The HardiBlog

In early November, I attended the first National Open Research Festival (NORFest: https://norf.ie/norfest-2023-programme/ ) a two-day event run by the National Open Research Forum (NORF) and the Digital Repository Ireland (DRI) at the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin. The organisation and running were led by Dr Daniel Bangert, NORF’s National Open Research Coordinator, shortly before taking up his new position as Director of 4TU.ResearchData in the Netherlands.   My talk, ‘Strengthen and align Ireland’s network of open access repositories,’ was part of Lightning Talk Session 2: Achieving 100% Open Access to Research Publications, a very interesting and varied panel of speakers chaired by Dr Marion Boland, Head of Research Policy at Science Foundation Ireland.                                              https://twitter.com/dri_ireland/status/1720081331361841236/photo/1    At 7 minutes, the talk was a short overview of the progress of a two-year NORF-funded project to align Ireland’s netwo

The survey reveals fragmented metadata practices in Irish repositories. Highlighting the urgent need for national cooperation and standardisation. The goal is now to elevate Irish open repositories and align with European and International best practices and standards. Staffing disparities highlight the need for dedicated resources with recommendations for collaborative national initiatives and training. Introduction The survey of Open Repositories in Ireland was conducted between April 24 and May 30, 2023, as part of the National Open Research Forum (NORF) funded project on strengthening and aligning Ireland's Open Repositories . This survey engaged stakeholders from educational, governmental, and research institutions, seeking to evaluate key performance indicators related to repository provision and management. The resultant findings offer critical insights into the current state of open repositories in Ireland and pave the way for strategic recommendations to advance the open

Access to Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders (2021) second edition, published by Springer is now available. This major online reference work explores autism through a wide range of issues. It contains 3,745 fulltext entries and covers topics across the following major conceptual areas of Autism Spectrum Disorders and Pervasive Developmental Disorders, including: Research trends and findings Behaviour/speech Communication Treatments Education The Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders can be accessed via the library catalogue.   Collection Development / Forbairt Bailiúchán

Recently, the University of Galway Postgraduate Research Society invited me to conduct a workshop on Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and their application in the research process. This workshop, primarily attended by PhD students and postdocs, discussed the burgeoning potential of AI in enhancing different parts of the research process and scholarly work. Banner for the Open Scholarship Cafe on 27 Nov. 2023   This blog summarises mainly the attendees' sentiment towards AI in the research process. Through a series of polls, we gained valuable insights into the priorities, concerns, and experiences of researchers as they contemplate integrating AI tools into their work. These polls revealed a pragmatic view of AI's role in research, from eagerness to enhance literature discovery to cautious optimism about drafting and data manipulation, and highlighted the community's awareness of the ethical dimensions that come with this technology. The results of the polls and the s

  The Library's  Reading List Service  is  a one-stop teaching support service for academic staff. We are now preparing for the upcoming semester II. When you use our service we will:  prioritise your course materials  order required books/e-books request chapter and article digitisation  provide direct linking to the list from Canvas Training We are providing in-person  training sessions  to assist lecturers in publishing reading lists on the Reading List Service for the new academic year.  Alternatively lecturers can use the resources provided on our  Reading List Page Existing Reviewing List Owners We request that existing Reading list owners update their current lists by  December 1st . This will provide enough time for new books to be ordered and to be available for the new semester.  Further Information More information about using our   Reading List Service   including user guides, videos and training is available from the  Reading List page .   Please email readinglists@uni

The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication is a new online research encyclopedia dedicated to the large and diverse scholarly world of communication research. Launched in 2015, it publishes essays based on up-to-date, impactful scholarship written by respected authorities in the field and it currently contains 746 full-text articles.  The  Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication  was developed for researchers, teachers, and students interested in all facets of the study of communication. Essays examine the evolution and structure of research programs; the questions and puzzles that drive research; and the relationships between theory, methods, and empirical data. In doing so, they provide information about their subjects and also highlight unresolved questions and potential new directions for research. Access to the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication is available on the Library Catalogue .  Collection Development / Forbairt Bailiúchán

The Library is delighted to have purchased perpetual access to  The Sunday Times Historical Archive 1822-2016 .  T his resource brings almost two centuries of news together, providing the complete run of the newspaper and its supplements, in one cross-searchable and browsable platform. Despite the similarity of names, The   Sunday Times  was an entirely separate paper from  The Times  until 1966, when both papers came under common ownership. The   Sunday Times  remains editorially independent from The   Times , with its own remit and perspective on the news. The Library already has access to  The T imes Digital Archive 1785-2019  and recently added extra years of content to bring this newspaper more up to date.  The Sunday Times is famous for many of its stories, including Kim Philby's outing as a Soviet spy, the thalidomide investigation, and the publishing of the forged Adolph Hitler diaries. Throughout its long history it has published many stories and historical items of Iris

In support of our  Equality, Diversity and Inclusion  Strategy, the Library has  ordered a selection of recent e-books that explore and examine the under-representation of women in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) fields. For ease of browsing we have created a reading list of these new titles - Gender & Diversity in STEM- New E-books .    All of these titles can also be accessed via t he  Library Catalogue .  T he promotion of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is a key element of the  Library Strategy 2021-2025.                  Collection Development / Forbairt Bailiúchán

The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science is a substantive, peer-reviewed, and regularly updated online reference work.  The editor-in-chief outlines the coverage of this encyclopedia as follows: (1) the understanding of, and response to, the geophysical and biogeochemical system, including the sensitivity of the system to external drivers and its natural variability.  (2) the ubiquitous presence of communication and policymaking and the different cultural framings of climate, as well as the social process of climate science.  (3) the economic and climate policy issues at the international and at the local level. A special aim is to cover many regions of the world by interdisciplinary analyses of what climate, climate impacts, and perspectives on climate are as well as the options for, and the conditions and meaning of, societal response to climate. Access to the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science is available on the Library Catalogue .   Collection Development

  The Library has purchased seven additional years of fulltext coverage to  The Times Digital Archive.  Coverage of the digitised newspaper now runs from 1785-2019. The Times Digital Archive is an online, full-text facsimile of more than 200 years of The Times , one of the most highly regarded resources for eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and twentieth-century news coverage. This historical newspaper archive allows researchers the opportunity to search and view The Times in its original published context.  The Times  is the oldest daily newspaper in continuous publication. With over 12 million articles available, the archive supports research across multiple disciplines and areas of interest, including business, humanities, political science, and philosophy, along with coverage of all major international historical events. Access to The Times Digital Archive is available on the library catalogue . Collection Development / Forbairt Bailiúchán

    The Library has taken out a 12 month subscription to the  AM Explorer Primary Sources  database.   AM Explorer is the platform interface to Adam Matthews' primary source content of  130 digital collections spanning the social sciences and humanities.  Examples of the digital collections available are: African American Communities 1863-1986 American History 1493-1945 Defining Gender 1400-1949 East India Company 1600-1947 London Low Life 1700-1900 Slavery, Abolition and Popular Culture 1400s-2000s Victorian Popular Culture 1779-1930 Historical digital material available includes correspondence, diaries, ephemera, i llustrations, periodicals & printed books, legal documents & maps, newspapers, official records & oral histories.    Search AM Explorer  by keyword or browse  the fascinating  AM Explorer list of collection s . Collection Development / Forbairt Bailiúchán

The Library is marking Mental Health Week / Seachtain na Meabhairshláinte with a display of mental health and mindfulness books in the Library Foyer.  This display contains a range of titles such as: Overcoming Depression and Low Mood  (e-book) Gardening for Mind, Body Soul Stress N' Stuff: Tackling Student Stress Anxiety@University Headcase: LGBTQ Writers & Artists on Mental Health and Wellness            All the books are available for borrowing and e-book versions are available for some of the titles. Search the Library Catalogue to find other titles of interest in both print and online formats.  See the University of Galway SU Mental Health Week / Seachtain na Meabhairshláinte  web page for more events taking place. Collection Development / Forbairt Bailiúchán  

The families of Owen Callaghan and David Flynn in Fallagh townland, just outside Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford, emerged from the Great Famine with their large farms intact. Owen had died by 1850, leaving his widow Margaret holding their 212 acres, three vacant houses, outbuildings and a valuable dwelling house, all worth £164, making them one of the strongest farming families in the region (in comparison, the neighbouring Flynn farm was valued at £99). Owen, (likely her son), inherited the farm and was among the rate-payers representing Upperthird barony in the county presentment sessions. He died in 1895 aged 67 and by 1901 his wife Kate, with four unmarried adult sons and a daughter remained on the farm, employing two labourers. By then they had adopted O’Callaghan as their official name. It was William, who inherited the farm in turn, becoming a widely respected dairy farmer and progressive agriculturist, until his death aged 80 in 1954. Two years previous, the two ‘esteemed and well