The HardiBlog

Did you know the Library operates an Inter-Library Loans service? This means that researchers and students can borrow books or journal articles not held in the library collection from other libraries at national and international level! All academic staff, research masters and PhD candidates can automatically apply for an inter-library loan free of charge. Uniquely amongst Irish Universities, NUI Galway does not charge for this service. Taught masters can apply for a restricted number of ILLs and undergraduates may apply to the Academic Skills service for approval to submit an ILL request. All undergraduates have to do is email academicskills@nuigalway.ie and a decision will be taken whether to put the request forward for an application. This could be particularly useful for your final year dissertation. Articles are generally supplied within 24 hours and in most cases can be sent directly to your email address, though in some cases you will be required to collect the item from the ...

Did you know anybody with a library account can order a book? This means that academics, students and researchers can make a purchase suggestion for an item not held in the library collection!  All purchase requests are processed immediately and requested in dual format from suppliers. This means that a print copy and an ebook (where available) will be ordered for you. A print book order can take up to 3 weeks to arrive, normally, whereas the ebook version should be available within 24 hours.  All requesters receive a notification to their email when an ebook is activated, or when the print book arrives. Please note, only one single copy of a book can be ordered using the purchase request service. Anybody who wishes to order multiple copies, particularly for teaching materials, must use the reading list service. Please contact  readinglists@nuigalway.ie  if you wish to place orders for teaching.  The process for placing a purchase request by patrons couldn't b...

Access to the Reaxys is currently unavailable, our providers have been made aware of this issue and this blog post will be updated as soon as we have more information.   Access has since been restored

To highlight research by NUI Galway staff, we have gathered a selection of recently published titles for display on the ground floor of the Library. The displayed titles provide a snapshot of the research currently taking place in the University. The Library aims to acquire a physical copy and e-book (if available) of every publication by NUI Galway academic staff.  If you have a new book due to be published, please let us know via the Purchase Request form  (or alternatively email acquisitions@nuigalway.ie). Collection Development

  Collection Management at NUI Galway Library Although looking for a place to study has always been an important reason to visit libraries too, in general, most students and university staff primarily come to the library to consult books.  Cataloguing The Cataloguing Department staff ensure bibliographic information is accurate so that when a library user searches the library website for an item it is easily discoverable. We assign subjects to the items so that when a topic is looked up there are a wide variety of results returned. We also check titles, authors, publication information, ISBN and the punctuation and spelling. Finally we assign a class number (we use Dewey decimal classification) so that the books are shelved in the correct area amongst books of the same or similar subjects. Shelving in the library Our Shelving Team ensure that all books are shelved correctly and in sequence and provide a valuable service to users, keeping the shelves tidy and books re...

  Collections at NUI Galway Library Access to excellent scholarly material forms the backbone of scholarship in NUI Galway. The Library’s Collections Division works to provide access to this content across many collections in many formats (print, electronic, archives, etc.). In partnership with the University community, we identify and acquire the content needed to pursue the University’s academic mission. We also work to make that content discoverable via world-leading discovery platforms, innovative Reading List systems, and a comprehensive archives catalogue. We are committed to advancing the concept of Open Scholarship by continuously bolstering our collections with outstanding Open Access and Open Educational Resource content made easily discoverable to users. Within Collections there are: Reading lists at NUI Galway Library  Electronic Resources at NUI Galway Library  Collection Management at NUI Galway Library Purchase Requests at NUI Galway Library  Inter L...

  Electronic Resources at NUI Galway Library  Electronic Resources Service The main aim of the Electronic Resources Service is to provide seamless access for our user community, both on and off campus, to high quality electronic content that the NUI, Galway Library subscribes to, through configuration, accurate linking and proactive monitoring. The E-Resources team The E-Resources team consists of John Costello, Caroline O’ Halloran and Ann Reilly. As mentioned earlier, the main aim of the team is to provide and maintain seamless access to high quality electronic content in multiple formats (databases, e-journals, e-books, newspapers, multimedia, etc.) via a range of methods (laptops, tablets, phones etc.).   They are also responsible for monitoring and fixing links to e-books, e-journals, and full collections while amending threshold dates to ensure accuracy within the Library Catalogue .   There are currently over 400 active and available Collections for ...