July + August opening in the James Joyce Library

From next week the James Joyce Library will have extended opening on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings till 21:00, with Reading Room only from 17:00 onwards on these days. Monday and Fridays will remain at 17:30 closing and we will be closed on weekends. These hours will be effective up to and including the week of the 24th August. James

Great Library Moments in the Movies #2: Angels and Demons

It’s inevitable. From the moment Tom Hanks is led into the vaults of the Vatican Secret Archive—watched closely by a glowering official—you know that centuries-old manuscripts are going to come to mischief. It seems that, when sex and violence get boring, nothing rouses a film audience more than damage to books. (OK, so an archive isn’t a library. But it’s close enough.) The sequel to the dire Da Vinci Code is surprisingly watchable. Where the first film shows us a millennia-old cover-up being detected by Ian McKellen noticing that a disciple in Da Vinci’s Last Supper looks a bit girly, the plot of Angels and Demons is so convoluted that you don’t have time to notice the chasms in logic. Your brain might take a nap, but your eyes will have a blast. It’s like a trip to Vatican City without the danger of getting your pocket picked. (Did you know that the Holy See has the highest crime rate of any nation state in the world?) Which is all very well, but then we come to the wanton destruction in the Vatican Secret Archive. What is it with Hollywood and harm to library collections? Or do the movie-makes just reflect a wider social desire to get in amongst the stacks and wreak havoc? I’m working on a screenplay which will try to counter this glorification of library-wrecking. The working title is Dewey-Eyed. Picture the scene: a would-be killer, running from a vigilante, is chased into a public library. The two men of violence grapple with each other, knocking over bookshelves and racks of journals as they do so. So far, so ordinary. But in my film, the antagonists will come to their senses, realise what chaos they’re creating, give each other a long wary look, and—with an unspoken agreement—start clearing up. They get more and more absorbed in the work, discussing what books go on what shelves, and end up forgetting their feud completely. The last hour of the film is spent in an in-depth discussion of librarianship and information studies in the 21st century. I predict that word-of-mouth will lead to mobs at the multiplexes. You read it here first. Maolsheachlann

June Bank Holiday notice

All UCD branch libraries will be closed next Monday 1st June 2009. For full list of our summer opening times see the website. James

Wolfram Alpha Launch 18 May 2009

Taking a very different approach to a conventional search engine, Wolfram Alpha is described as a "computation knowledge engine" and after the anticipation and talk it eventually made the official launch today. Not sure if it will be an alternative rival to Google, seems more of a complimentary tool for pulling direct and specific information without having to trawl through a series of websites. Anyway to take a look visit Wolfram Alpha and give it a test run. James

Last night of midnight opening

Tonight is the last chance to burn the midnight oil as the JJL will end the six week run of midnight opening. James

HSL Saturday Summer opening

Of note to all readers who use the JJL, during the summer the nearest Library on campus with extended opening hours is the Health Sciences Library (HSL). So the opening hours from Monday 18th May – Saturday 27th June 2009: Monday – Friday 08:30 – 21:45 (Loans Desk staffed from 9am), Saturdays 0930 – 1700 and closed on Sundays. Then from 28th June, Monday – Friday 0900 – 1700 (Loans Desk staffed from 9am), Saturday's + Sunday's (CLOSED). A full list of the opening times for all UCD Library branches and the JJL will soon be added to the Opening Hours web page on the Library website. James

Superfines final day

Well the exmas are nearly over and hence the Superfines have their last day today. James