This article is written by Ann Byrne who is the Digital Librarian in Hibernia College. Hibernia College has recently released a short course in Digital Literacy as an open educational resource (OER). The course was developed by a small team within Hibernia College’s Digital Learning Department (DLD); Irene O’Dowd (DLD researcher), Ann Byrne (Digital Librarian), and Emberly Davey (library assistant), with support and assistance from the wider DLD team. Originally developed to support the Hibernia College community, the course is now available as an OER on Hibernia College’s institutional repos ..read more

Welcome to the March edition of the Libfocus link-out, an assemblage of library-related things we have found informative, educational, thought-provoking and insightful on the Web over the past while. Images featured in this month's link-out articles What is data literacy and why are librarians the best people to support it? Joanne Fitzpatrick from Lancaster University seeks to demystify the world of data and argues that this is definitely something librarians can engage in. How Wikipedia can help to disseminate research: an innovative NIHR project. This article by the National Instit ..read more

This article is written by Maeve Kerins, a Library Assistant in the Technological University Dublin – City Center. Image provided on UCD Library's eventbrite registration page On Friday 8th of March 2024, I attended an online webinar event “From Archive to Access”, provided by the Library Association of Ireland’s Open Scholarship Group. This was a virtual event that included presentations from three leading figures in the field of preservation and digitization of unique materials, all of whom are based in Ireland.  I am currently working as a Library Assistant for Technological ..read more

Guest Post by Blazej Kaucz and Mona Power on behalf of the UCC Library CPPD Group. “Libraries: Connecting Minds and Cultivating Wellness”  Date: 11th of April 2024  Venue: Creative Zone, UCC Library, University College Cork  This year’s UCC Library Seminar explores the critical role that libraries play in promoting and supporting well-being and engagement. Libraries are not just repositories full of books but vibrant spaces that impact the lives of individuals and communities.   The event will shed light on innovative library practices that enhance patrons’&nb ..read more

Welcome to the February edition of the Libfocus link-out, an assemblage of library-related things we have found informative, educational, thought-provoking and insightful on the Web over the past while. Images featured in this month's link out articles Books and looks: gen Z is ‘rediscovering’ the public library. This Guardian article by Alaina Demopoulos investigates why Gen Z and millennials are using public libraries at higher rates than older generations. Libraries have become community hubs for these groups, but will they help libraries with the challenges they face? Investigativ ..read more

This article is co-authored by John Paul Kiernan (Acquisitions Librarian) and Catherine Ryan (Collections Support Librarian) in UCD Library. Image by 200 Degrees from Pixabay UCD Library has looked into several usage statistics tools over the years including products like JUSP and EBSCO Usage Consolidation. We were impressed with their functionality and reporting features. One drawback at the time, and this has likely improved since, was that the tools did not work with a majority of the publishers we had subscriptions with, and this would have resulted in us undertaking a substantia ..read more

Welcome to the January edition of the Libfocus link-out, an assemblage of library-related things we have found informative, educational, thought-provoking and insightful on the Web over the past while. Images featured in this month's link-out articles You say you want a revolution! Could it finally be time to rethink scholarly communications? An opinion piece by Elaine Sykes advocating for a collective approach to changing scholarly communications and collectively issuing a declaration to fair publishing. American Library Association's Year in Review 2023 This piece takes a curated lo ..read more

Jane Buggle (Institute Librarian at IADT, Co-Manager of the IOAP) The IOAP (Irish Open Access Publishers) is a community of practice established by librarians and academics to support and promote Diamond Open Access Publishing. The aim of this dynamic community of practice is to promote publishing activity that is free of article processing charges (APCs), paywalls and publication embargoes, to further the dissemination of high-quality scholarly output to all in society. The IOAP’s international Advisory Board is comprised of key players in the area. The IOAP is a signatory of Science Europe’s ..read more

This post includes the abstracts and streamed recordings of most talks delivered at the inaugural Janeway Symposium, which took place at Birkbeck, University of London on 7th and 8th September 2023. The itinerary consisted of five panels: (1) Janeway/Open Library of Humanities Report (links one & two), (2) Innovative Uses of Janeway, (3) Content and Creativity, (4) Editorial Innovation and, (5) Open Access, Communities and Activism. Ronan Cox, Jim Rogers and I had the opportunity to speak about the School of Communications Undergraduate Journal (panel 5: Open Access, Communities and Acti ..read more

Welcome to the December edition of the Libfocus link-out, an assemblage of library-related things we have found informative, educational, thought-provoking and insightful on the Web over the past while.   “Our job is to fight against entropy”: Narayan Khandekar on the Straus Center and the Forbes Pigment Collection Read or listen to this interview with the director of the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies. Learn how the center's research reveals the artistic processes used to create the works of art in the Harvard Art Museum collection as well as the best ways to pres ..read more