Presentation given by Evelyn Flanagan, Special Collections Librarian, UCD Library, at the 5th International Summit of the Book 2016, Limerick City, Ireland, on 3rd November 2016.

1. Reassembling a Forgotten Library:
The Library of the Royal College of
Science for Ireland
Evelyn Flanagan, Special Collections,
UCD Library

3. Institutional History - Royal College of
Science
• Established in 1867
• Incorporated the Museum
of Irish Industry
• Students for CUI and TCD
attended
• New building on Merrion
Street in 1911

4. Revolutionary Ireland
and the demise of the RCScI
• 1916 – Easter Rising
• RCScI predominantly Unionist institution
• Lost influence during 1916-1923 period
• Incorporated into UCD in 1926

5. About the R.C.Sc.I library
• Comprehensive Victorian
science library
• 14,000 titles
• Rare scientific
monographs
• Plates and illustrations

6. Past locations and storage conditions
• Library moved to Belfield in the 1960s
• Special Collections established in 1976
• Selected items moved to Special Collections
• Some material not in good storage locations
• Poor preservation and handling practices
• Short catalogue records

7. RCScI library project
• Significance of the R.C.Sc.I.
library
• Why a project was needed
• What we discovered
- subject coverage
- cataloguing implications
- conservation element
- publicity

8. Wellcome Trust project
€16,000 grant
4 month librarian post
Consultant conservator
Consultant digital media producer

9. Survey by librarian - methodology
• 6 locations surveyed
• Size of RCScI holdings
• Subject divisions
• Research value and rarity
• Cataloguing requirements

10. Subject Divisions – JJL Store - Monograph
JJL Store Monograph Subject Divisions
Chemistry (12%) Earth sciences (10%)
Physics (10%) Botany (9%)
Geology (8%) Mathematics (8%)
Agriculture (7%) Zoology (5%)
Ecology (4%) Applied physics (3%)
Mineralogy (3%) Astronomy (3%)
Engineering (3%) Forestry (3%)
Chemical Engineering (3%) Manufacture/Contruction (3%)
Anatomy (2%)
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Geology
• Earth Sciences
• Botany
• Mathematics
• Agriculture

11. Subject divisions – JJL store - Journals
• Geology
• Chemistry
• Agriculture
• Botany
• Proceedings of academic
societies
JJL Store Journal Subject Divisions
Geology (17%)
Chemistry (15%)
General science (14%)
Agriculture (13%)
Proceedings of academic societies (11%)
Botany (10%)
Mathematics (7%)
Zoology (4%)
Forestry (4%)
Physics (3%)
Mineralogy (2%)

12. Subject Divisions – Level 3 - Journals
• Proceedings of Academic
societies
• General Science
• Chemistry
• Mathematics
• Agriculture
Level 3 Subject Divisions
Proceedings of academic societies (18%)
General science (15%)
Chemistry (15%)
Mathematics (11%)
Agriculture (11%)
Physics (9%)
Geology (7%)
Botany (4%)
Engineering (4%)
Other (6%)

13. Subject Divisions - Level 4 - Monographs
Level 4 Subject Divisions
Mathematics (46%) Physics (13%) Engineering (8%)
Geology (6%) Applied physics (5%) Life sciences (5%)
Plants (3%) Natural sciences (3%) Medical sciences (3%)
Astronomy (2%) Agriculture (2%) Chemistry (2%)
Zoology (1%) Printing (1%)
• Mathematics (46%)
• Physics

14. Subject Divisions – Old Newstead
Monographs and JournalsOld Newstead Subject Divisions
Chemistry (21%) Mathamatics (20%)
Physics (14%) Geology (9%)
Mining and mineralogy (8%) Agriculture (7%)
Botany (5%) Social Science (5%)
Anatomy (3%) Engineering (2%)
Zoology (2%) Astronomy (2%)
RCScI Exam Papers (1%) Other (1%)
• Chemistry
• Mathematics
• Physics
• Geology
• Mining and mineralogy
• Agriculture

15. Cataloguing requirements
• Differs depending on
location
• Provenance notes needed
• Some items not
catalogued at all
• Subject indexing needed

16. Conclusions of survey
• Few comparable
collections in UK or
Ireland
• Large scale cataloguing
project needed
• Consolidation of library
beneficial
• Journal runs produce
challenges
• Very important to history
of science and education
in Ireland

17. Recommendations
• Digitisation programme
• Exhibitions
• Inform researchers and
academics
• Potential for
interdisciplinary research
• External collaboration

18. Conservation report
• Conditions of various locations varied
• Damage included detached spines, foxing,
‘damaging repairs’
• Shelving needed
• Cleaning and boxing project needed
• Employment of a conservator
• Digitisation of rare and fragile material

19. Barcoding project
• 12,000 monographs
• Location on LMS to be
changed
• Bibliographic records to be
enhanced
• Ongoing project to scan
barcodes
• Scanned into Excel sheet
• Whole collection to be
updated at once

20. New location
- UCD Special Collections
refurbished in 2016
- RCScI books had been
consolidated in store in 2010
- Collection moved to SC in
2016
- Appropriate environmental
conditions
- Appropriate shelving for
outsize materials

21. RCScI videos
Link to the collection high lights video on You Tube

23. Thanks
• If you would like any more information on the
projector the library please contact me
Evelyn.flanagan@ucd.ie