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We had a look last week at a selection of online research and reference tools available for you to use at a time and a place and a pace that suits you, and all for free with your Dublin City Library card.

We have an excellent selection of online research and reference tools to suit all age groups: from primary school to university; from early years to life-long learning.

Did you know that as a member of Dublin City Libraries, you can access the Touch-type Read & Spell (TTRS) course for free? What is TTRS and who can use it? TTRS is a multisensory, structured, online typing course which assists students to learn at their own pace.In addition to developing typing skills, TTRS is designed to benefit students of all ages who experience spelling, reading or writing difficulties. Learners with dyslexia or literacy issues have found it helpful. Many of our patrons, both adults and children, some as young as 8, have already availed of this free service at Dublin City Libraries. While a large number of these patrons have found the course helpful for Dyslexia, many others have also found it beneficial.For example:    learners with Dyspraxia    learners with Dysgraphia    students studying English as a second language    those who wish to upskill and improve their general typing skills    those who wish to improve their literacy skills or those having literacy difficulties    those who wish to improve their memory skills or who are experiencing memory problemsThe feedback we have got from our current learners and parents has been very positive, with many reporting how they have benefitted from the course. How does TTRS with Dublin City Libraries work? If you are a member of Dublin City Libraries and if you have internet access at home, then you can use TTRS. All you need is a username and password. The course has a user-friendly interface and, from the very start of the course, students are prompted and talked through what to do, for example: where to place their fingers on the keyboard etc.There are many different levels and modules which learners can work through and improve on, and at the end of each level you can get a Certificate of Completion to represent all the hard work you have done!In addition to the main TTRS course, there is also a TTRS subjects section. This is only recommended after learners have completed at least 3 levels of the main course. Subjects include maths, grammar and science.How to get access to TTRS? If you would like access, please email: [email protected] and include your name and Library card membership number. We will send you a username and password along with the login instructions. You can also email us if you have any other questions about accessing TTRS. For further useful information on TTRS check out their website.Submitted by Fiona from Central Library. 

Have you ever wished to get an overview of a subject but were unsure where to start? Why not try Very Short Introductions from Oxford University Press, this collection of 600 books cover a range of subjects in the Arts, Law, Medicine, Sciences and Social Sciences from Abolitionism to Zionism and everything in between. All titles provide intelligent and serious introductions to a range of subjects, written by experts in the field who combine facts, analysis, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make challenging topics highly readable.For example, there’s a book by Barry Cunliffe on The Celts. I really like the way he explains the term “Celt” and shows how the meaning changed throughout history. Cunliffe has, (with J.T. Koch) published three volumes "Celtic from the West". They claim that Ireland's population came from south west Iberia, around 4,000bc. The books are expensive but the theory behind them is widely available online.Climate Change by Mark Maslin is quite topical and worth a read. He looks at the factors that influence the global climate. He considers the difference between weather and climate. He concludes by looking at the issues of climate change and what is being done to tackle it. Other science topics include The Antartic, Black Holes, Waves, Viruses, and many more.Recently I began reading “The Divine Comedy". I saw that there was a title: Dante by Peter Hainsworth and David Robey on Very Short Introductions, so I had a look. Dante wrote about people and issues from his era. Hainsworth and Robey demonstrate how these issues are often left to the reader to resolve. They look at the medieval versus modern aspects of the text and that is why, The Divine Comedy, is a masterpiece in world literature. Sometimes it's enough to dip into the book to see what interests you.Submitted by Liam in Terenure Library. Access Very Short Introductions with your Dublin City library membership card barcode number. Select 'Dublin City Public Libraries' from menu.

Are you, like so many people nowadays, staying at home safe with your children? Would you appreciate access to FREE, reliable, up-to-date and trustworthy online resources to help with home study? Then look no further. Dublin City Libraries has a comprehensive and authoritative collection of online encyclopaedias, dictionaries and other reference tools to help children and young people to study and to learn, whatever age or level they’re at.All that’s needed is a Dublin City Libraries card.Read on and click on the links as you go to explore.World Book Online provides access to three websites with accurate information at age-appropriate levels in a controlled and safe learning environment.    World Book Early World of Learning for toddlers and children in the early education    World Book Kids for ages 7 to 11    World Book Student for ages 12 to 15This resource is packed with thousands of easy-to-read articles, illustrations, videos, interactive maps, and a wealth of engaging games and activities.Britannica Library provides access to hundreds of thousands of informative articles, a rich media library filled with videos and images, an interactive atlas and much more. Simply select the link you want below and enter your library card number    Britannica Library Junior for ages 5 -11    Britannica Library Student for ages 12 – 18    Britannica Library Adult – for ages18 plusOxford Reference is a general reference resource covering all fields of knowledge. It spans 22 core subject areas with over 2 million entries represented across hundreds of subject and language reference titles, and it includes 19,000+ illustrations, and 270 historic timelines by subject or time period.Look to the left of the screen where it says ‘Sign in with your library card’, enter your library card number, and then select ‘Dublin City Libraries’.Oxford Research is a scholarly reference resource and its content is more academic than Oxford Reference. Readers can access peer-reviewed articles written by leading experts for an overview of the selected areas of research listed below.Click on your selected topic, and enter your library card number where indicated on the left of the screen, and select ‘Dublin City Libraries’.    Classics    Climate Science    Communication    Criminology    Environmental Science    International Studies    Literature    Politics    Psychology    Religion    Social WorkVery Short Introductions provides concise, intelligent introductions to a diverse range of subject areas. VSI are very readable and give a quick overview of the topic. They are written by experts in their field who combine facts, analysis and new ideas, and can be used at any level of the academic journey.Look to the left of the screen where it says ‘Sign in with your library card’, and then select ‘Dublin City Libraries’.Oxford Music Online provides information on composers, musicians and other people and subjects linked to the world of music, e.g. patrons, timelines, eras, instruments, pieces, styles etc. This resource includes    52,000+ articles, written and edited by nearly 9,000 subject experts,    images, audio and videos,    extensive bibliographies with life information and works lists for composers, performers and other important musical figures,    free learning resources including subject guides, opera indexes, timelines, and articles on key topics in music.To find out more, click on Oxford Music Online (Grove Music)  - Look to the left of the screen where it says ‘Sign in with your library card’, and then select ‘Dublin City Libraries’.Oxford Art online provides information on all aspects of the world of art, including artists, architects, craftsmen, patrons, movements, locations, and periods, and includes,    30,000+ articles and images,    6,000+ subject entries and 20,000+ biographies, contributed to by nearly 7,000 international scholars – all with bibliographies for further research, and    7,000 searchable images from Oxford’s partnerships with museums, galleries, and other outstanding arts organizations as well as 40,000 editorially selected image links to museums and galleries.Benezit Dictionary of Artists is one of the most comprehensive and definitive resources of artists’ biographies available. It contains    entries on obscure artists and historic auction records,    over 11,000 images of artists’ signatures, monograms, and stamps of sale, and    detailed museum listings, bibliographies, exhibition information, and auction records.To see more, click on Oxford Art Online (Grove Art Online/Benezit Dictionary of Artists). Look to the left of the screen where it says ‘Sign in with your library card’, and then pick ‘Dublin City Libraries’.Oxford English Dictionary is your ‘go to’ resource when you need to find the meaning of a word, or want help with grammar or spelling. It’s the definitive guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of 600,000+ words— past and present—from across the English-speaking world. It’s updated every 3 months, and existing entries are revised and new words added.    Dictionary: Browse the whole dictionary from A-Z.    Categories: Browse words by subject, usage, region or origin.    Timelines: Discover when words entered the English language.    Sources: Explore the top 1,000 authors and works quoted in the OED.Click on the ‘Sign in >>’ button on the top right hand of the screen and then enter your library card number where indicated, and select’ Dublin City Libraries’.Oxford Dictionaries Premium provides access to eight unabridged bilingual language dictionaries, as follows:    Spanish    Arabic    German    French    Italian    Portuguese    Russian    ChineseBilingual language content is created by native speakers of each language, working with computational tools to analyse millions of words of language together to find the right translations, new phrases, and changing patterns of usage. It contains comprehensive grammar and spelling rules as well as writing help.Login where indicated with your library card number.Visit our website to find out more about our great online resources. 

Instrument Carousel - a partnership between Girls Rock Dublin and Dublin City Libraries was a smash hit with all the teenagers in Pearse Library on Culture Night last Friday. Instrument Carousel was an opportunity for participants to explore their musical potential.It marks the launch of the “GRD Gear Library”, the gear loan service designed for teenagers by Girls Rock Dublin & Dublin City Libraries. Sixteen teenagers took over the Library in a fun & loud experiment involving electric guitars, basses, synths, keyboards & drums. By moving through different rooms and engaging with GRD coaches, participants learned a song on each instrument, and finished by performing the song together.Girls Rock Dublin is a non-profit, volunteer-led organisation that builds girls’ self-esteem through music creation and performance. Providing workshops and technical training, GRD creates leadership opportunities, cultivates a supportive community of peers and mentors, and encourages social change and the development of life skills. ​From Culture Night any teenager who is a member of Dublin City Libraries can borrow their preferred instrument for three weeks. All you need is your library card!Teenagers will need the signature of a parent or guardian when completing the membership form. Their parent or guardian will need to bring photo I.D. and proof of address. Get access to great online resources, borrow books, DVDs and now musical instruments! There are no fines and you can use your card in any library in Ireland.    Joining is easy. Call into Pearse Street library and borrow what you like. The GRD Gear Library is a collection of  instruments, amplifiers and musical accessories that Girls Rock Dublin are now making available through Dublin City Libraries all year round.     The collection is made up of donated gear from people in the community who value the work of Girls Rock Dublin and from purchases made from funding received with thanks to ​Reverb.com​. GRD Gear Library also welcome donations of 'gear'.The library is an ongoing project, more pics from Culture Night 2019 on flickr. Dublin City Libraries are free,fun and easy to use. Find out more.       

I guess it’s that time of year again! If you’re back to school or college, read on to find out about our amazing array of FREE online research and reference resources. We have something here to help you with your studies, whatever level you’re at.Visit our website at http://www.dublincity.ie/library-eresources to explore all the free online resources available through Dublin City Libraries. All for FREE!All you need to register or to log on is your Dublin City Libraries card. And remember to tell your friends and family and classmates too!AdultStudentJuniorEarly LearningKidsStudentOxford Research and Reference Encyclopaedia, featuring the following topics:ClassicsClimate Science CommunicationCriminology        Education              Environmental ScienceInternational StudiesLiteraturePolitics    Psychology                 Religion                                  Social Work           Oxford English DictionaryOxford Dictionaries, featuringSpanishArabicGermanFrenchItalianPortugueseRussianChineseOxford Bibliographies – British and Irish Literature and Victorian LiteratureOxford Music Online (Grove Music)Oxford Art Online (Grove Art Online/Benezit Dictionary of Artists)American National Biography OnlineYou can access 1,000s of articles in newspapers and magazines from Ireland and around the world with Proquest and PressReader.Proquest  PressReader Finally, we also have the following research and reference tools available to you on your device when you visit your local library:Dictionary of Irish BiographyEmerald InsightScience DirectJSTOR – The Irish CollectionIrish Times Digital ArchiveIrish Newspaper ArchiveHappy studying from Dublin City Libraries!

This week I have had the great pleasure of visiting Massachusetts and presenting a paper at the annual national meeting of the American Conference for Irish Studies held in Boston. It was my second time attending such a gathering, having also presented a paper on Dublin poet Maeve Cavanagh MacDowell two years ago, when ACIS met in Kansas City, Missouri. This time around I spoke about the life of Dora Maguire, another woman who happened to be profiled in R. M. Fox’s 1935 book of essays Rebel Irishwomen.Whereas the likes of Maud Gonne and Countess Markievicz became legends in their own lifetimes, Dora Maguire (1889-1931) was perhaps the most obscure of Fox’s dozen ‘Rebel Irishwomen’. A friend of the author, she died aged forty-one in February 1931 after years of ill-health. During my paper I spoke about Maguire’s upbringing in England and the north of Ireland, time spent in Blackburn and London during the First World War (when she worked as a nurse and developed suppressed diphtheria and tuberculosis), decision to move to Ireland around the time of the War of Independence, and employment at St. Ultan’s Children’s Hospital in Ranelagh during the 1920s.I then focused at length on her arrest in 1925 over an incident at the Princess Cinema in Rathmines. Evolving into an ardent republican during her adulthood, Maguire was indignant at the time about the screening across Dublin of short films concerning the Prince of Wales’ recent dominion tour of South Africa. Entering the “Prinner” – as the Princess Cinema was known to locals – on 6th August 1925 with an inkpot hidden on her person, Maguire stood up and hurled her makeshift missile over the heads of the theatre orchestra as soon as the offending picture was shown, causing considerable damage to the screen and generating newspaper headlines.Surviving foyer plaque from the Princess Cinema, the scene of Dora Maguire's arrest in August 1925. Known locally as "The Prinner", the cinema closed its doors in 1960 and was demolished in 1982 (Photograph courtesy of Carol Dunne, Dublin City Libraries).This incident is the focus of The Spirit of Dora Maguire, an historical comic strip by Dublin artist Aidan J Collins. Some artwork from this creation, which came about in 2018 following a talk I gave in Dublin on Maguire’s life the previous year, can be seen below:Blueprint still from an animated video by Aidan J Collins. This is based on one of the panels from his 2018 historical comic strip The Spirit of Dora Maguire (Courtesy of Aidan J Collins).On Monday 20th May 2019 I will be teaming up with Maeve Casserly (Historian in Residence, South East Area) for a joint talk about Dora Maguire and St. Ultan’s Children’s Hospital at Rathmines Public Library. The event starts at 6:30pm and all are welcome to attend.Dr. James Curry, Historian in Residence, North West Area.Dublin City Council Historians in Residence are available to meet groups and schools, give talks, walks etc, run history book clubs and advise on historical research. 

Gerald Crofts (1888–1934) was one of a small group of musicians and lyricists who made a huge contribution to the Irish independence movement in the early 20th century. He came from Capel Street originally, where his family had a shop and he was a popular singer. His brother Joseph was a composer who arranged the words and music for this marching song, which was dedicated to Crofts.Gerald had joined the Irish Volunteers in 1914 and he was a close friend of some of the leaders of the Rising. He was imprisoned in Dartmoor and Lewes prisons in England and suffered poor health for the rest of his life. Crofts continued his republican activities after his release from prison although he was curtailed in what he could do by a problem with his hands, which meant he could not hold weapons. Family papers suggest that he was involved in intelligence work with Michael Collins. In the later years of his life he was well known for singing his friend Constance Markiewicz’s anthem 'A Battle Hymn’ (dedicated to the Irish Citizen Army) at political gatherings and concerts. He died on 14th November 1934. History Document of the MonthEvery month the Dublin City Council Historians in Residence will be highlighting a document from Dublin City Public Libraries and Archives Digital Repository.  An image of the selected document will be on display in branch libraries during the month.Historians in Residence are available to meet groups and schools, give talks, walks etc, run history book clubs and advise on historical research.

Dublin supported James II at the Battle of the Boyne, but following his defeat by William III, a protestant ascendancy resumed control of the city and began to forge links with the new and successful monarchy. This process intensified after the death of Mary II in 1695 left William III as sole monarch. Dublin Corporation added William’s arms to the City Sword; in 1697 and in the following year, the king presented a chain of office to the Lord Mayor of Dublin, carrying the monarch’s bust on a medallion, which is in use to this day.