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martinoconnor.bsky.social
Martin O Connor
@martinoconnor.bsky.social
1.7K followers 550 following 290 posts
Librarian.
Communications Coordinator at University College Cork Library.
LAI / CILIP Ireland Library Staff Champion 2021.
Libfocus. Blackpool Sentinel. Shush! Sounds from UCC Library
I'm here for Libraries, Music & anything else you fancy
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martinoconnor.bsky.social
Martin O Connor @martinoconnor.bsky.social · Jan 5
I've created a Starter pack for Irish Libraries & Libraries. It's by no means comprehensive so please let me who I should add to it.
And let's try to build a lovely little Irish Library community like we used to have on the other place.
go.bsky.app/HZuHx7y
Reposted by Martin O Connor
ucclibrary.bsky.social
Love this article by our Learning and Teaching team setting out how they have worked together to strengthen their combined evidence synthesis skills to support research across @ucc.ie
libfocus.bsky.social libfocus @libfocus.bsky.social · 10d
Our Latest guest post by Siobhan Bowman, Paul Breen, Stephanie Chen, Breeda Herlihy, Ronan Madden & Ben Williamson of UCC Library is now available.

They write about learning together to strengthen evidence synthesis skills and support research across campus.

www.libfocus.com/2025/11/libr...
Librarians learning together to enhance their evidence synthesis expertise
Guest post by Siobhan Bowman, Paul Breen, Stephanie Chen, Breeda Herlihy, Ronan Madden, Ben Williamson of UCC Library.  Introduction  Eviden...
www.libfocus.com
November 7, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Reposted by Martin O Connor
aodhquinlivan.bsky.social
'Leading the Way', written with John Ger O'Riordan and Anne Twomey and published by Cork City Libraries is being launched by the Lord Mayor on 11 November 🚀. It is the 11th book with my name on the cover and I am proud of all of them! @ucc.ie @jfcryan.bsky.social @joh2024.bsky.social
October 23, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Reposted by Martin O Connor
aodhquinlivan.bsky.social
Excited by my takeover of shushradio.bsky.social from 11.00-12.00 on Monday. We'll be playing lots of music (heavy metal all the way!), talking about libraries, books, local government and fantasy football. Tune in if you can! 📻 @ucc.ie @ucclibrary.bsky.social @uccstafffpl.bsky.social
October 17, 2025 at 11:39 AM
martinoconnor.bsky.social
British Library reissues Oscar Wilde’s pass 130 years after it was revoked over gay conviction jrnl.ie/6846388
British Library reissues Oscar Wilde’s pass 130 years after it was revoked over gay conviction
Wilde was convicted in England of “gross indecency” under the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885, which criminalised same-sex relationships.
jrnl.ie
October 16, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by Martin O Connor
akellyucc.bsky.social
I very much enjoyed being invited on the @shushradio.bsky.social radio show (link to recording below) and being able to pick my own songs (great fun, but difficult choices had to be made!) and also having a great chat about libraries (they give us power you know), food science and much more.
shushradio.bsky.social Shush! Sounds from UCC Library @shushradio.bsky.social · Oct 9
Latest Takeover show is now available
@akellyucc.bsky.social Head of Food & Nutritional Sciences. and Co-Director of UCC Futures in Food, Microbiome & Health joined me and we talked @ucclibrary.bsky.social , libraries, research, music & cheese and played some great tunes.

bit.ly/Shush304
October 9, 2025 at 5:56 PM
martinoconnor.bsky.social
I'm looking forward to my next Takeover show on Shush. Alan promises to be a great guest and his music selection, let's just say, is right up my indie street... (with one or two left field choices )
shushradio.bsky.social Shush! Sounds from UCC Library @shushradio.bsky.social · Oct 2
@akellyucc.bsky.social, Head of UCC’s School of Food & Nutritional Sciences, joins me for a Shush Takeover on Monday morning at 11am
We’ll talk about his work and research, his connection to libraries, and his music selection.
Tune in on UCC 98.3FM or catch up on our podcast later
Alan Kelly holding a large block of yellow cheese in front of industrial food processing equipment. He is wearing a blue jacket over a light blue shirt. Text below reads: 'TAKEOVER SHOW ALAN KELLY MONDAY 11 – 12
October 3, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Reposted by Martin O Connor
shushradio.bsky.social
Tune in to Shush! Sounds from UCC Library on UCC 98.3FM, Monday at 11am.
I’m kicking off our first takeover show of the 2025/26 academic year with a very special guest — @lizjolly.bsky.social , UCC’s new Librarian.
Expect an hour of great music and library chat.

www.ucc.ie/en/news/2025...
A smiling woman with short dark hair and glasses sits outdoors holding a glass of wine. She is wearing a black outfit, with a stone wall and iron railings behind her. Text on a purple border reads: “Takeover Show – Liz Jolly – Monday 11–12.
September 20, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Reposted by Martin O Connor
shushradio.bsky.social
Shush! Sounds from UCC Library is back on air tomorrow, 11–12 on UCC 98.3 FM.

This first show of the year features music chosen by colleagues from UCC Library.

Tune in at 11 to hear their selections.

Listen live at www.ucc.ie/en/983fm/
A professional recording setup featuring a large microphone with a pop filter mounted on a boom arm. In the background, a screen displays the bold red text “ON AIR,” indicating a live broadcast. A caption below reads: “A WELCOME BACK SHOW MONDAY AT 11,”
September 14, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Reposted by Martin O Connor
corkup.bsky.social
Looking forward to seeing you at our Symposium next week.
bit.ly/CUPSymposium
📘 Session 1:
Paul McSweeney on Urban Milk Supply.
Síle Ní Mhurchú on Dánta Gráda.
Iarla Ó Lionáird on Irish Music.
Cormac Ó Gráda on Cork’s Economic History
Other session details to follow
September 3, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Reposted by Martin O Connor
richove.bsky.social
I had the pleasure of being in discussion in Sydney last week with the legendary David Marr on ABC’s Late Night Live concerning libraries, book banning and the fight for knowledge.
September 3, 2025 at 4:20 PM
martinoconnor.bsky.social
Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Talents (1998) feels eerily prescient today.
I doubt she could have imagined just how close America would come to her vision.
Photo of a book page from Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Talents, page 177. The passage reads 11 From EARTHSEED: THE BOOKS OF THE LIVING Choose your leaders  with wisdom and forethought. To be led by a coward  is to be controlled  by all that the coward fears. To be led by a fool  is to be led  by the opportunists  who control the fool. To be led by a thief  is to offer up  your most precious treasures  to be stolen. To be led by a liar  is to ask  to be told lies. To be led by a tyrant  is to sell yourself  and those you love  into slavery.
September 1, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Reposted by Martin O Connor
whenisbirths.bsky.social
The first copy of #IntoTheGroove is here! I am so delighted with it. Thanks to my supportive, generous first readers: @quantick.bsky.social, @davidstubbs.bsky.social, @samiraahmeduk.bsky.social, @wadeywade.bsky.social and @juderogers.bsky.social.
Out in the UK on Thur 2 Oct. @eandtbooks.bsky.social
Front cover of INTO THE GROOVE: THE 1980S: The Ultimate Decade in Music History by Justin Lewis (me) Inside front cover: The eighties was one of the most innovative periods in the history of pop music - and even forty years on remains one of the best loved, championed by radio, television, advertisements, theatre and films, with many of the key acts still performing and recording. Into the Groove is a tale of pop and circumstance. It charts the global state of pop music month by month from January 1980 to December 1989, highlighting a wide variety of events and tracing the career paths of hundreds of noteworthy acts around the world, from Salt-N-Pepa to the Sugarcubes, Kate Bush to Kraftwerk, Run-DMC to INXS, and Neneh Cherry to Youssou N'Dour. It celebrates genres of all kinds - the enduring and the faddish, the mainstream and the underground, post-punk and acid house, heavy rock and electronic, hip hop and teen pop. And it showcases many of the decade's landmark recordings, figures and events, while also revealing plenty of intriguing lesser-known stories to create a wry and diverse musical tapestry. The perfect gift for any music lover or eighties aficionado, Into the Groove is an endlessly entertaining homage to the 1980s. £16.99 Jacket author bio for Into the Groove: JUSTIN LEWIS is a writer, researcher and editor, who grew up during the 1980s and even started writing and presenting for local radio before the decade ended. He has an encyclopaedic knowledge of popular music and a deep understanding of what makes it such a passion for so many people. He was been an editor, writer and contributor to various print and online music publications for more than thirty years, including The Guinness Book of Hit Singles and The Rough Guide to Rock. His most recent book is Don't Stop the Music: A year of Pop History, One Day at a Time. He lives in Swansea, in Wales. ELLIOTT & THOMPSON (publishers) Back cover reviews: TRAVEL BACK TO THE 1980S... and discover an epic collection of remarkable facts, notable events and fascinating anecdotes from the decade's diverse and inventive music scene. 'Justin Lewis tells pop's never-ending story brilliantly. Every day he writes the book, and the book is amazing.' DAVID QUANTICK, Emmy Award-winning writer and novelist 'Forensic, forthright and downright unputdownable, the perfect pop book for anyone who came of age (or indeed anybody else) during pop's giddiest and most experimental decade.' IAN WADE, author of 1984: THE YEAR POP WENT QUEER 'Like a treasure chest of pop riches... I loved this book!' SAMIRA AHMED, journalist and broadcaster Additional reviews: 'A brilliantly detailed topography of probably the greatest of all pop decades, the 1980s, whose music even those unborn back then still live with and love on a daily basis. Invaluable both for pop fans and pop historians.' DAVID STUBBS, music journalist 'A delightful, curious compendium, full of flipsides to pop’s glossiest decade' JUDE ROGERS, music journalist and broadcaster
August 29, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Reposted by Martin O Connor
johnxuandou.bsky.social
This is one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, the craft here is impeccable.
August 13, 2025 at 6:06 AM
Reposted by Martin O Connor
paulmcs.bsky.social
Was out for a walk today and (honestly) my first thought was “Isn’t that shop very handy now for people at a match…” 😖
August 13, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Reposted by Martin O Connor
hannahshelley.bsky.social
Since search is dead, how soon do you think Google Scholar is headed for the Google Graveyard? I'm betting it's soon, and academia is NOT prepared
Google Scholar Is Doomed
Academia built entire careers on a free Google service with zero guarantees. What could go wrong?
hannahshelley.neocities.org
August 13, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Reposted by Martin O Connor
corkup.bsky.social
Celebrate 100 years of Cork University Press, Ireland’s oldest university press
Join us Thu 11 Sept in UCC’s Dora Allman Room for a symposium on landmark works, from Dánta Grádha to the award-winning Atlas Series, (plus an evening reception.)
Free & open to all

www.eventbrite.com/e/cork-unive...
August 12, 2025 at 8:00 PM
martinoconnor.bsky.social
A great article from @kenanmalik.bsky.social on how AI is not necessarily the problem, it’s a society, and a university sector, that devalues education and knowledge as a positive thing in itself.
Put this and AI into the mix and the result could be bad.
kenanmalik.bsky.social Kenan Malik @kenanmalik.bsky.social · Aug 3
“It is less that AI is the cause of degradation in reading and thinking, and more that the creation of a culture that views knowledge primarily in an instrumental manner has made it easier to misuse AI.” My ‪@theobserveruk.bsky.social column: observer.co.uk/news/opinion...
AI thrives where education has been devalued | The Observer
A culture that views knowledge as a means to an end invites the misuse of new technology
observer.co.uk
August 10, 2025 at 3:55 PM
martinoconnor.bsky.social
I was not expecting to see this in Eason, Patrick Street, Cork, today
August 7, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Reposted by Martin O Connor
ucclibrary.bsky.social
UCC Library is currently hiring for Two roles:

Learning Support Librarian
Deadline: 5 August, 12pm

Head of Special Collections & Archives
Deadline: 19 August, 12pm

More info and applications:
www.ucc.ie/en/hr/vacanc...
Job advertisement featuring two open positions: 'Learning Support Librarian' with a closing date of 05 August 2025, and 'Head of Special Collections & Archives' with a closing date of 19 August 2025. The text 'We are hiring a' appears at the top in green. The background shows a modern building with large windows and surrounding trees
July 30, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by Martin O Connor
ucclibrary.bsky.social
UCC Library is recruiting a Head of Special Collections & Archives.

Lead the development, digitisation, and promotion of our rare books, manuscripts & archives.

Apply by 12pm, 19 Aug: www.ucc.ie/en/hr/vacanc...
A UCC Library job advertisement with a background of sunlight streaming through a forest. The University College Cork logo is in the top-right corner. Text reads: “We are hiring a Head of Special Collections & Archives. UCC Library. Permanent Whole Time Post. Closing Date 19 August 2025.
July 28, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Reposted by Martin O Connor
ucclibrary.bsky.social
We’re delighted to welcome @lizjolly.bsky.social as our new University Librarian.

With a notable career in academic and national libraries, most recently as Chief Librarian of the British Library, Liz brings a wealth of leadership & vision to UCC.

We very much look forward to working with her.
A person with shoulder-length brown hair, wearing a black top, stands in front of blurred bookshelves. Their face is obscured. Text on the image reads: 'Liz Jolly' and 'We are delighted to say that Liz has joined UCC as University Librarian
July 22, 2025 at 9:10 AM
martinoconnor.bsky.social
I really really enjoyed @28dayslayter.bsky.social
I intentionally read nothing about it before hand. (Didn’t watch trailer)
It was far artier than I expected. (Sort of Shane Meadows meets Video Nasties imo)
On reflection & reading I realise how many things I missed.
2nd /3rd viewings required.
Three people in historical or fantasy-style clothing wade through a shallow river, holding onto a rope for support. Trees and rocks line the riverbank in the background
July 12, 2025 at 9:39 AM
martinoconnor.bsky.social
One of our crafty neighbours has created these beautiful birdhouses.
Every time I walk by I marvel at the planning, patience blood sweat and tears that must have went into them.
July 9, 2025 at 2:55 PM