Skip to main content

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin

Menu Search

#TCDLIBRARYSURVEY – HAVE YOUR SAY

A Library survey was launched university-wide today seeking feedback from all staff and students on their experience of using the Library.

The Library is at the heart of the University, providing services, resources, training and space. This is an opportunity for you to have your say in relation to your Library and how it can best support you currently, and in its future development.

As a thank you for taking part, all participants will have the option of entering a prize draw to win AirPods, Galaxy buds, One4all vouchers and T-card top-ups.

Start the library survey now!

The survey is being administered on behalf of the Library by an independent research agency called Alterline.

If you would like the survey to be provided in an alternate format, please email Alterline at llphelp@alterline.co.uk

Please note, all responses are confidential. You can find information about Alterline’s General Data Protection Regulation policy on their website.

The Ecological Emergency Book Club – next book and December meeting

Are you a member of staff who would like to know more about the climate emergency but don’t know where to start?

We’ve teamed up with Dr. Clare Kelly in the School of Psychology to bring you a monthly book club to showcase some of the best readings on the climate and biodiversity crisis.

December’s Book Club

Photo of author Richard Powers, and the cover of his novel, The Overstory

Our third book club takes place on Friday, 8th December and this month’s pick is:
Richard Powers’ The Overstory. The Library has seven copies!

Continue reading “The Ecological Emergency Book Club – next book and December meeting”

LIBRARY STUDY SPACE CAMPAIGN

A messy desk cluttered with laptop, notes, food, drinks, papers and personal belongings. Not leaving room for others.

On Monday 13th November, the Library will be launching its Study Space Campaign to address the issue of ‘desk-hogging’ (i.e., the practice of leaving books and personal belongings unattended for long periods of time at Library study spaces, thus preventing others from using those spaces). A dedicated team of stewards will be freeing up study spaces that have been left unoccupied for more than 60 minutes. Belongings are moved to clear plastic boxes to designated storage areas on the same floor.

Full details of the campaign are available on the Library regulations webpage: https://www.tcd.ie/library/about/regulations.php

The Library Study Space Campaign relies on the cooperation of all readers. We ask that you be respectful and support the Steward Team to ensure that everybody has a fair chance of finding a suitable study space during this stressful pre-exam period. You can also assist us by not leaving personal belongings (especially laptops, phones, USB drives or other valuables) unattended for any length of time, and by sticking to the 60 minute break rule.

Reminder to take breaks, stay hydrated and eat all snacks and meals outside of the Library, but do take your valuables with you.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at: library@tcd.ie.

The Ecological Emergency Book Club – next book and November meeting

Are you a member of staff who would like to know more about the climate emergency but don’t know where to start?

We’ve teamed up with Dr. Clare Kelly in the School of Psychology to bring you a monthly book club to showcase some of the best readings on the climate and biodiversity crisis.

November’s Book Club

Cover of Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything and photo of author

Our second book club takes place on Friday, 10th November in the North Training Room in the Library (former Berkeley Library). This month’s pick is Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything.

Continue reading “The Ecological Emergency Book Club – next book and November meeting”

Manuscripts catalogue records moving to Stella Search

From 6 October 2023 our Manuscripts and Archives catalogue records will be accessible through our main online Library catalogue, Stella Search. With the addition of these records users will now be able to search across the entirety of our collections through one online platform, Stella Search, whilst also being able to narrow their search parameters to specific collections such as our Manuscripts and Archives catalogue records if they wish. This will help enable more integrated searching with our users more in control of what content they wish to retrieve.

As a result of this move users will no longer access our Manuscripts and Archives Online Catalogue (MARLOC) through the current interface which is being discontinued. All the information previously available through MARLOC will now be available through Stella Search so they will continue to be accessible to users.

However, any embedded links from MARLOC or bookmarks that users have directing them to MARLOC will need to be updated at this page will no longer exist on the internet.

We appreciate this may be a significant change for users so we will be producing guidance on how to search our Manuscripts and Archives catalogue records within Stella.

Intermittent noise in the Ussher Library, 9-18 August

Due to ongoing construction works, there will be periods of noise during weekday office hours from Wednesday 9 to Friday 18 August in the Ussher Library – we apologise for any disruption caused. Due to the nature of the works these are likely to be quite loud and constant this week; next week should be more intermittent.

Students wishing to use reading rooms with less distraction may wish to temporarily move to the Lecky Library, former Berkeley Library, or indeed the Hamilton Library at the East End of College.

Library Study Space Stewards in the Library of Trinity College Dublin

Applications for Library Study Space Stewards are now being accepted for the pre-exam period in April and the exam week in early May. Stewards will work 10-20 hours per week in the Berkeley, Lecky, Ussher and Hamilton Libraries. Their primary role is to ensure that study spaces left unattended for long periods of time are made available for other readers to use.

Click here for a full job description

Please ensure you read this in detail before completing the application form.

The closing date for receipt of applications is 12 noon, Friday 24 March, 2023.

Please Note: Interviews for these positions are likely to take place in the week beginning 27 March 2023. Successful candidates will be notified by e-mail of their interview time.

If you have any questions please contact Derek Birney, Reading Room Maintenance Executive, by e-mail: djbirney@tcd.ie

Covidence ─ information sessions on the Library’s literature review tool

A student using a laptop to study

Are you about to undertake an advanced literature review ─ perhaps a scoping, rapid or systematic review, or a meta-analysis? Has your supervisor said you need to conduct a systematic search and then “screen” those results? Or are you a staff member or postdoc contemplating how you would do this efficiently?

If so, we have the tools to help. We recommend using Covidence to screen your results. In Trinity, we have a site licence to Covidence which means any reviews that have a Trinity member can use it. If you haven’t already, you can register for our institutional account in Covidence and create a blank review: instructions to register for Covidence.

And now we are happy to announce that the Library is holding two information sessions about Covidence, to be delivered by the people behind the software. Anyone at Trinity who wants to know more can attend.

The first one covers the basics:

Covidence 101 ─ Getting started (link)
Tuesday 21st Feb 2023 ─ 11 am (1 hour)

The Covidence training webinar includes a live demo providing an overview of the systematic review workflow and showcases some of the most popular features:

  • Settings
  • Importing
  • Title & Abstract Screening
  • Full Text Review
  • Extraction form version 2
  • Export
  • PRISMA

You’ll also get tips & tricks to jumpstart your progress, as well s the opportunity to get your specific questions answered.

The second one takes a detailed look at the Extraction stage:

Covidence ─ Data Extraction (link)
Tuesday 28th Feb 2023 ─ 11 am (1 hour)

This Covidence training webinar is a detailed overview of the Data Extraction stage and process. A live demo includes turning your protocol into an extraction framework in Covidence data extraction “version 2”, as well as the opportunity to get your specific questions answered.

Can’t make the sessions? We have comprehensive guidance on how to conduct systematic and related reviews to get you started, and don’t forget your Subject Librarian is available for consultations and advice.

Welcome from the Library of Trinity College Dublin

Librarian Helen Shenton pictured in front of Berkeley Library

A very warm welcome to all returning students, academics, researchers and staff.

Library Supports & Services

We have a new orientation guide which is a result of students’ questions about the Library; a special thank you to the Global Student Ambassadors who were so generous with sharing their top tips in this new Getting to know your Library video.

We in the Library kickstarted the new academic year with in-person student orientation programmes. They included tours for postgraduates, mature and Trinity Access Programme students.

Sensory Library tours are also taking place this week as part of Trinity’s Autism orientation programme, and we look forward to welcoming incoming first year undergraduate students with the wonderful S2S Mentor team. Keep an eye out for new sensory furniture and spaces as part of the TCD Sense project.

This semester’s Library HITS (Helpful Information for Trinity Students/Staff) are starting next week and the first module will focus on skills for postgraduate and returning students. The interdisciplinary taster sessions co-delivered with Student Learning & Development are relevant for all students and cover everything from essay writing, academic integrity and critical thinking to publishing and promoting your research.

If you have any queries, Library staff are here to assist you with virtual consultations, skills workshops and a range of services. Please  email Library@tcd.ie and a Library staff member will get back to you, or contact your Subject Librarian directly.

The Welcome to the Library page has everything needed for you to get started.

Library entrance refurbishment

A refurbishment project of the Library entrances will start in the coming months. It will involve the installation of new access control gates at the entrances of the Berkeley, Lecky, John Stearne and Hamilton Libraries, providing automated access to the Library using the physical ID card and Trinity Live App. The aim is to give seamless access for staff and students, while improving security for Library collections and enhancing the spaces. All information on the project will be available on the Library website.

Virtual Trinity Library

In June 2022 the Library released the digitised version of the one of the world’s finest manuscripts, the Book of St Albans by the 13th century scribe, historian and artist Matthew Paris. The Book of St Albans received conservation attention, cataloguing updates, and was fully digitised, as part of the Virtual Trinity Library’s ‘Manuscripts for Medieval Studies’ project funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The digitised version is being used by students of the M. Phil in Medieval Studies. Its launch received extensive media coverage in the Irish Central, Irish Times and Irish Independent.

Discover more at European Researchers’ Night on September 30th and join the Library and those involved in the research theme ‘Manuscript, Print and Book Cultures’ for a range of activities on Trinity’s outstanding Library collections.

Old Library Redevelopment Project 

The Old Library Redevelopment Project is progressing apace with the decant of the collections from the Old Library, involving the gargantuan task of transferring 350,000 early printed books as part of a total 700,000 items.

Access to all the Library’s Research Collections and its staff expertise will continue throughout the lifetime of the Old Library Redevelopment Project (OLRP).

The Joint Research Collections Reading Room is currently housed in the East Pavilion of the Old Library. In 2023 it will transfer to an Interim Research Collections Study Centre in the basement of the Ussher Library. You will find up-to-date information on the Old Library Redevelopment: Update for Readers section of the Library website.

The Old Library and Long Room remain open and accessible to you and visitors for the next year. The restoration and construction phase will require its closure from the end of 2023.

The Book of Kells Interim Exhibition will ensure that the 9th century manuscript remains on view throughout. Subject to planning permission, the plan for the Interim Exhibition is to restore the historic Printing House to display the Book of Kells and erect a temporary pavilion in New Square to host a temporary exhibition for the three years of the Old Library’s closure.  

Join us on Culture Night, 23rd September, when the Conservation team will be giving talks on the conservation process as part of the Old Library Redevelopment Project.

The Old Library Redevelopment Project has received significant international media coverage, including The Guardian, New York TimesBBC World News, the German national broadcaster ZDF and most recently France 2 aired a piece in August.

Please enjoy the Long Room, often called the ‘most beautiful room in Ireland’, this year – as a reminder, every member of Trinity’s community is welcome to visit for free, but it is important to book ahead, for more details email BookofKells@tcd.ie. The Library will also be organising tours for staff and students in the coming months with more information to follow.

Finally, the 87th IFLA World Library and Information Congress was held in Ireland for the first time at the Dublin Convention Centre in July. I was honoured to give a keynote presentation on intertwined digital and cultural heritage, and the former Chancellor Mary Robinson gave an outstanding keynote address on ‘Climate Justice’ to the 2000+ delegates at the opening ceremony. Her challenges to us all were stark, simple and clear, and highly recommended viewing, as we figure out our collective and individual responses to the environmental crises.

With warmest good wishes for the forthcoming semester,

Helen Shenton


Librarian and College Archivist

A Universal Design approach to improve everyone’s Library experience

Students using flexible seating in the Ussher Library

Our readers come from many different backgrounds and traditions. We are aware that a “one size fits all” approach cannot work for our readers – who may be staff, mature students, non-English speakers, first-generation College students, part-time students with busy family and work commitments…  or something else entirely. We want to ensure that any innovation or change we introduce for specific groups will also benefit the wider University community.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is one approach we are using to achieve change that helps all our users. Our recent collaboration with the Disability Service on the TCDSense project, which seeks to improve the Library’s sensory environment by introducing spaces, furniture and services for more conducive learning and comfort,  is not only benefiting students with sensory overload but all students.

Videographer and co-researcher students from Trinity’s Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities working on scripting “Getting to Know Trinity Library” library engagement video
Videographer and co-researcher students from Trinity’s Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities working on scripting “Getting to Know Trinity Library” library engagement video
Continue reading “A Universal Design approach to improve everyone’s Library experience”