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You are here About the Library > Welcome to the Academic Year from the Librarian > 2019/20

Welcome to Academic Year 2019/20

The Librarian and College Archivist, Helen Shenton

A very warm welcome to all new and returning students, academics, researchers and staff. An especial welcome to the new Vice-Provost/Chief Academic Officer and the three new Deans of Faculty - we wish them every success in these critically important roles within the University.

If you are new to Trinity, our welcome pack provides the lowdown on what you need to know. Staff at all the Library counters are ready to help you – please don't hesitate to ask. Join us for a series of taster sessions co-delivered with Student Learning & Development; beginning today, our four HITS modules include sessions such as Promoting Your Research, Citation & Plagiarism, Critical Thinking and Literature Reviews. Your Subject Librarian is always happy to arrange bespoke skills workshops and research consultations for staff and students.

We are very pleased to announce that a complete set of UK electronic Legal Deposit articles, comprising over 4 million electronic articles, is now discoverable via the Library's catalogue, Stella Search. This is a major milestone in making the extensive UK electronic Legal Deposit material accessible to the Trinity community and thousands of new articles are being added monthly. As a reminder, this material can be accessed on PCs (including the self-service laptops) in all our libraries.

We are introducing MyReadingList, a service which enables academics to create 'real time' resource lists and for students to set their reading intentions and annotate resources to aid their learning. There's an online guide and your Subject Librarian can arrange a demonstration. Requests for Inter-Library Loans can now be completed using online forms via the Library website, significantly streamlining the process for requesting materials held in other libraries.  

We've been working with the Disability Service and the Global Office to improve our services for all users, and in October will be piloting sensory Library tours and Library video diaries created by the wonderful Global Ambassador team.

As part of the Arts Building Refresh Project, the area just inside the Lecky Library entrance has received a welcome makeover. The exhibition of Political Cartoons continues in the Berkeley Library Foyer; works include those by Irish Times cartoonist Martyn Turner and 18th and 19th century works from the collection gifted by Nick Robinson.

Over the summer, Trinity hosted the LIBER (League of European Research Libraries) annual conference in partnership with CONUL (the all-Ireland Consortium of National and Research Libraries). It was the first time LIBER, the most significant European library organisation, had come to Ireland and feedback from the 500 delegates from 37 countries acclaimed it a notable success. A huge 'thank you' to the many colleagues who helped make it such a great event.

The three keynote addresses were very complementary explorations of the umbrella theme of 'Research Libraries for Society' and can be accessed on the Library website, including the insightful exposition of 'Research for Society' by Trinity's Dean of Research, Professor Linda Doyle.

Noteworthy events this September include several from the multi-disciplinary 'Pratchett Project', pivoting on the Library's comprehensive collection of works by British cult author and former Trinity Associate Professor of English, Terry Pratchett (1948-2015). Events include public interviews with Terry Pratchett's literary agent and some of his translators; details can be found on the Library's news blog.

Please take a look at our new Open Scholarship website, which includes sections from 'Demystifying Open Scholarship' to how Trinity is responding to Open Scholarship. If you have an Open Scholarship story to tell, we would love to hear from you.

Unboxing Open Scholarship is an initiative of the Taskforce on Open Scholarship, and also has three events this month with more throughout the year. The first was an introductory workshop on SOAPbox (Student Open Access Project), to be followed by the 'Celebration of Trinity's Student Publications' and symposium on 'Research Impact & Evaluation in the Open Scholarship Era: DORA, Funding Agencies & Research Culture'.

The Library is very pleased to be a major part of the Campaign for Trinity, launched last academic year with events in Dublin, London, Paris, New York and San Francisco. There are two major Library components. Firstly, the Old Library Redevelopment Project, a very significant programme to conserve and protect the Old Library and its collections; to create a new Research Collections Study Centre; and to create a new Book of Kells exhibition and new visitor facilities. Secondly, the 'Virtual Trinity Library', which aims to create a virtual library that is open for the world. By digitising the Library's vast unique and distinct collections, we aim to create a new research entity available to all. Significant planning for both these major projects is currently underway in collaboration with our design partners and drawing on expertise across the university.

Finally, on a personal note, I've stayed close to home this summer, spending time on the west coast of Ireland and in the UK. Watching the uproarious scenes in the Houses of Parliament this week, the issue of trust has been one of the many matters on my mind. I spoke in a TEDx talk about libraries being 'trusted transmitters' through the centuries, and that issue of trust seems more important than ever today.

With all good wishes for the coming academic year,

Helen Shenton
Librarian and College Archivist
The Library of Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin