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Why send a published book to the National Library?

Some publications survive because a library was required to receive them, not because someone later decided they were important. Ireland’s legal-deposit system helps the National Library preserve a published record for future readers and researchers.

3–5 min

Questions you could explore

  • What might disappear from the historical record without routine collecting?
  • How does preserving a publication differ from making it freely available online?

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Media and information

What makes a historical source primary?

A diary and a history book stand in different relationships to the past, but neither is automatically beyond question. What counts as a primary source also depends on what you are trying to find out.

3–5 min

What makes a historical source primary?

Media and information3–5 minA diary and a history book stand in different relationships to the past, but neither is automatically beyond question. What counts as a primary source also depends on what you are trying to find out.

Media and information

Following a web claim back to its source

Five webpages repeating the same claim may lead back to one original report. Lateral reading looks beyond an unfamiliar page to investigate its publisher; following links upstream helps reveal where the evidence began.

8–10 min

Following a web claim back to its source

Media and information8–10 minFive webpages repeating the same claim may lead back to one original report. Lateral reading looks beyond an unfamiliar page to investigate its publisher; following links upstream helps reveal where the evidence began.

Media and information

What can a photo’s metadata actually prove?

An image file may carry a date, camera information, or a caption alongside its pixels. Those details can be useful clues, but some can be changed or removed as a file is edited and shared.

4–5 min

What can a photo’s metadata actually prove?

Media and information4–5 minAn image file may carry a date, camera information, or a caption alongside its pixels. Those details can be useful clues, but some can be changed or removed as a file is edited and shared.

Why send a published book to the National Library? | Speech Topic | speaking.app