Introduction
How your Library can help you study
Your local public library is a gateway to a world of information.
Learning Materials
Your local public library has or can get you learning materials to back up your studies. Find your nearest local library by searching www.library.ie/public
Most public libraries have their holdings listed in an electronic library catalogue that can be searched online via the Internet. Go to your Library Authority website via www.library.ie/public and click on the library catalogue. You will probably find a guide to searching the catalogue there.
Many libraries have electronic services. Materials listed can be reserved for your use. Search the catalogue, renew your loans, order materials. The service is easy to use. You will need to register as a member of the library to use borrowing services. Your library personal identification number (PIN) is the key to their use. If you do not have a library PIN, contact your local library to get one.
www.borrowbooks.ie allows you search all the online catalogues and websites of Irish public libraries simultaneously. You can then request the books, CDs, DVDs or other material you need via the Inter-Library Loan service of your local library.
Increasingly public libraries are digitising their collections, particularly their collections of local materials. Look out for an online library or media library collection within the catalogue. Otherwise there may be a symbol within catalogue records that indicates the full document is available.
Just Ask A Librarian!
While public libraries countrywide are still growing into a seamless national resource, there is variety locally in the range of services available to help you and the manner in which they are delivered. Before or at the beginning of your studies, a meeting with your local librarian or a specialist in the nearest large library will benefit you throughout your studies. Get a sense of what the library service can do for you and the best way to avail of the services. You may be surprised at the range of their contacts. Librarians may know other researchers locally who have worked in an area of interest to you.
Libraries can offer study spaces. Libraries can be meeting places for group work and supported research.
A brief meeting with a Librarian early on can save you time and extend the scope and depth of your work.
You will receive better service when library staff understand your work and your research needs well.
Payback Time
Your Public Library Service strives to collect all materials published about the locality, in it and by produced by local writers. This includes YOU!
Please deposit one copy of your thesis, research or other work, in print, in electronic or other form with the Local Studies Service of your library service. Your contribution helps to grow the cultural heritage of the area as a resource for future generations.
