Culture Night 2012 Culture Night 2012 will take place on Friday, 21 September with cultural institutions from across the country opening their doors to stage a series of special events to mark the occasion. Among those hosting events for this national evening of celebration is the Archives and Special Collections services of NUI Galway’s James Hardiman Library. The Library holds numerous unique archival collections dating from the 15th century to the present day across a range of disciplines. Throughout the night, the James Hardiman Library will be showcasing some of these archival treasures. The programme of events will begin with an overview of the literary archive, life and legacy of the celebrated Irish playwright Tom Kilroy from Barry Houlihan, Archivist. This will be followed by an exhibition and talk on 'Pomes Penyeach' and Nora Barnacle archived letters. This exhibition will allow the public to view an original edition of the James Joyce written collection of poems, donated by Joyce to the Special Collections of the James Hardiman Library and will feature Marie Boran, Special Collections Librarian and Kieran Hoare, Archivist.

To complete the event a special film screening of The Dead will also take place. Adapted from James Joyce’s classic story, The Dead was the last film directed by John Huston in 1987. Prior to the screening, Professor Rod Stoneman, Director of the Huston School of Film and Digital Media will give a short introduction on the John Huston archive.

All events, which are free and open to the public, will take place at the Huston School of Film and Digital Media, NUI Galway and begin at 6pm. For more information or to RSVP contact Barry Houlihan in the James Hardiman Library at 091 493353 or email

For more information visit the Archives homepage of the James Hardiman Library:

http://www.library.nuigalway.ie/collections/archives/

James Hardiman Library National University of Ireland, Galway www.library.nuigalway.ie

Library eBulletin September 2012

“Culture Night offers an ideal opportunity to engage the public with some of the treasures in the James Hardiman Library’s archives and special collections and the public are very welcome to attend all or part of our events.” University Librarian, John Cox,

Library eBulletin

Newspapers in the James Hardiman Library Newspapers are always one of the most heavily used Library resources, from casual reading to in-depth historical research. Here are some of the major newspapers titles and resources that we have in print, digital and microform. Daily and Regional Newspapers For students and staff we keep a number of daily titles available in the Browsing Room for general reading. Some of the most popular are:

In addition we hold a range of regional newspapers from the broad western seaboard area such as the Connaught Telegraph, the Donegal Democrat and Roscommon Herald. Online Newspaper Resources Our online newspaper resources provide a wealth of information with something of interest for all subject areas. The Nexis database contains 100s of quality newspapers from around the world including the Irish Times, all of the major UK, US & world newspapers. Spanish, French and German language newspapers are also provided. In the last few years they have also added many Irish regional newspapers as well. Nexis is usually updated within 24 hours of print publication. For more specialised use the The Irish Times Digital Archive provides a searchable digital archive of every original page from 1859 to 2010. In the same vein the Times Digital Archive and Guardian/Observer Archive offer complete electronic access to the print runs of both of these famous titles. Another Irish resource, the Irish Newspaper Archives, holds digitised regional and national Irish newspapers. The database is a fascinating mix of newspapers from the Freeman’s Journal to the Irish Press to the Tuam Herald amongst others. Click here for a complete list of our electronic newspaper resources. Microform Finally the Library continues to have significant newspapers collections in microform. Amongst the collections are Irish political and radical newspapers in the twentieth century and Irish politics and society through the press as well as a number of regional and national newspapers on microfilm.

Michael Cusack Online Exhibition James Hardiman Library

The James Hardiman Library is currently running an

online exhibition of unique personal material relating to the founder of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA)

Michael Cusack.

Among the most important historical items in the

collection are the complete minutes of the Dublin Hurl-ing Club, from 1883. Cusack was Vice-President of the

club, a predecessor to the national organisation found-ed the following year. In addition, there is a diary kept

by Cusack on a visit to his native Clare in 1902 and a

range of personal, biographical and photographic material on Cusack's family. Many of these items are

now available as part of this online exhibition.

As well as his involvement in Gaelic sport, Michael Cu-

sack, a teacher by profession was a prolific journalist, contributing to titles such as United Ireland, Celtic Times, Shamrock, Fáinne an Lae and The Nation.

Many of these titles are

available in the Library's Special Collec-

tions.

The Michael Cusack collection is available on

the Library website

“Aside from its value for researchers into

the cultural forces at work in that

seminal period, and in particular the

events leading up to the foundation of

the GAA, the collection is unique in

constituting the only known surviving

material in Cusack’s own hand. It also

provides an unparalleled insight into the

resilient personality of Cusack, the

private family man, and his vibrant and

gentle wit.” Fergus Fahey, Digitisation

Librarian at NUI Galway,

Irish Times Irish Independent

The Guardian The Times

Le Monde Irish Examiner

Top Tips:

You can now use the Library photocopiers to

scan items and send them to your ISS account

Our Book Chapter Scanning Service enables

you to put reading material on Blackboard.

More information here

Academic Writing Centre The Academic Writing Centre (AWC) would like to thank all teaching staff for their support of the Service and for encouraging their students to attend free one-on-one sessions last year. These sessions will resume on 1 October (7pm-9pm Monday-Thursday and 11am-1pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). This year plans to be a busy one and we will run a number of workshops and innovative projects meant to enhance student interest in academic writing. We would like to work closely with scholars of various disciplines to ensure that the AWC serves the needs of their students. This is why we would like to ask you a few questions in the following short survey. We would be extremely grateful for any advice, feedback, or suggestions. Words and their Meanings, an exhibition arranged by the Academic Writing Centre, will return to Library Foyer on 21 September. This is an EXPLORE staff-student collaboration project. Exploring the role of language in an increasingly visual culture, the exhibition draws attention to the importance of words and to the fact that their meanings are historically and culturally conditioned. Working with the Academic Writing Cen-tre, NUIG artists (staff, students, and alumni) represented in this exhibition created a visual commentary on the etymological origins and the changing meanings of various words. http://www.library.nuigalway.ie/support/academicwritingcentre/

Library eBulletin

Historic University Calendars Online

The James Hardiman Library has recently made available part of its collection of historic University calendars. These annual volumes provide a useful resource in study-ing and examining third level education in Ireland while also providing a record of those who studied and taught at the College and University. They offer a detailed account of the course structure and content of a given course at Queen's College and also the entrance requirements and expected course work of the students. The prescribed reading lists for students across all disciplines also appear. Elements of change and continuity can be seen from the calendars, for example the dress code for students has certainly changed since 1851 when the regulations stated:

That no student shall appear within the College gates, except in academic costume; and that for every violation of this rule a fine of one shilling be incurred.

Many of the same interests remain all the same. According to the 1923 calendar:

A most interesting manu-script in the possession of the Library is the collection of the ancient corporation books of the City of Galway, dating from the year 1486, the first year of its incorpora-tion, up to the beginning of the nineteenth century. It also contains a map (of which only two copies are extant) made in 1651, by order of the Marquis of Clanricarde, to illustrate the extent and importance of the town.

The 17th century map of Galway city is also available on the Archives website while there are also plans to digitise the Galway Corporation Statute Book (1486-1712). This new digital resource will be a tremendous asset to those studying a variety of disciplines. The historic University calendars can be viewed online

Reciprocal Access Scheme James Hardiman Library and GMIT Library

We would like to announce the commencement of a pilot scheme to facilitate access and borrowing rights for all Staff and Research Postgraduates in both institutions, to the Libraries in NUI Galway and Galway/Mayo Institute of Technology. Effective im-mediately, the pilot will be review in December and if successful will be expanded to Taught Postgraduates. To get access to the Library staff and researchers should present their NUI Galway/Library I.D. card at the GMIT Library. A photo will be taken on-site as part of the registration process. NUI Galway staff and research students will be able to borrow five items for one month at GMIT. For more information, please contact Niall McSweeney in the James Hardiman Library.