Upgrades to the RCPI's online library catalogue

Earlier this month we launched an upgraded version of our on-line library catalogue. This will, hopefully, make the collection more accessible to researchers. The new library catalogue can be found here, and is also linked from the Heritage Centre Homepage.

Apart from changes to the look and feel, the main changes have been made to improve the search functionality of the catalogue. 

You can still carry out a keyword search using the main search box (in this case I searched for Stokes), but it is now possible to refine the results further. The lists on the left hand side of the screen allow you to filter your search results by author or subject term.

The advanced search functionality has also been improved, and for the first time you can search for books published within a specific date range. 

For example a search for books published in the date range 1500-1550 shows that there are five titles published in this period currently in the catalogue.

You can also combine date range and key word searches, so a search for ‘cholera’ in the date range 1820-1840 produces 34 results. Once one of the titles in the results list has been selected it is also possible to scroll forwards and backward through the list of results using the buttons to the right of the page.

 You can also bring up a short title list of the search results by clicking on ‘browse results’.

The upgrade of the library catalogue is part of the ongoing project to catalogue and make more accessible to researchers the wealth of material in Dun’s Library. We are currently in the process of upgrading the catalogue records for all the books held on site. This process includes checking existing information for accuracy but also adding in new information to help researchers, such a better indexing terms to add searching and more information on the size of works and if they are illustrated.

We are also adding provenance information to the records for the first time, to show where our books came from and who owned them before they came to RCPI.  This can be anything from a book plate or signature showing ownership, an inscription from an author presenting their work, a special binding on a book which was given as a prize or annotations made to the text. All this information can be seen in the title information field at the bottom of an individual record. 

In addition all former owners are listed in each record, so it is now possible to search for books formally owned by a specific individual or organisation. In this case I have searched for all books formally owned by Edward Hill (1741-1830), Professor of Botany in Trinity College and Librarian in RCPI.

The cataloguing of Dun’s Library is an ongoing project and currently only about half of the library’s holdings are included in the on-line catalogue, and not all of these records are fully updated. If you can’t find the book you are looking for, or have any questions about the library, please contact us at heritagecentre@rcpi.ie