Welcome

Welcome

Welcome all first years and welcome back to everyone else! As you begin to prepare for the new academic year, here are a few pointers on what the Library can offer:

First of all, we are here to help. If you can’t find a book, a journal article, your USB, come to us – we’ll do our best to give you a hand or at least point you in the right direction.

Computers

There are computers and WiFi on both floors of the Library

Library Space

Spaces for group study are located on Floor 1 and for silent or individual study on Floor 2. There are rooms for group study if there is no space on the open floor, and three rooms are available to book at the Library Desk. There is WiFi in the rooms

Library Garden

If you want to take a break from study and enjoy the glorious weather the Library Garden awaits you under the stairs

The Collection

There’s the physical collection of books, articles, DVDs, CDs and theses housed in the Library which you can search using the Catalogue and a self-issue machine where you can check out books, CDs and DVDs

.. and an online collection of books, music, articles, graphs and statistics which is available via our databases and can be searched using Multisearch.

Library Training

Lecturers can book information instruction for your class or group.

We wish you all the best in the coming year and every success in your studies.

“I will study and get ready, and perhaps my chance will come.” Abraham Lincoln

Exam time

Examinations are upon us once more. It’s a stressful time of year for everyone, but with your cooperation and awareness of other students in the Library space, we can hopefully avoid adding to stress levels. Here are a few pointers of what to expect from the Library (and what not to expect, so that you can organize your time accordingly):

1. The Library will be open as usual from 8.30am to 9pm Monday –Thursday and 8.30am to 5pm Friday on both weeks of the exams, and 10am to 4pm on Saturday 18th May
2. All group study rooms are open for study – you don’t have to book. This includes the Whitaker Archives and the Training Room unless they are otherwise in use. Please observe the rules of the room you are using (available to view on the sign on the door)
3. 10 computers on each floor are available to book for one hour, one hour in advance, via the catalogue
4. Please respect other students by observing the rules of the space. All areas on the second floor are for quiet study only. Even if you are on the first floor, noise should be kept to a minimum
5. There is no technical or printing support in the Library after 5pm. If you need technical help, you should be here before 5pm 
6. Access past exam papers from here

We wish you the very best of luck in your exams.

Modern Life is Rubbish

Every night when I lock up the Library I notice the 'offerings' left on tables - sweet papers, empty crisp packets, plastic bottles, paper cups ... sometimes these are on full display, occasionally it feels as if they have been hidden, stuffed down the side of a PC or under a keyboard.

Collectively each week, 16-20 bags of paper cups, 10-15 bags of plastic bottles and tens of bags of unsorted rubbish are collected from our recycling bins. The reason we cannot open earlier or always at 8.30am is because of all this rubbish, the bits that are in bins and the bits left lying around.

How do the cleaners feel about cleaning up this excess mess? I wonder what makes someone leave a mess for another to clean up?

And the rubbish on the desks feels like the symptom of a larger culture. Many writers suggest that our world view has been dominated for centuries by mechanistic models of how to be (see Margaret Wheatley or Joanna Macy for instance). In this world-view we are all separate: leaving rubbish on the desk has no impact on me, I can shed it and be gone. I have no relationship to the space or to others who use it. These writers also talk of a new way of looking at ourselves in the world - as interconnected, part of a collective system. In this framework when I leave rubbish on the desk it means that I impact on the next person who uses the space, on the people waiting at the bottom of the stairs at 8.30am to use the upper floor of the Library, and on the sense of space. I see the space as a place to be cared for, I assume my responsibility for its maintenance.

Education apps for iOS

A couple of months back we looked at education apps for android ... here are some apps that (going by user reviews) could be useful if you have an iPad or iPhone.

Studying/ assignments
StudyBlue. Free app. For serious studiers they say, this app lets you create flashcards, study stats, and more.
My Study Plan. Free app. Organize your time before exams.
Clear. €1.79. Create to do lists. 
Genius Scan Free app. Scan documents and create pdfs.

Learning
iTunes U. Free app. Online catalogue of free online content from leading institutions.
TED. Free app. “The official TED app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch presents talks from some of the world's most fascinating people: education radicals, tech geniuses, medical mavericks, business gurus and music legends.”

Words and numbers
Dictionary.com. Free app. Dictionary and thesaurus, medical dictionary, scientific dictionary ...
PCalc Lite. Free app. Scientific calculator.
Google Translate. Free app. If you're learning a language - or going on holiday.
Shakespeare. Free app. The complete works plus searchable concordance.
MyScript Calculator. Free app. Solves equations you write on screen.

Science
Quick Periodic Table of the Elements. Free app.
Physics Full Course. €0.89. Plus exercises.

This is a tiny selection of the world of apps that are out there, so if you're looking for something specific that's not on our list, check out the Apps Store.

Digital Citizenry

Now you have your Facebook page, twitter account and devices to view, download, upload, capture and share images, blog, Skype and discuss your every thought, how will you behave? For some the apparent anonymity allows them to take on a digital persona of someone completely different from their “hardcopy” selves. In many ways the internet is replacing your memories; why clutter your memory-bank when you can store it virtually? But this also has led to the phenomena of people learning and developing online. So your online behaviour reflects your actual development as a citizen.

With immediate access we can very nearly capture our every thought in this “stream of consciousness” world.  But would you allow anyone access to all your petty, lustful, spiteful, bitchy, silly, shameful, and wonderfully human ideas? Your anonymity can be illusionary. If someone wanted to access your thoughts badly enough they can. Ask yourself a simple question about your online self. If you were going for a job interview, would you be happy to allow your prospective employer access to your Facebook and twitter account or and to all of the websites you ever viewed? (Some employers in the US have begun to ask job applicants for their social media passwords!)

But the main point of social responsibility on the web is that with any communications comes responsibility, and with the ability to reach large numbers comes increased responsibility on us the users. The democratisation of how people can interact with each other can have a hugely positive spin off with people holding people in power accountable. People power on the web has now become a factor in how large corporations and governmental power is wielded. It also has had a transformative effect on many old consumerist strangleholds. Young people have “liberated” their music, films, games, and telecommunications and used uploaded videos to highlights human rights abuses in totalitarian regimes, and piano playing cats!

In many ways the internet is this generation’s voice, its beat poetry, avant-garde cinema and rock and roll all blended together. So it’s your responsibility what you leave behind, your record of what you are. Maybe it would be good if you decided to “use it wisely”. Well just a little!

Step back in time with DkIT Library Archives

Ever wondered what DkIT was like in the early days? …Take a step back in time to the opening of the new Regional Technical College Dundalk on Monday, 3rd May 1971.

Did you know that this was not the original site chosen for the College? The council originally planned to locate the College in the old Louth Hospital on the Ardee Road, which is now part of the Grammar School at the top of Stapleton Place. 

Some of the courses on offer in the first 1971-1972 prospectus were:
Electronics, civil & mechanical engineering, £25 per annum
Business studies diploma course, £25 per annum
Secretarial studies course, £10 per annum
Others included telecommunications, diploma in banking and motor engineering.
Some of the activities on offer from College Societies in 1974/75 were archaeology, music, pottery, French film session, and canoe building.

Where have all the canoe builders gone, I wonder?

Here’s a brief piece from the college newsletter ("Pulvis Tauri") of February 1972: “MID-WEEK DANCES – Following numerous requests for mid-week dances the Services Committee are holding a dance in the canteen on Thursday 24th.  Dancing will be from ten o’clock until one and everything else will be from one o’clock onwards.  The Trolls will be playing for you and they are reputed to be a very versatile group, so it should be pretty good.  Admission is 25p and is open to students, staff and their friends.”

This is only a small snap shot of what the RTC had to offer in the early years. DkIT Library College Archives is, as the name indicates, an archive of documents, photographs and more relating to the college from its foundation right up to the present day. We rely on donations, so there may be gaps in the collection. DkIT Library College Archives is a work in progress which we hope to have online and ready for viewing in the near future.

5 Things you didn't know you didn't know about the Library - or maybe you did!

1.
Over 800 DVDs and counting!


2.
Over 200 hours of information skills classes facilitated during the last academic year and counting!


3.
Over 15 Works of Art in the Library and counting!


4.
Over 500 Facebook likes and counting!


5.
Over 340 resources supplied during the last academic year from other libraries on Interlibrary Loan - especially for you!