The HardiBlog

Research publishing at University of Galway: policy and next steps  Research publishing is evolving as funders, governments, and institutions place greater focus on openness, quality and responsible research assessment. In response, the University of Galway has adopted a new Research Publishing Policy that brings together research excellence and open dissemination in a single framework .  Read the full policy: QA237 Research Publishing Policy What the policy is aiming to do The policy recognises research publications as a core institutional asset. It pairs the ambition to publish in leading journals, presses, and platforms with responsible open dissemination of outputs. It supports robust peer review, rigorous editorial standards, equitable access to knowledge, and responsible research assessment.  Open publishing is understood as making research outputs available free of charge online, without subscription barriers, in ways that respect author rights and institutional in...

In preparation for the upcoming semester we are asking lecturers to publish their reading lists on the  Library's  Reading List Service  as soon as possible. This will ensure that we have the necessary time to review the published lists and: order the required e-books acquire print books as quickly as possible  carry out any required chapter/article scanning check the e-links on the reading list 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@universityofgalway.ie if you have any queries. Collection Development / Forbairt Bailiúchán

  The Galway Giving Tree 2025 was a great success for the Library, with 50 tags disappearing off the tree in a matter of days!!  A big thank you to everyone, staff and students alike,  who took a tag, supported, and helped us with moving gifts from one spot to another. It was very much appreciated. I'm adding here the thank you from the folks at the Galway Giving Tree so you can see what a huge community effort we proudly continue to be a part of.   THANK YOU GALWAY from all of us at the Galway Giving Tree!!  We had an incredible collection yesterday – 2025 was our BIGGEST COLLECTION YET!  Thanks to you,  2,630  gifts were collected from 44 Host Businesses and distributed to our charity partners, fulfilling all our wish requests!  As always, we were touched by the generosity and effort put into the gifts.  It is community spirit at it’s festive best.   Of course, none of this would be possible without the sponsorship from the amazin...

The Library Research Services Drop-in Clinic starts on the 13th January 2026. Library specialists from the Open and Digital Research team will be available throughout the week to advise researchers on key research areas of open research , research skills , data management , and digital research . If further support is needed, researchers can schedule a 1-1 follow up session with a library specialist. The drop in is suitable for experienced researchers, postdoctoral researchers, and PhD researchers. To learn more about how the library can support you during your research project, stop by the library foyer during one of our sessions below. Day Time Service Focus Tuesday 2-3pm Digital Publishing and Data Management Wednesday 2-3pm Research  Information Skills Wednesday 3-4pm Open Practice Thursday 2-3pm AI for Research & Digital Research (OCR, tools, workflows) Friday 2-3pm Research Data Management Session Overviews The Research Information Skills drop-in clinic with Rosie Dun...

The Library has acquired access to a new primary source archival database: Political Extremism and Radicalism .   This resource provides insight on US and European  fringe groups from both the right and left of the political spectrum through rare, hard to access primary sources. Content supports research on philosophical, social, political and economic ideologies as well as on contemporary issues surrounding gender, sexuality, race, religion, civil rights, universal suffrage, and more. Political Extremism and Radicalism consists of two collections: Political Extremism and Radicalism: Far-Right and Left Political Groups in the U.S., Europe, and Australia in the Twentieth Century Political Extremism and Radicalism: Far-Right Groups in America  Learn more about  each of these individual collections . Highlights include: The National Archives (UK) provides access to digitised home office and secret service documents concerning British communist and fascist movement...

  Last week marked an exciting reunion for the special collections team. Our copy of An Tiomna Nuadh , the 1602 Irish translation of The New Testament, returned to us after undergoing extensive restoration and repair at the Muckross Bookbindery in Killarney. An Tiomna Nuadh was donated to the library on 12 th of July 2019 by the Ó Dálaigh family from Athlone. To mark the significance of the donation of such a rare and old book, the library held an event attended by the Ó Dálaigh family (pictured below). Local Librarian, Rory Ó hAodha spoke at the event about Uilleam Ó Domhnaill’s role in publishing the book. The Ó Dálaigh family with Rory Ó hAodha (speaker at the event), 2019 Eileen Ó Dálaigh Fahey, with John Cox, then University Librarian The book arrived here in very poor condition. With pages coming apart and others damaged by bookworm, it was entrusted to the care of Paul Curtis in the Muckross Bindery and Paper Conservation Workshop, where it remained for five years. While...

Geraldine Curtin is a Library Assistant working in our Archives and Special Collections department in the Library at University of Galway.   Geraldine has just published her second book, Young Offenders: Children and crime in Ireland, 1850–1908.   In advance of the launch of her book I sat down with Geraldine to discuss the story behind its creation and our discussion began with a simple but important question as to what inspired her to write this book. In 1998 Geraldine visited the National Archives and through conversation with an archivist she learned the National Archives held the prison registers for every jail in Ireland for the 19 th century.   The archivist showed her the prison register for Galway jail, and the contents immediately sparked her curiosity, particularly the large number of women and children listed in this register.   She decided to base her Master’s thesis on the women imprisoned in Galway in the 19 th century and later she pursued a PhD f...

By joining global movements to reform research assessment, protect access to information, and accelerate the transition to open publishing, the University of Galway is contributing to a more equitable, sustainable publishing ecosystem. The University of Galway joined the  Irish National Chapter  of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment,  CoARA , in 2024. The four core commitments of CoARA are as follows:   Recognise diverse contributions to research   Base research assessment primarily on qualitative evaluation   Abandon inappropriate uses of journal- and metric-based evaluation   Avoid the use of rankings of research organisations in research assessment     The National Chapter provides a platform for Irish members of CoARA to exchange knowledge and mutual learning on issues that are specific to Ireland, such as peer review processes, revision of promotion criteria, adoption of DORA and/or other statements on the responsible use of...