In part one of our newpaper posting, we looked at the NexisUK database which provides access to the full content of Irish and international newspapers. In Part 2, we will focus on accessing the historical content of Irish newspapers online.

1. The Irish Times Digital Archive
You can access the latest content of the Irish Times online via their website or through NexisUK.  The Irish Times Digital Archive provides access to the archive of the Irish Times covering the period 1859 to about a year ago. Note: you must select ‘News: the historial Irish Times ’ from the drop down database menu (see below). If you select ‘Proquest Newspapers’ you will only be searching the Irish Times from 1995 to date. 

Click here for a short video demonstration on how to perform an Advanced Search of the archive.

2. Irish Newspaper Archive
This database comprises digital image copies of a large number of Irish national and regional newspapers. Click here for a listing of the titles and their coverage. This database is a work in progress and as a result there are some gaps in coverage. Titles include, the Irish Independent 1905-2001, Sunday Independent 1906-2002 and the Freeman’s Journal 1763-1924.

As always, if you need help accessing and using any of our databases please visit our Information Desk on the  ground floor of the Library. If you can’t visit us in person, call the desk @ 01-7005210 or email us @ library.dcu.ie

informaworld will be unavailable on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 between 0500 and 0800.

Details below of forthcoming RefWorks classes for researchers and staff.

We will also be delivering a presentation on Zotero. Zotero is a free, open source alternative to RefWorks. While its still in development and not as well established as RefWorks, it is in many ways easier to use and offers some great new features for researchers. The presentation will cover:
-a demonstration of Zotero’s key features
-comparing Zotero with RefWorks and Mendeley, another rival reference management app.
All staff and students are welcome

All events will take place in Training Room 1, DCU Library.

Schedule:

RefWorks for Researchers and staff. Wednesday, November 11, 1430-1600.  Register here.

Introducing Zotero: the new RefWorks? Tuesday, November 17, 1300-1400. Register here.

Graduate Training: Introduction to RefWorks. Thursday, November 26, 1100-1230. This class is exclusively for first year research masters and PhD students. Register here.

RefWorks for Researchers and staff. Tuesday, December 1, 1000-1130.  Register here.

Zoë Corbyn from Times Higher Education has just written that researchers aged between 21 and 27 aren’t using Web 2.0 tools like RSS and social bookmarking in their work.

In my work as a research support librarian, I have been promoting Web 2.0 tools to researchers. An increasing number of researchers are using them but its very far from reaching a critical mass – they’re far from being an essential part of everyone’s work. I believe this is because:

1. RSS feeds from databases and journal publishers are difficult to set up. Publishers often expect users to create personal accounts and click through numerous screens before they get to an RSS icon. Every publisher does things differently – some only allow table of contents alerts, some automatically stop your feed after a year.
2. Social networking/bookmarking. There’s a lot of startup services for researchers and academics – I’ve come across about ten of them – but no single one has taken off yet. Some of them, like Academia.edu, look great, but they’re all stuck in a situation where no one is signing up because none of their friends/colleagues have signed up first.
3. None of these services talk to each other. I can set up a Web of Science feed on my Google Reader, but Google can’t easily transfer the references to RefWorks and its just an tricky sending them on again from RefWorks to my citeulike account. The future may be with Zotero, which is trying to do all this in one service.

The fact is that the volume and complexity of information researchers need is on a different scale from the general public and can’t be simply automated with Web 2.0 tools. That’s why a good working relationship between researchers and librarians is so important. Librarians can offer hands-on help with all these technologies, and advise and train researchers on the best ways to find / manage / share / publish their information.

Originally posted on Read Around Research, a blog on dissemination and publication of research.

New dates for our popular class on how to cite and reference information sources correctly are now confirmed.  All welcome!  Whilst the class focusses on the Harvard style of referencing, it will be of benefit to all students who want to brush up on their skills and understanding of citing and referencing. All classes will take place in Training Room 1 on the ground floor of the Library. The dates are:

Tuesday 3rd November 13.00pm-13.45pm
Thursday 5th  November 13.00pm -13.45pm
Monday 9th  November 13.00-13.45pm

The Library has a number of databases which give you access to online newspaper content. The main one is NexisUK which brings you the full content of Irish newspapers and all major international newspapers.  You can search the content of all Irish newspapers by selecting “Irish Publications” from the “Source” drop down menu on the Nexis search screen.  You can also choose to select one newspaper title, for example the Sunday Tribune and just search it. Select “Major World Newspaper” to see the list of titles covered and to search global newspaper content.  Nexis covers approximately 5- 10 years of newspaper content. Watch out for a new post coming soon on accessing the content of the Irish Times from 1859 to date and the historial content of other Irish newspaper titles! If you need help using NexisUK, visit our Information Desk on the ground floor. If you can’t visit in person, you can call the desk when the library is open @ 01-7005218 or email the team at: library.dcu.ie.

If you use CrossFire, you need to make a small change to it on your PC. Follow the instructions here.

Meanwhile, our trial of Reaxys, the new and improved version of CrossFire, has been extended to November 31, 2009.

Contact Jack Hyland with any questions.

Here are the answers to some recent questions we’ve had about DCU dissertations and theses.
Q. How do I get a list of dissertations held in the library for my programme e.g. MSc in Education and Training Management
A. Enter “Education and Training Management” into the ‘keyword’ search box in the library catalogue AND select ‘theses’ from the drop-down ‘collection’ menu
 Q. How do I find out what DCU theses or DCU dissertations are available on a particular topic?
A. Same as above, except just enter your topic of interest in the ‘keyword’ box
Q. Where are DCU dissertations held in the Library?
A. In the Reference Collection area on the ground floor (immediately to the left as you enter the library).
Q. Where are DCU theses held in the Library?
A. Two places, the print theses are held behind the Issue Desk on the ground floor. Theses published since 2008 (and some in 2007) are available in our open access institutional repository DORAS. When you search the library catalogue for theses, you will be given a link to the e-theses if available in DORAS.

ScienceDirect will be unavailable between 0100 and 1000 on Sunday, November 1, 2009.

We’ve had a number of students asking if they can print in colour in the library. Yes -  we have two locations where you can use PCs for colour printing:

8 PCs in the Information Commons on the ground floor and
4 PCs on the second floor  (left of stairway – follow signs)

You will need to login using your Novell username and password to use these PCs. If you need to top up your printing account, there’s a top-up machine in the photcopying area on the ground floor.