Libraries
The Library of Trinity College Dublin is the largest library in the country. It is a legal deposit library, and as such is entitled to receive a copy of every book and journal title published in Ireland and the UK. You have access to 7,000,000 printed volumes and to an impressive online collection of 900,000 e-books and 150,000 e-journals.
There are five main library buildings:
- Former Berkeley, Lecky, Ussher Libraries (BLU Complex):
- Contains collections in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, plus some other subjects such as Nursing & Midwifery..
- The Hamilton Library
- Find books for the Health Sciences, Natural Sciences, Computer Science, Engineering, Statistics and Mathematics.
- The John Stearne Medical Library
- Located in the Trinity Centre for the Health Sciences at St James’s Hospital, this library holds Trinity’s medical collection.
- The 1937 Reading Room
- A study area for postgraduate students only.
- The Old Library
- The Joint Research Collections Reading Room (home to the Early Printed Books and Manuscripts & Archives departments) provides access to the oldest and most valuable books in the Library, as well as more than 20,000 collections of manuscripts and archives, dating from the 13th century BC to the present day.
Access
- You need your student card (TCard) to enter the libraries and to borrow: tcard.tcd.ie
- The Trinity Live App can also be used to gain access to library spaces: tcd.ie/itservices/internet/trinitylive.php
- Check the Library opening hours here: tcd.ie/library
Subject Librarians
Subject Librarians have individual websites packed full of quality online resources to use in your assignment, essay or other research. E-mail your Subject Librarian about your training needs: classes and one-to-one consultations can be provided on a range of information skills, including using the Library catalogue, how to cite references and avoid plagiarism, database searching, evaluating information, and EndNote.
Catalogue
The Library catalogue, Stella Search, is the starting point for finding books, journals, DVDs and a huge range of online resources. Just type in a keyword to begin your search. stella.catalogue.tcd.ie/
Storage
Because of the vast size of the collections, some books have to go into storage but they can be retrieved for you. The catalogue will prompt you to place a request and you will receive an e-mail when your book is ready to be consulted.
Borrowing
Use the self-service kiosks to borrow and return books without having to queue at the Library counters. You can borrow up to ten books at a time from our open shelves and closed storage collections. Some of the most frequently used books and journals – in our high-demand reference collection - are made available for consultation in the Library but cannot be borrowed. These are typically items on your Reading List and are for use in the Library only. This system gives everyone a fair chance to get hold of a book. There may well be other copies of the books in the Library that you can borrow. Just check the catalogue.
My Library Account
My Library Account is your own part of the Library website where you can see when books are due and renew them if required. You may be fined if books are not returned on time so keep an eye on your due dates. If nobody else requests the book you have borrowed, you can renew it up to five times, which effectively means you can have the book on loan for a six month period.
Library HITS
Library HITS courses will run online during the first weeks of term. They will help you to familiarise yourself with the Library’s vast resources and show you how to get them working for you.
Study Rooms:
- Library Group Study Rooms:
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- Group study rooms are available during Library opening hours to registered students in groups of two or more who wish to work together on projects and assignments.
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- IT Service Rooms and Mac Labs:
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- IT Services computer rooms are located across campus, with both Windows and Mac computers available.
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- There are also stand-up email stations around campus if you wish to quickly check your email.
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- Details: www.tcd.ie/itservices/facilities/computer-rooms
