Catalogues
The Author Catalogue of printed books consists of three main sequences:
The Guard Books
This sequence consists of 446 large bound volumes. It is arranged in alphabetical order according to author. Anonymous works are entered under title. This sequence contains material acquired and catalogued up to 1969.
Card Catalogue
This lists material catalogued from 1969 to 1989, regardless of date of publication. In other words, many pre-1969 books are listed in this sequence.
Online Catalogue
The Online Catalogue lists material catalogued from 1990 onwards (including many books published before this date.) Following upon a catalogue conversion project, most of the books listed in the Irish Collection listed in the two older sequences appear in the OPAC, along with those in the LO, Joly, Thom and Dix collections.
Databases
Many books held by the Library are very rare, or in some instances unique. Access to digital databases lessens the wear and tear on these often fragile items, and also allows for greater search capabilities. Many older texts – many of which are in the library collections, others not - may now be consulted in digital form. Pre-1701 printings may be consulted on EEBO, and many eighteenth-century texts are available on ECCO. These may be consulted in the Main Reading Room.