Wikipedia Alternatives available at DIT Library Virtual Reference Desk.

Wikipedia shut down 2 weeks ago to protest against anti-piracy laws.  Quite a few students were upset by this apparently.  But you need not be!  DIT Library has alternative encyclopedias online that are free to our students too.  So long as you are a registered DIT student you can access The Encyclopaedia Britannica, Oxford Reference Online, Wiley Encyclopaedia of Food Science and Technology, Oxford English Dictionary and many other reference books via the library's Virtual Reference Desk.  You can access these directly on college computers via the library homepage.  At home you just need to type in your ID number and PIN as you do with other electronic resources such as E-Books.   

Is that a gun in your pocket or are you pleased to see me!

Once upon a time a gentleman could be refused entry to a restaurant for not wearing a jacket and tie or worse still forced to wear a hideous tie produced by the restaurant manager. In Ohio however things have become much more interesting with the introduction of a senate bill which makes it legal to carry firearms into bars, restaurants and nightclubs. Unfortunately the killjoys have taken the fun out of it by making it illegal for gun carriers to drink alcohol or be drunk whilst carrying guns. This bill has caused uproar with many restaurants refusing to serve patrons carrying guns and some patrons retaliating by withdrawing their custom from restaurants which they regularly dined in. No doubt the matter will be resolved without resorting to arms.

New term-time hours

Due to staffing changes, Cathal Brugha St library has had to revise term-time opening hours.

As and from Monday 30th January 2012, the library's opening hours will be as follows:

Mon-Wed: 9am - 9pm.

Thurs: 9am - 5.30pm (i.e. no Thursday evening opening).

Fri: 9am - 5pm.

The library will not be open on Saturdays in February or March. Saturday opening will resume from 14 April to 26 May.

Find Previous Exam Papers

The most frequently asked question in the library this week has been "how do I access past exam papers".  Please see the following outline to find the previous exam papers that the library has.

**Note** - If you are outside the DIT network you will need the Student Intranet Username and Password to access exam papers.  Click on this link to access the Student Intranet username and password, as well as any other usernames and passwords needed to access all the library's electronic resources. Please note you will need your student number and your library PIN to open this file.  (see the Password Page for any other password queries)

• To access the current and past exam papers go to the library catalogue and click on the Exam Papers link.
• You will be brought to a page with a search window and options to enter your course code/module code/course title etc. (Only use this search for older papers, see next step for new ones)
• Click on the link at the top of the page Quick Link to Recent Exam Papers  to access papers later than 2006.  (For earlier papers, search using your course code/module code/course title.)
• The next page lists the papers according to the different Colleges within DIT
• Select College of Arts and Tourism, Cathal Brugha Street from this list
• You will then be brought to a list of the exam papers by year.
• Simply select the year you want to look at and then click on your module code to open up the exam paper for the that module. Alternatively click on this link to go straight to this page.
• If you are within the DIT network you should go straight to the PDF of the exam paper. If not, enter the username and password as mentioned above. 

Amended pre-Christmas hours

Cathal Brugha St library will close for Christmas holidays at lunchtime, Thursday December 2012.

On the instruction of the Buildings Officer, the library will close at 5.15pm on the evenings of Monday December 19 - Wednesday December 21.

Normal opening hours will resume on Tuesday January 3rd.

Extra books at Christmas

For the period of December 12 2011 to January 9, 2012 Cathal Brugha Street Library is allowing patrons to borrow up to 2 books above their normal borrowing allowances. 

For example, Cathal Brugha St. undergraduates who normally can take out a maximum of 6 books will be able to borrow up to 8 books over for this Christmas period. 

So no excuse for not studying over the holidays! 

Holiday Hours

Cathal Brugha St. Library will close for the Christmas holidays at lunchtime, Thursday December 22. 
We will be closed from Friday, December 23 through Monday, January 2. 
Normal hours will begin again on Tuesday, January 3, 2012. 
Have a happy Christmas. 

E-textbooks are here!

Here at Cathal Brugha St Library, e-textbooks are now part of our repertoire.

We now have a range of e-books including such standards as Clay's handbook of environmental health, Stephen Page's Tourism management, Chris Cooper's Tourism: principles and practice, Glenn Bowdin's Events management, John Cousins Food and beverage management and Stanley Cauvain's Baking problems solved.

Search for your desired textbook on the catalogue, and if it comes up as an "electronic resource" then you will probably be able to read it as an e-book on the screen in front of you.

There are legal restrictions on copying and downloading, but having the textbook to read on-screen is surely a real step forward!