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UCD library as a resource

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  • 05-11-2010 11:40am
    #1
    zagmund
    Registered Users Posts: 2,501 ✭✭✭


    Every so often I get a mailer from UCD Alumni telling me I can get various benefits from joining the association, including a library card.

    I have a few projects bubbling under at the moment, including some research on the Seapoint area and some genealogy stuff relating to family in Dublin city in the late 1800s. I was thinking that the library card might be a useful asset *if* UCD had easily accessible resources.

    Joining the association is only €30 so I'm not going to lose much sleep if they don't have anything I can use, but I was just looking for some advance info on what sorts of resources they might have in this area. If nothing else, I could relive my student days - 2 lectures a day and the rest of the time spent either in the library not studying (you have to love Arts degrees) or else sitting in the SU drinking their cheap coffee.

    I'm aware that births, deaths & marriages as well as the national archives are likely to be more beneficial on the genealogy front, but maybe UCD might have something too - and it's a lot easier for me to get to than the other places.

    So, just looking for some quick views on the usefulness or otherwise of UCD from a research point of view.

    Thanks,

    z


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    #2
    pinkypinky
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,616 Mod ✭✭✭✭pinkypinky


    As a UCD genealogy student, I can tell you that the library is fairly useless. They do have some of the books we use about genealogy but when it comes to records, the best thing they have are newspapers (which are easier to search online) and things like Burke's Peerage. Even our lecturer admits they put no effort into building up their genealogy stuff. The National Library and Archives and the GRO are what you need, with a healthy dose of the Pearse St library who have a lot of Dublin stuff.

    Genealogy Forum Mod



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    #3
    Denerick
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 6,488 ✭✭✭Denerick


    UCD archives is fantastic if you're writing an essay which necessitates some degree of biopgraphical research (The have easily accesible archival summaries with some great staff)


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    #4
    Ostrom
    Registered Users Posts: 3,483 ✭✭✭Ostrom


    Didnt think much of it the few times i was in. If i'm doing any archive work i usually head into trinity, convenient to all main archives. I find the nli are nice and liberal on the use of cameras also :)


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    #5
    Dionysus
    Registered Users Posts: 3,420 ✭✭✭Dionysus


    Genealogy: NLI & NAI
    UCD Archives & Special Collections: early modern Irish-language manuscripts and papers of senior political leaders of 20th-century Ireland
    UCD HSM: English/British state papers, Roman Papers etc etc - you could easily spend a couple of years reading all these primary printed sources - but they'll also exist in UCC, TCD, QUB, UL, NUIG, NUIM.


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    #6
    Ostrom
    Registered Users Posts: 3,483 ✭✭✭Ostrom


    Forgot about the folklore archive (bias aside). Huge resource - perhaps not as useful for for that kind of work, but you might find useful collections on common names.


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    #7
    convert
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 9,338 Mod ✭✭✭✭convert


    If you don't normally have access to jstor, ECCO, EEBO, etc. then you can access it from computers in the library, which is well worth the 30 euro. They've also got quite a few genealogy books, including Burke's Peerage and Landed Gentry, the Complete Peerage, etc., which are fine if you just want a rough intro to families, but as pinky mentioned, they're available in most university libraries and the NLI.


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    #8
    zagmund
    Registered Users Posts: 2,501 ✭✭✭zagmund


    Thanks for all the replies. It's been a long time since I did any original research and it sounds like UCD have the basics (which should be enough for me) so I think I'll go ahead. The other advantage UCD has for me is that it's local, so that helps.

    z


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