that can be used to produce high-resolution and three-dimensional images of the address for future research, teaching and learning. It is hoped that this hugely important historical document will go on display at some time in the future.
Nationwide feature highlighting famine archive in
OPW-NUI Maynooth Archive and Research Centre at Castletown
A special feature highlighting the archive of Strokestown Park House and its fascinating journey from Co. Roscommon to the OPW-NUI Maynooth Archive and Research Centre at Castletown, in Celbridge, Co. Kildare, will be broadcast on RTE’s Nationwide programme at 7pm, on Friday the 15th of May. This feature will coincide with National Famine Memorial Day which takes place that weekend.
The transfer of the Strokestown Archive marks an important link between the National University of Ireland Maynooth, the Office of Public Works and Strokestown Park House. The OPW-NUI Maynooth Archive and Research Centre at Castletown was formally launched by President Mary McAleese in November 2008, and is dedicated to the care and study of archives and other sources dealing with the history of Irish estates, their houses and inhabitants.
The Nationwide programme will focus primarily on documents from the Strokestown Archive that relate to the period of the Great Irish Famine. Census records from Strokestown, pleas from evicted tenants, and lists of individuals receiving meal, are but a few of the documents contained in the collection from this period. They provide a chilling account of life on the estate during Ireland’s greatest humanitarian disaster on record.
Archivist Róisín Berry said: ‘The documents contained in the Strokestown Archive are a lasting testament to the many lives that were lost in County Roscommon during the Great Famine. Letters, deeds, rental accounts, estate maps and other material reflect the daily lives of local people as they farmed the land and raised families, and how everything was to change in the 1840s with disastrous consequences. The Archive is of major importance as it provides a voice to many that were silenced either through death or emigration during this devastating period in Irish history.’
The programme will also feature the work of the Russell Library’s Conservation Unit in the National University of Ireland Maynooth, as a selection of documents from the Strokestown Archive receive specialist conservation treatment to ensure their long-term preservation for future generations.
April 2009
Open Day - Friday 3rd April
An Foras Feasa’s Open Day in NUI Maynooth on Friday the 3rd of April follows on an earlier event held in November 2008 in St Patrick’s College Drumcondra whereby members met to discuss current projects and potential AFF-supported research. The theme of this open day is ‘Digital Humanities’ and is jointly organised by AFF and NUIM Library. It will include a seminar on Digital Humanities Education (11 am – 1pm) with contributions by Dr Susan Schreibman and Shawn Day from the Digital Humanites Observatory, and by AFF representatives.
The afternoon will consist of a series of events including the launch of a collaborative exhibition on Digital Humanities, featuring work by undergraduates, postgraduates, post-doctoral fellows and local transition year students. We are very pleased to announce the launch of the Irish Confraternities Database at 3pm in John Paul II Library; this database was developed as part of the IRCHSS funded project on Irish Confraternities 1775-1965, led by Professor Colm Lennon, Principal Investigator. The database will be launched by Cathal McCauley, University Librarian. Our warm thanks to colleagues in the NUIM Library for their generous assistance in this collaborative event
The schedule of events is as follows and all are welcome. For those attending the Digital Humanities Education Seminar from 11.00-1.00, we would be most grateful if you could register your interest in advance. Please contact Dr Tom Byrne.
9.30am – 10.30am An Foras Feasa Open House
Location: Junior Infirmary, South Campus
11.00am – 1.00pm Digital Humanities Education Seminar
Location: John Hume Boardroom, North Campus
Chair: Dr John Keating, Associate Director, An Foras Feasa
Presentation by Digital Humanities Observatory representatives:
Dr Susan Schreibman and Shawn Day
Presentation by An Foras Feasa representatives:
Aja Teehan, Technology Officer
Dr Robin Kavanagh, Post Doctoral Fellow
Professor Margaret Kelleher, Director
NUI Maynooth Library and An Foras Feasa:
Collaborative Exhibition of Digital Humanities Projects
2.00pm Exhibition open for viewing in John Paul II Library
Refreshments will be served
3.00pm Launch of Irish Confraternities Database
Opening Address: Professor John Hughes, President, NUI Maynooth
Launch by Cathal McCauley, Librarian, NUI Maynooth
Speakers: Dr Maurice Bric, Chairperson, IRCHSS
Professor Colm Lennon, NUI Maynooth
Chair: Helen Fallon, Deputy Librarian, NUI Maynooth
3.30 pm Digital Humanities Poster Exhibition
Chair: Dr John Keating and Professor Margaret Kelleher, AFF
4.00 pm Close of exhibition
IReL Impact Survey
summary of findings, April 2009
The IReL Monitoring Group conducted a survey of researchers at the seven Irish universities and RCSI from 25 March to 9 April 2009. The survey sought to capture the impact of the Irish Research e-Library (IReL) on research, the nature of usage and any suggestions for improvements. It built upon a similar survey in 2007 and facilitated comparison of data between the two years. This document summarises the key findings from the 2009 survey.
March 2009
Jack Kerouac
Back On the Road
Over 1000 visitors viewed the scroll
Penny Woods, Russell Library Librarian, with Stevie Darragh and Maureen Doris, the last visitors to view the scroll before it goes back On the Road
James Canary unrolling the Kerouac Scroll in The Russell Library
Click here for more photos of the event
PRESS RELEASE
Jack Kerouac’s iconic On the Road scroll on display before it returns to the USA
The Library in collaboration with the School of English, Media and Theatre Studies at NUI Maynooth presents a major exhibition, 'Jack Kerouac Back On the Road'. The original 127-foot scroll of the text of On the Road was typed in one piece in 1951. The last of three venues in Europe before it returns to America, the Exhibition is in the Russell Library from Thursday 5 March to Thursday 19 March.
The Scroll of On the Road is now recognised as one of the most important modern literary manuscripts. Kerouac’s novel would exert a profound influence not only on the Beat generation of writers with whom he is associated, but on everything from the music of Bob Dylan to the genre of road movies.
Speaking about the exhibition President of NUI Maynooth Professor John Hughes said “All of us who work here in NUI Maynooth are aware that as members of a university community, we have a duty not only to create knowledge, and to teach it; we also have a responsibility to preserve it. The fragility of a literary manuscript like the Kerouac Scroll reminds us of what the preservation of culture entails in terms that are immediate and tangible.”
Professor Chris Morash said: “The Scroll of Kerouac’s On the Road is more than just a literary manuscript. It is a work of art in its own right, rolling out of Kerouac’s typewriter like the road he was writing about, reminding us that the journey can be a destination in its own right. Not just the novel, but the way in which it was written constitutes an important milestone in modern culture.”
The Librarian Cathal McCauley thanked those involved in organising the exhibition including Library and University colleagues but especially the scroll owner Mr James Irsay, the curator of the scroll Mr James Canary and Kerouac scholar Professor Dick Ellis. He said “In 2002 Mr James Irsay kindly offered to exhibit the scroll publicly and since then it has been displayed at venues across the USA but this is its only visit to the UK and Ireland”.
The exhibition continues in the Russell Library until 19 March and in keeping with NUI Maynooth’s commitment to engage with, and contribute to, the local and national community, the exhibition is open to the public.
Contact: 01-7083890 (Russell Library) 01-7083667/01-7083665 (Professor Chris Morash, School of English, Media and Theatre Studies).
The Library in collaboration with the School of English, Media and Theatre Studies presents a major exhibition, 'Jack Kerouac Back On the Road'.
The manuscript is on loan from the Collection of James. S. Irsay
©Estate of Anthony G. Sampatacus, the Estate of Jan Kerouac.
This photograph courtesy of Christie’s New York
The Library in collaboration with the School of English, Media and Theatre Studies at NUI Maynooth presents this major exhibition, 'Jack Kerouac Back On the Road'. The original 127-foot scroll of the text of On the Road was typed in one piece in 1951. The last of three venues in Europe before it returns to America, the Exhibition is in the Russell Library from Thursday 5 March to Thursday 19 March.
Opening hours 11.00am to 4.00pm as follows:
Thursday-Saturday 5-7 March
Monday-Friday 9-13 March
Monday 16 March
Tuesday 17 March closed
Wednesday 18 March
Thursday 19 March, closing at 2.30pm
Contact: 01-7083890 Celia.H.Kehoe@nuim.ie
Russell Library location http://www.nuim.ie/location/maps/south.shtml
Please note that the exhibition is accessible by stairs.
Seachtain na Gaeilge
- An Ghaeilge: Múineadh agus Foghlaim le céad bliain
100 years of Teaching and Learning Irish - Sheol Valerie Seymour (An Leabharlann), Siobhán Ní Fhoghlú (Oifigeach Gaeilge), Kate Fennell (Oifigeach Polasaí Teanga) agus Susan Durack (An Leabharlann) an taispeántas i Leabharlann Eoin Pól II i rith na seachtaine mar chuid de Sheachtain na Gaeilge.
Basque-Irish Encounter
There is an exhibition of Basque Language material in the John Paul II Library to coincide with the Public Lectures and Research Seminars organised by the Department of Spanish
January 2009
NUI Maynooth Library Social Sciences Festival 2009
Helen Fallon, Deputy Librarian, Cathal McCauley, University Librarian, Professor John Hughes, President of NUI Maynooth and Professor Jim Walsh, Deputy President of NUI Maynooth attending the launch of the Social Science Festival
Click here for more information