The HardiBlog

Tuesday 4 October 2016, Room G010, Hardiman Research Building, NUI Galway   This seminar tells the story of the Abbey Theatre Digital Archive, created by the largest theatre archive digitisation project undertaken worldwide. It reflects on challenges faced, lessons learned, new opportunities and impact on academic mission, library and archives.   Programme 1030 Registration and refreshments 1100 Welcome and Introduction (John Cox, University Librarian, NUI Galway) 1110 A brief history of the Abbey Theatre archive (Mairéad Delaney, Archivist, Abbey Theatre) 1140 Digitising the archive (Martin Bradley, Archives Consultant, and Aisling Keane, Digital Archivist, NUI Galway Library) 1210 The Abbey Theatre Early Minute Books Project (Cillian Joy, Digital Library Developer, NUI Galway Library, and Patricia O’Beirne, Abbey Digital Archive PhD Fellow, Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance, NUI Galway) 1240 Lunch, including opportunity t...

How To Access Databases Finding databases is a very simple process: To choose a specific database you type the database name into the search box on the library homepage.  To see what databases are available on a specific topic you need to go to the list on the  Subject Support pages . You will need to use the 'Including Articles' functionality for cross searching across different databases. Remember, you have to be signed in first for this to work. If you want to find certain types of databases, e.g. reference, statistics, etc., then on the catalogue page choose  'Browse Search' . On the new page, choose ' By subject ' in the drop-down list, and then type " databases [type] ". So "databases reference" would bring a list of the reference resources the Library subscribes to: Note that links to Online Tutorials can be found on the right hand side under 'Details' Making Your Own Database Lists In The Catalogue You...

The digital archive of the Gate Theatre, Dublin, is now accessible in the Archives Reading Room of the Hardiman Building. Comprising a wealth of material in a range of formats and media, the archive and documents of one of Ireland's leading theatres, from the late 1980s to present, is newly open to study and research. Rosaleen lenihan as 'Mary Tyrone' in Eugene O'Neill's 'Long Day's Journey into Night', (1998) The scale of the archive and its digitisation ensures it is a vast resource for the study and understanding of plays performed at the Gate but also of Irish theatrical, social and wider cultural history. Already available within the digital archive are over 10,000 photographs, 11,000 press files, 6,500 pages of programmes, over 2,000 pages of play scripts, 1,700 pages of annotated prompt-scripts, 600 lighting designs and wealth of other material such as posters and handbills. Audio-visual material, including video recordings of producti...

Shakespeare Lives through Kenneth Branagh on Stage and Screen James Hardiman Library Foyer 16-26 August, 2016 Shakespeare Lives  is an unprecedented global programme of events and activities celebrating William Shakespeare’s work on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of his death in 2016. This exhibition celebrates the work of Kenneth Branagh in bringing Shakespeare to life on stage and screen and making the work of the Bard accessible to a global audience. 'Shakespeare Lives' exhibition at the Hardiman Library, NUI Galway It features rarely seen artefacts from the Sir Kenneth Branagh Archive in Special Collections, the McClay Library at Queen’s University Belfast, which illustrate the actor-director’s remarkable Shakespearean career, from his debut as  Henry V  with the Royal Shakespeare Company aged just 23 to his Oscar-nominated screen adaptation of Hamlet , and beyond. The exhibition is part of the programme, Shakespeare Lives acros...

Our  Reading List Service is now up and running and we are keen to work with as many academic staff as possible in preparation for the upcoming academic year. The service integrates Library resources, reading lists and Blackboard, making our resources more intuitive and accessible to students. It saves academic time by simplifying ordering and offering chapter and article scanning . As Professor Caroline McGregor, School of Political Science & Sociology says: "It really is an excellent system and has made life so much easier in relation to developing the reading lists and learning resources for students.  Students also find it makes the process of searching and accessing materials much more accessible.  The fact that it also acts as an  ordering system for new books takes another layer of administration from the module planning phase and has worked really well for us up to now. "   See an example of a  Reading List  wit...