How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Leganto

Congratulations to Alana Mahon O'Neill from DCU Library whose blog post has achieved second place in the CONUL Training and Development Library Assistant Blog Awards 2025. 

I started working with the reading list application Leganto on the eve of teaching week, August 2024, at Dublin City University Library. Joining the project, I expected a roadmap. Instead, I got an adventure.

Leganto logo via Exlibris

I was handed three oversized workflow pages and a clutch of working Google Docs. Here I go, Theseus¹ entering Daedalus’ labyrinth.² From the outset I encountered muddling back-to-back requests for obscure Victorian children’s stories, history pamphlets published by county council offices circa 2006, and TG4 documentaries verging upon lost media. Broken website links were parsed with liberal use of the Wayback Machine, and multiple-user licenses were purchased for ebooks serving cohorts of several hundred students. Negotiations with academic lecturers ensued. Through heart-to-hearts with Subject Librarians and parlaying with the cataloguing department, I quickly discovered how a reading list ties together the foundations of a university library.

Mosaic depicting a labyrinth with Theseus and Minotaur emblem, from "House of the Labyrinth", Pompeii, Italy. Photographed and edited by Volker Michael Stroka and published in 1991 Hauser in Pompeii Volume 4 Casa del Labirinto (VI 11 8-10) via Wikimedia Commons. 

Leganto is an ever-shifting maze of developments and interface changes that induces a feeling akin to Jorge Luis Borges’ The Library of Babel.³ While the workflow is mapped by a set shape, the off-shooting paths feel like shifting sands. Walls slip, and the exit evades. Now, to get out. How do we manage purchase requests? Digital content store items? Out-of-print books? Why does it feel like whenever I narrow down a workflow, I need to go back and rewrite it all over again?

Reading list submissions for 2024-2025, from July 2024 to November 2024, peaking in August and September. Data and picture credit: author. 

These were the sort of questions I asked myself while I completed 51 reading lists for Semester 1 last year. Was I on top of things? No time. Here comes January. Go.

A little backstory–Leganto is a reading list application, part of the Ex Libris package. We invite lecturers to submit their reading lists so that it streamlines the ordering process for materials on the library side, while ensuring reading content is available and accessible. As the library can feel like a daunting place for incoming students, we try to meet them halfway, so that they do not get lost in the abyss.

Reading list numbers in total per university faculty. Data and picture credit: author. 

Daedalus⁴ , master of the labyrinth and careful design, would feel at home among the reading lists of Science and Health, where structure and references reign.

Humanities follows close behind.

Once we identify key texts, we streamline access from Leganto straight to the library catalogue, all with one click. This benefits us as it ensures library longevity, boosts the quality of our collections, and encourages student engagement. For lecturers, they can view student analytics that inform engagement and popular texts. For students, it makes life a little easier.

Our largest issue stems from content outside the collection–we cannot always catch broken links, and copyright-restricted material is not permitted. The way we work around this is by encouraging the “report broken link” button for students and ordering requested material for our lecturers. Even so, a completed reading list is deceptively simple. For a student, this is both their entrance into the underworld of research and a gateway into soon-to-be endless possibilities. I just hope that they slay their Minotaur by proxy of completing their academic journey and make it through to the other side.

How do we progress with this?

With rolled-over lists, we see the volume of incoming lists slow down, but we gain a bit more insight into what quality, high-demand resources are needed. Saying that, while popularity is key, we always try to get the latest edition and fresh material that will support our students.

What have I learned?

While I do not possess Ariadne's thread,⁵ used by Theseus to escape the labyrinth, I had the guiding principle⁶—move forward, but reflect. When encountering an issue, refer back to what worked and start again. We all use this methodology in creative problem-solving.

Illustration from the cover of Higgins, C. Red Thread (2018) by Charlotte Higgins via The Irish Times

Have I come to love Leganto?

Contrary to popular belief, I don’t see human beings and library software forming connections anytime soon. Saying that, after one year with Leganto, we have become reluctant friends. Somewhat. The application is ever changing, and our workflow has been rejigged several times since inception. Our next step is for near-total lecturer participation–easier said than done. I am making some YouTube videos. Fingers crossed.

My role is not over. Like Sisyphus, I roll the boulder to the top–only to let it drop with each new reading list. There is no thread uncut. We follow a workflow, place requests and organise lists. Even with academic immersion, we plan to monitor input and manage orders for the latest materials. I am through the labyrinth, but the thread must be maintained. I have done my part. Last year, I completed 83 reading lists.

This month: 22, alone. September is around the corner, and one must imagine Sisyphus happy⁷. 

Come, take a thread. Let’s go.

Footnotes

¹ King of Athens, Theseus in his youth travelled to Crete and killed the Minotaur. He escaped from the Labyrinth in which it was kept with the help of a thread given him by King Minos’ daughter Ariadne (Kearns et al., 2014).

² Daedalus’ labyrinth was designed to trap the beast, the Minotaur. It is the original labyrinth of classical mythology (Ferber, 2007).

³ A short story by Borges detailing a labyrinth library of interlocking rooms containing all possible text in existence (Borges, 1941). A web version has also been created.

⁴ Daedalus, creator of the labyrinth, was a renowned craftsman (Cotterell, 1997).

⁵ Ariadne gave a thread to Theseus when entering the labyrinth (Leeming, 2005).

⁶ There is a logic used in computers and puzzle solving called “Ariadne’s thread” that is derived from the myth. In short, it involves tracing back steps and finding any and all solutions (Mepham, 2005).

⁷ This philosophy, derived from the myth of Sisyphus, suggests that in order for one to live, one must find meaning and fulfilment even when confronting obstacles (Camus, 1941).

References

Borges, J.L. (1941) The Library of Babel.

Camus, A. (1941). The Myth of Sisyphus.

Cotterell, A. (1997). Daedalus. In A Dictionary of World Mythology. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 31 July 2025, from https://www-oxfordreference-com.dcu.idm.oclc.org/view/10.1093/acref/97801921774 76.001.0001/acref-9780192177476-e-200

Ferber, M. (2007). Labyrinth. In Ferber, M. A dictionary of literary symbols (pp. 106-107). Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 29 July 2025 from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/dcu/reader.action?docID=326009&ppg=119&c=UERG

Kearns, Emily, and Karim W. Arafat. (2014). Theseus. In The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 29 July 2025 from https://www-oxfordreference-com.dcu.idm.oclc.org/view/10.1093/acref/97801987067 79.001.0001/acref-9780198706779-e-623

Leeming, D. (2005). Ariadne. In The Oxford Companion to World Mythology. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 29 July 2025, from https://www-oxfordreference-com.dcu.idm.oclc.org/view/10.1093/acref/97801951566 90.001.0001/acref-9780195156690-e-134.

Mepham, M. (2005). Solving Sodoku. Crosswords Ltd. [Guide]. Retrieved 31 July 2025, from https://www.sudoku.org.uk/PDF/Solving_Sudoku.pdf

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Shells, Shorthand, and Skipping Classes: Documenting Prize Bookplates in the John Manning Collection of Children’s Books

Libfocus is delighted to present the winning post for the CONUL Training and Development Library Assistant Blog Awards 2025. The winning author is Claire Dunne who is a Library Assistant in UCD Library.

Growing up, I could never understand why my mother made me sign my books. “Just sign it” she’d say, pushing a pen into my hand, “and don’t forget the date!” Now as an adult, and especially one who works with old books, I see the value in this and how it can give a book its own story beyond the words on its pages. In the cultural heritage profession this is known as “provenance”; the story of an item, how it came to be here and who might have owned it in the past. 

In UCD Special Collections we look after many books with important provenance. Books signed by James Joyce? We got ‘em. 400-year-old tomes delicately annotated by priestly scholars? We got ‘em. Modern works of art with the signature of the artist? We’ve got those too. But sometimes it isn’t the prestigious origins or famous names that catch your attention. Rather it is the casual note of the ordinary person now forgotten to time, or the scribbles of a child, made 100 years ago but somehow still familiar. It was this sense of the ordinary person, and the desire to highlight their importance, that inspired the latest work on the John Manning collection of children’s books in UCD Special Collections.

Figure 1: Three colourful books from the John Manning Collection (45.0.14), (45.J.1c), (45.U.12), UCD Special Collections. 

John Manning was an avid collector of 19th and early 20th century children’s books and in the 1970s he generously donated his collection to UCD Special Collections. These shelves are now some of the most colourful in the storeroom. They tell stories of adventures and wonder, and open a window to childhood in the Victorian era. For this reason, they are important sources of social history during this period.

Figure 2: Books in the John Manning Collection on the storeroom shelves, UCD Special Collections.

Many of these books were gifted to children as prize books. This was the custom of awarding books, often for academic merit, with a dedicated bookplate commemorating the achievement. The presence of these bookplates, however, was not previously recorded on the UCD Library catalogue, which is the main way that our visitors find out about our collections. This wasn’t too surprising because despite the current recognition of the importance of provenance, traditionally this wasn’t something that was included on a library catalogue. Keeping our catalogue up to date with retrospective edits and additions is an important part of our job in Special Collections.

And so, we set about documenting these enigmatic bookplates so that they can be discovered and researched.

Figure 3: Book awarded to Mary Alice Boyd, 1883, (45.R.11), UCD Special Collections.

Step one: find the bookplates. Just like one of the treasure hunters in Edith Nesbit’s The Story of the Treasure Seekers, we opened each and every one of the books in the Collection. Opening the cover and finding a prize bookplate was like unearthing a little piece of history that had been forgotten until now.

Figure 4: Four prize bookplates. Top left: (45.H.1). Top right: (45.J.1c). Bottom left: (45.L.15). Bottom right: (45.C.17), UCD Special Collections. 

The next step was updating the records on the library catalogue. Cataloguing Special Collections books is a technical skill that requires the use of standardised language and formats. We decided to use three specific fields on the record, one to identify the book as being part of the Collection, another to detail any provenance information, and a final one that notes it as a prize book. By describing the books this way it allows users to easily find and cross reference them. Here’s what it looks like on the online catalogue:

Figure 5: Partial catalogue entry and images of (45.L.10), UCD Special Collections. 

It quickly became clear that we had more prize bookplates than we anticipated and some from much further afield than we thought too. We also discovered that some books had been missed when initially catalogued many years ago. About 50 books that were uncatalogued have now been recorded and this 'hidden' collection uncovered.

Figure 6: Prize bookplate in French (45.C.20), and prize bookplate from Edinburgh (45.H.17), UCD Special Collections.

The bookplates come in all shapes and sizes, from very simple to elaborate and colourful.

Figure 7: Three prize bookplates in different styles. Top: (45.D.25). Bottom left: (45.H.18). Bottom right: (45.J.14), UCD Special Collections. 

Many prize books were awarded for excellence in religious studies, others for practical skills like art, and shorthand. One charming example was awarded for collecting shells.

Figure 8: Prize bookplate awarded to John Stevenson for collecting shells, (45.G.3), UCD Special Collections

But it seems not all books were presented for merit, as the inscription below suggests!

Figure 9: Prize book inscription reading, "Harold Simpson was awarded this prize for being in late every morning in the year." (45.0.14), UCD Special Collections. 

Finally, old book flags that had become old and worn were replaced with new versions, and books that had become fragile were carefully wrapped with acid-free cotton ties.

Figure 10: Top: Old book flags ready for the recycling bin. Below: New book flags on the shelves. UCD Special Collections.  

In total, 67 prize bookplates were identified, each with its own story to tell. Beyond their historical value, these bookplates hold a special sort of emotional resonance, perhaps because they once belonged to a child, or maybe because they capture a snapshot in not only our own social history, but the history of an individual. One of the most endearing discoveries was uncovered in The Worst House at Sherborough by Desmond Coke. The inscription, in Latin, reveals that this book was awarded to John Manning himself, at the age of 13. We hope that he would have enjoyed this project as much as we did.

Figure 11: Prize bookplate awarded to John Manning for scholastics, 1S20. (45.F.28), UCD Special Collections.

Find out more:

Almack, Edward. Bookplates (London: Methuen & Co., 1904), SC/R 097 ALM.

Ex Libris: Bookplates in UCD Special Collections, UCD Cultural Heritage Blog

John Manning Collection of Children’s Books, UCD Special Collections

Warren, John Byrne Leicester Warren (Lord de Tabley), A Guide to the Study of Book- Plates (Ex-Libris) (Manchester: Sherratt and Hughes, 1900), SC/R 097 DET.

Search the catalogue for these books and more at UCD Library here. Make an appointment to visit UCD Special Collections here. Have a prize bookplate of your own? Share it with us on Instagram.

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The Lower Decks 2.0: A Symposium on Janeway and Open Access Publishing

Janeway, developed by Birkbeck University, is a nimble and fast-developing open-source journal publishing platform whose mission is to contribute to transforming the scholarly publishing ecosystem. As part of the PublishOA.ie project (led by the Royal Irish Academy and Trinity College Dublin), Janeway was evaluated among eleven other journal publishing platforms and trialled alongside OJS and Kotahi.

DCU Library will host the 2nd Janeway Symposium on May 21st and 22nd, 2026 - a gathering of Janeway users and non-users - on its Glasnevin Campus.

While Janeway may not feature widely in the Irish journal publishing landscape, we want to encourage and invite the Irish library, academic and open access communities to actively contribute through presentations, round tables, posters, or workshops on themes such as perspectives on scholar-led publishing, peer review practices, and open data in research publications and dissemination, among other topics.

The value of contributing a presentation and/or attending the symposium is the opportunity to critically interrogate existing journal publishing practices and to collaboratively engage with innovative and transformative approaches. Attendance is free of charge, and you're invited to sign up here.

[Confirmed keynote]: Kathleen Fitzpatrick, Interim Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies and Professor of English at Michigan State University.

Please send abstracts of 250 words or questions to Andy Byers (Director of Publishing Technology at Janeway) at a.byers[at]bbk.ac.uk and Joan Kwaske (Senior Digital Publishing Coordinator) at jkwaske[at]umich.edu. Please submit abstracts by the 9th of January 2026.

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Libfocus Link-out for September 2025

Welcome to the September edition of the Libfocus link-out, an assemblage of library-related things we have found informative, educational, thought-provoking and insightful on the Web over the past while.

Images from this month's link-out articles

Scholarly Publishing Won’t Be Saved by Incremental Change.

In Katina, Melissa H. Cantrell and Lauren Collister discuss the (rocky) evolutionary path of library-publishers agreements and point out the wicked problems of the scholarly publishing system, reasoning that, finally, radical action should be taken. "We see one way to solve the wicked problem and escape the moribund ecosystem: deliberate acts of resistance and refusal by academic researchers and faculty."

How Libraries Stand the Test of Time.
In this JSTOR article Maria Papadouris reminds us that, for millennia, the core mission of libraries to curate, provide and democratise information has endured. "If knowledge is power, then it’s no wonder libraries have become spaces of struggle and social inclusion."

Explore urgent issues through open access reading.
This post by Bristol University Press and Policy Press offers a selection of open access books and articles tackling some of the key global social challenges of our time - from climate grief and AI ethics to food insecurity, migration and political representation.

Who Controls Knowledge in the Age of AI?
This article is by Amy Brand, Dashiel Carrera, Katy Gero, Susan Silbey for the Scholarly Kitchen. They report widespread concern about the unlicensed use of in-copyright scientific and scholarly publications for AI training. A survey found that most authors are not opposed to generative AI, but they strongly favour consent, attribution, and compensation as conditions for use of their work.

Supporting Governance, Operations, and Instruction and Learning Through Artificial Intelligence: A Survey of Institutional Practices and Policies 2025.
A WCET report examining how higher education institutions are adopting and governing AI.

The Vital Role of Sustainability in Academic Libraries.
A blog post from Sarah Tribelhorn for ARL Views discussing various sustainable practices academic libraries can engage in and how to go about it

Google Scholar is Doomed.
On her weblog Hannah Shelley leads us through the Google Graveyard. Digital tombstones mark products that millions of people once relied on including Google Reader (2005-2013), once the premier RSS/Atom feed subscription service and Google Notebook (2006-2011), the early research organisation tool. 297 products currently rest in this graveyard, each representing someone's essential workflow that stopped working one day. She predicts that Google Scholar is heading straight for this graveyard, and that academia is not prepared.

Alberta needs to 'take a step back' on book bans: library association.
In this short CBC news clip, Laura Winton, vice-chair of the Canadian Federation of Library Associations, talks about the Alberta government's book ban. She explains the impact of their removal on the children's ability to think critically about literature in schools.

Richard Ovenden, Oxford's librarian on Donald Trump's war against knowledge (Podcast).
Donald Trump is fighting a war against knowledge. In his second term, he has fired the Librarian of Congress and the Archivist of the United States, and government websites have been altered to remove facts about climate change and Black history. Haven't we seen this kind of war against knowledge before?

Warsaw opens metro station ‘express’ library to get commuters off their phones.
Jacob Krupa for The Guardian looks at the launch of a new library in a Polish Metro Station that aims to get commuters off their phones and to encourage people to read more in country that lost majority of libraries in second world war.

Books by Bots: Librarians Grapple with AI Generated material in collections.
Reema Saleh writes for American Libraries Magazine on the appearance AI generated materials in collections, librarians reactions, and the presence, or lack thereof of policy to address AI generated materials in collections.

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Prison Education Programme

Guest post by Helen Fallon. 

It’s almost three years since I retired from my post as Deputy Librarian at Maynooth University Library, having worked there for 22 years.  Prior to that I worked at Dublin City University (DCU) Library.  While at DCU I took a career break and spent two years with Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) teaching librarianship at the University of Sierra Leone.  This was a wonderful experience and gave me a real insight into how difficult it is to provide library services in a country where a book frequently costs a week’s wages or more. I’ve written about that experience (Fallon, 1994, 2003, 2006, 2017) and maintained a real interest in libraries in Africa. I  feel very strongly that libraries underpin education, which is key to development in African countries.   

 At the moment I am involved in a project to help develop a prison library in Malawi, in South East Africa, one of the poorest countries, in the world. I got involved in this through my sister’s  brother-in-law, Fr. Martin Reilly, who has worked there for a number of years. He is based in Mzuzu, the main city of the northern region and is actively working with various projects including the Prison Education Programme in the local Mzuzu Prison Service. Schools were established in Mzuzu Prison in 2003 for both men and women, and aim to give people the opportunity to create a better life when they are released. Some people cannot read or write so both primary and secondary education is provided. The programme also  offers the possibility of public university education, with successful candidates from Mzuzu Prison recently selected to study at Mzuzu University.  

Providing library and related resources presents major challenges, including lack of teaching and learning materials like textbooks, chalk, exercise books, pens and paper.  Nevertheless there have been significant achievement including admission of both female and male prisoners into various public universities and colleges; a number of  prisoners have learned to read and write; people have found jobs after release and importantly education gives prisoners a sense of achievement and self-worth.  

I  am raising funds to buy much needed books and other resources for the libraries in the male and female schools. I am working with Samuel Mwandira (Prison education coordinator), Fumbani Gondwe (prison chaplain) and Fr. Martin Reilly (St. Patrick’s missionary Society, Kiltegan, Co.Wicklow).  To date over €2,000 has been contributed and this has been used to purchase books. Some images are included. 

A book, which can be sourced locally, costs approximately €20. Please contact me on helenfallon@gmail.com, if you are interested in sponsoring a book. 

Margaret Shaba, Shop Assistant with
Fumbani Gondwe, Prison Chaplain in local shop

Samuel Mwandira,  Prison education co-ordinator   
with some of the new books purchased with Irish donations

 Rose Chitowe, Restorative Justice Facilitator, Fumbani Gondwe,
Prison Chaplain, Samuel Mwandira,  Prison education
co-ordinator in the Library

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Libfocus Link-out for August 2025

Welcome to the August edition of the Libfocus link-out, an assemblage of library-related things we have found informative, educational, thought-provoking and insightful on the Web over the past while.

Images from this month's link-out articles

Is the AI Bubble About to Burst? 
Aaron Benanav suggests that AI isn't a force for good and that its promises of exponentially increasing productivity are, at best, hollow.

From the article:
"Daron Acemoglu, the Nobel Prize–winning economist, has voiced open scepticism, warning that generative AI technologies may do little to resolve the deeper economic malaise afflicting advanced capitalist societies. For all the extraordinary technical feats that have been achieved, it is increasingly clear that the current wave of AI innovation may not, by itself, produce the broad-based economic dynamism that its proponents so confidently predict."

Measuring the Economic Value of a Liberal Education. 
ITHAKA's research report from 16th July 2025 investigates the value and benefits of a liberal arts education as perceived by individual students.

From the paper:
" Using longitudinal data from the College and Beyond II (CBII) dataset, we measure students’ exposure to key liberal arts features—such as curricular breadth, small classes, and engagement with diverse perspectives—and examine how these experiences relate to academic, labor market, and civic outcomes. The use of student-level data allows us to capture meaningful variation within institutions, revealing that students at the same college or university can have significantly different educational experiences."

The AI boom is now bigger than the ’90s dotcom bubble—and it’s built on the backs of bots, maybe more than real users. 
In this article for Fortune, Ashley Lutz and Nick Lichtenberg discuss the malicious activity of 'bad bots' on the internet, where almost 50% of traffic now comes from non-human sources. They are a key aspect of the AI revolution that is threatening to undo the internet as it’s been known since the mid-1990s.

Annie L. McPheeters oral history interview, 1992 June 8. 
Fascinating interview with the civil rights activist Annie Lou McPheeters, who served as a librarian to a young, elementary-school aged Martin Luther King Jr. In an oral history interview from the Georgia State University Library digital collections, McPheeters recalls King taking an interest in books about Mahatma Gandhi.

Can academics use AI to write journal papers? What the guidelines say. 
Professor Sumaya Laher of the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa summarises what counts as acceptable use of AI in academic writing according to publisher guidelines.

From the article:
"The guidelines are unanimous that AI tools cannot be listed as co-authors or take responsibility for the content. Authors remain fully responsible for verifying the accuracy, ethical use and integrity of all AI-influenced content. Routine assistance does not need citation, but any substantive AI-generated content must be clearly referenced."

Society Publishers at a Crossroads: New Evidence of an Accelerating Crisis. 
Society publishers are a cornerstone of the academic scholarly landscape. Rob Johnson investigates in the Scholarly Kitchen why society publisher are in crisis in terms of revenue, longevity of publishing operations, and the impact of AI.

AI Policies for Libraries – Some Observations. — David Lee King surveys real AI use policies from public libraries and highlights key themes—from attribution rules and handling bias to transparency around AI generated content.

Bob Geldof’s personal archive of Live Aid photographs made public at National Library. 
Live Aid organiser Bob Geldof has handed over his Live Aid archive in 2017 to the National Library of Ireland. Among the collection are thousands of photographs donated by photographers and news organisations from the day. Some of them have never been seen in public before. There were more than 1,500 plastic slides, 629 colour transparencies and 139 photographic prints.

Bookshelves to Bylines: When Libraries and Journalists Join Forces | Library Journal. 
Sarah Asch for Library Journal looks at the overlapping missions of librarians and journalists, and the ways in which we can join forces.

How Cuts to Library Budgets Will Impact Publishers. 
Karen Fischer for Publishers Weekly on the different ways library book budget cuts will affect the ecosystem of book publishing.

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