New Services added to the Library Website

Some new improvements have been added to the main page of the Library Website, click here for the full story.

Also, DIT Library services now have a presence on Twitter and Facebook

New Databases on Trial

The Library has currently got access to 2 new databases on a trial basis. These databases are Project Muse, and Dictionary of Irish Biography

Report by Commission of Investigation into Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin Published

A Report by Commission of Investigation into the handling by Church and State authorities of allegations and suspicions of child abuse against clerics of the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin has just been published. Copies of this report have been ordered for the Library and are expected to be available soon.

In the meantime the report is available online here , to access the report click the link for full text on the record. This page will also show when there are hard copies of the report available to be borrowed from the library

New Databases of the Month

ERIC and Art Full Text are their respective departments "database of the month" for November.

To view our short guides, and to go directly to the databases, just check the links in each of the departments side panels to the right of this page.

Disruption to some Library Services

DIT Information Services have sent the following email to the Library regarding disruption to some of the library services.

"In order to perform essential scheduled hardware maintenance, Information Services would like to inform you of the following network downtime:

  • Friday Oct 16th: The wireless network will be unavailable from 8am to 6pm
  • Saturday Oct 17th : The phone network will be unaccessible from 8am to 6pm
  • Wednesday Oct 21st: Internet and Intranet Services will be unavailable from 8am to 10am
Information Services apologise for any inconvenience caused and will be doing everything possible to minimise this downtime."

Network Maintenance Thursday Evening

Due to necessary maintenance work being carried out in the library on Thursday evening, 8th of October, certain services will not be available between approx. 7pm and 9pm. Those services are

Wireless Internet access
Internet access
Printing and Photocopying

We apologise for the inconvenience.

Jewellery Books @ Mountjoy Square Library

An exhibition of some of the jewellery books held at Mountjoy Square Library is currently taking place. Books on a variety of topics are viewable in the display case in front of the entrance to the Library.

Topics covered include:
Art Deco Jewellery
Charm Jewellery
Faberge
Tiffany in Fashion

All books on jewellery are shelved at 739.27

If you would like to take out any book in the display cabinet just ask at the library issue desk.

Saturday Opening Recommences This Weekend

The Library will recommence opening on Saturdays during term time from this 3rd of October. Users are advised that the Library will not be opening every Saturday, so it is important to check whether the Library is open before visiting on a given Saturday.

Detail regarding Saturday opening will be posted on this blog and on the Mountjoy Square Library Homepage on a weekly basis, while the full list of Saturday openings are available here.

Library Closed This Saturday

The Library will not be opening this Saturday 26th September

New Opening Hours

The Library will be operating new opening hours for the academic year. These hours are as follows
Mon: 9.30am-5.15pm
Tue-Thurs: 9.30am-9.30pm
Fri: 9.30am-5.15pm
Sat: 10.00am-5.00pm

Please note that the Library will not be open every Saturday and it is advised to check with the Library in advance to see if the Library will be open on a particular Saturday. The list of Saturday openings is also available online here

August New Books

The lists of new books for the month of August have been published. You can access these lists from the various subject gateways available at the Mountjoy Square home page

New books that arrived in July

The new books lists for both Art, Design and Printing, and Social Sciences and Law have been updated to show the books that newly arrived at Mountjoy Square Library during the month of July. Check them out in the columns on the right.

"Growing Up in Ireland" Study

On 10th July 2009 four sets of key findings in relation to the study Growing Up in Ireland were published. Growing Up in Ireland is a Government funded study of children in Ireland which is following the progress of two groups of children; 8,500 nine year olds and 10,000 nine month olds over seven years.

The Office of the Minister for Children is overseeing and managing the study. The study itself is being carried out by a consortium of researchers led by the Economic and Social Research Institute ("ESRI") and Trinity College Dublin.

The key findings which were published on 10th July relate to the nine year olds ("the child cohort"). They cover "Being 9 years old", "The families of 9 year olds", "The education of 9 years olds" and "The health of 9 year olds". Click here to learn more about the study. Click here to view the findings.

New Books Updated

The new books lists for both Art, Design and Printing, and Social Sciences and Law have been updated to show the books that newly arrived at Mountjoy Square Library during the month of June. Check them out in the columns on the right.

Child Abuse Commission's Report Released

The final report of the Child Abuse Commission examining the abuse experienced by thousands of children who attended State managed institutions was released today, 20th May 2009. The Commission examined the treatment of young people in industrial schools, institutions for children with disabilities and ordinary day schools over a 10 year period. Approximately 1,000 applicants were heard by the confidential committee which examined claims of abuse while a further 800 people were interviewed by the invesigation committee. Click here to view the Executive Summary of the Report. Click here to view the full Report.

More about the state of current Irish Mental Health Services...

On 15th May the fifth report of the Inspectorate of Mental Health Services was published. It revealed that current Irish mental health services still do not reflect new policies on mental health service provision promoted by the Government. Click here to see the report of the Inspectorate of Mental Health Services. Click here to see the Irish Times report.

Mental Health Services not geared towards needs of teenagers with mental health problems.

A study by Headstrong, the national centre for youth mental health, indicates that young people who approach mental health services face obstacles such as, among other issues, long waiting list and high costs and are unable to get help outside school hours. Professionals and youth leaders report that the services are focused on children or adults but not adolescents. The young people who do engage with the services feel there is a lack of choice of interventions available and an over-reliance on medication. Click here for Irish Times report of 26th March. Click here to link to the Headstrong Web page which links to the report. The report is entitled "Somewhere to Turn to, Someone to Talk to."

Easter Opening Hours

Mountjoy Square will operate the following hours during the Easter two week period:

The library will close at 1pm on Thursday 9th of April and will reopen at 9.30am on Wednesday 15th of April.

Term time opening hours will apply during the rest of this period:

Monday - Thursday
9:30 - 21:30

Friday 9:30 - 17:15

Saturday 10:00 -17:00

Let Children be Active Citizens

An article by Pat Dolan in the Irish Times Opinion Page of 4th March 2009 argues that it is time to start valuing children for what they can contribute to civic society now and not think or speak of them as having value "into the future". It asserts that childen have a proven capacity to be active in the community by being supportive to others and in doing so they benefit themselves in terms of improved self esteem and coping capacity. Click here to view article.

Gender Stereotyping causes Pay Gap in Ireland

A European Commission Report entitled Equality between Men and W0men - 2009 found that the difference between average hourly pay for women and men in Ireland was 17.1 per cent in 2007. This was slightly below the EU average pay gap at 17.4 per cent. The pay gap means that Irish women are likely, in the longer term, to have inferior pensions. Also almost one third of Irish women (31 per cent) work part-time, four times higher than men. This may reflect a woman's own choice but the report indicates that a substantial number of women in Europe are obliged not to work or work part-time because of their family responsibilities. Click here to see Irish Times article on 4th March 2009.

Databases of the Month update

The databases of the month for March have been decided for both Social Sciences and Law and Art, Design and Printing, check the side panel for the link

44 per cent of People Know Someone affected by Domestic Violence

A survey into public attitudes to domestic violence commissioned by Cosc, the State's national office for the prevention of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, has revealed that 44 per cent of people know someone who, personally, has been affected by domestic violence. It also showed that most people are reluctant to intervene in cases of abuse if it affects someone outside their close circle of family or friends. Click here to see Irish Times Report on 14th January 2009. Click here to see full survey on the Cosc Web site.