abevan July 13th, 2010
The Taoiseach’s Public Service Excellence Awards are designed to showcase and celebrate public service projects that make a particular difference to the way the citizen can avail of services. The Awards promote innovation and excellence. The creative use of resources and the development of new efficiencies are typical hallmarks of successful entries.
Kildare County Council and the National Library of Ireland were among the award winning projects this year.
Kildare County Council – Clocha Rince Library Project
This project features the provision of a library service to a rural community through a partnership with Clocha Rince National School. The main objective is to provide a template which can be easily replicated and adapted to provide a similar community resource via community partnerships and facility sharing approaches.
This initiative has provided an increase of 400% in opening hours (service had been the mobile library). Community services also provided include public access PCs, study facilities, parent and toddler groups, active age, social information evenings and other services targeted at specific groups.
The cost of the average standalone library of a similar size is €249,000 in the first year whereas Clocha Rinca has cost €60,000.
National Library of Ireland – the Sources Project
This project digitised, encoded and delivered – as a freely searchable online resource – 180,000 records for Irish manuscripts and periodical records, created by National Library staff over a 30 year period (to 1970). Most of the source material had previously been published in the form of 17,000 pages of records but was only accessible as printed catalogues in a small number of major research institutions and specialist libraries.
The project facilitated new ways of accessing the data, as well as the inclusion of new data by including records for additional National Library manuscripts. Every article in 157 key Irish periodicals published over the course of nearly 200 years is included. Close to 100,000 manuscripts worldwide from the remotest monastery to the vast collections of the National Library are included. Catalogue records for all National Library manuscripts are available online.
The Taoiseach’s Public Service Excellence Awards take place every two years. Selected projects from among the Award winners have, traditionally, been showcased at international “Quality Conferences” as models of best practice. Details of the award winners can be found here.
Tags: Kildare County Library & Arts Service, National Library of Ireland, News & Events, Public Service Excellence Awards
abevan July 2nd, 2010
Advocacy, Evidence, Support: a BL Preservation Advisory Centre event, National Library of Ireland, Tuesday July 13 2010.
With increased pressure on resources and many organisations facing funding cuts it can be difficult to make the case for long-term, core activities such as preservation. Most institutions want what preservation achieves: ensured continuity of access to collections. This event explores how to make the case for preservation in terms of the outcomes it achieves and value to the organisation. It promotes use of the Preservation Assessment Survey as a method of collecting evidence of preservation strengths and weaknesses, and it outlines the Preservation Advisory Centre’s work to refresh the overall picture of preservation practice and usability of library and archive collections in the UK and Ireland.
It is aimed at librarians, archivists and collection care professionals. The event builds the community of practice that is necessary for professional sharing of expertise and support in libraries and archives. Each event showcases examples of collaborative work, networks and support available for preservation and conservation activities.
This is a free event, but places are limited and will be allocated on a ‘first come’ basis. To reserve your place, please copy the application form and paste into an email to: Julia.Foster@bl.uk. Alternatively, print out, complete and return the form by post.
Tags: British Library, National Library of Ireland, Preservation
nmcnamara May 24th, 2010
William Butler Yeats’s creativity and legacy is celebrated in the National Library of Ireland’s Summer’s Wreath Festival from June 2nd – 30th, 2010. The month-long public programme of events in conjunction with the Library’s current exhibition Yeats: the Life & Works of William Butler Yeats, will include readings, reflections, lectures, recitals and leading names reflecting on his life and his poetry.
Download the progamme of events.
Tags: Events, National Library of Ireland
abevan April 20th, 2010
The National Library of Ireland hosts a wide variety of events including public lectures, poetry and music recitals, theatre, children’s storytelling, creative workshops, and much more. To see what’s coming up in the programme of events, visit the Current Events page.
You can also receive daily updates about NLI news and events through Twitter and Facebook.
If you would like to receive monthly notification of forthcoming events by email and join our mailing list, please email Sarah O’Connor with the subject line ’subscribe to mailing list’.
Events for the month of May are listed below or see the Calendar of Events Continue Reading »
Tags: National Library of Ireland, National Print Museum, News & Events
abevan March 24th, 2010
The National Library of Ireland hosts a wide variety of events including public lectures, poetry and music recitals, theatre, children’s storytelling, creative workshops, and much more.
Events taking place during the month of April include lectures, a play and a number of Wildean themed talks in conjunction with Dublin: One City One Book which this year focuses on Wilde’s book The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Continue Reading »
Tags: Dublin: One City One Book, National Library of Ireland, News & Events
