FAQs
Any questions? We’re here to help! You can also contact us or visit NIVAL for more information.
The National Irish Visual Arts Library (NIVAL) was formally established in 1997 as is an initiative of NCAD in partnership with the Arts Council of Ireland. NIVAL was spearheaded by NCAD librarian Edward Murphy (1948-2014) whose connections to the wider Irish visual arts community facilitated the development of NIVAL as a unique research resource. Our mission, vision and policies offer greater depth to the understanding of NIVAL’s remit to document the development of art in Ireland from 1900 to the present.
NIVAL collects ‘everything but the art’ – we are interested in all types of materials that relate to the development of art in Ireland. This includes ephemera, journals, books, artist books and artists’ own archives, which are explained further in our acquisitions policy and guide on how to contribute to our collections.
NIVAL does not collect items that have no connection to Ireland, materials pre-1900, original artwork, duplicates or materials that may be hazardous to staff and researchers. Please get in touch if you have any questions about what we collect.
NIVAL collects materials relating to the whole island of Ireland as well as Irish artists working abroad and non-Irish artists working in Ireland. We do not collect materials that have no connection to Ireland.
NIVAL is open to the general public with free access to all of our materials all year round without membership requirements. NIVAL is for you, whoever you are, and we facilitate hundreds of researchers every year at all levels of enquiry. Our remit is to actively collect and preserve materials for the country, for the future. We are open for appointments on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 to 17:00. Please see our guidelines for appointments if you would like to visit our Reading Room.
Our sister library, the Edward Murphy Library at NCAD, houses an unrivalled collection of almost 100,000 books and additional digital materials and periodicals on a wide variety of topics, including non-Irish artists. While the Edward Murphy Library is a resource primarily for NCAD students and staff, the general public can avail of access through membership. You can find out more about the Edward Murphy Library through their website.
NIVAl prioritises accessibility to all of our materials. There is no fee to visit NIVAL or view any of our collections, and there is no cost for donating materials to us. We pursue a ‘no cost to artists’ policy in line with the Arts Council of Ireland’s Paying the Artist policy and offer a benefit-in-kind service of appraisal and archiving. We develop collections through active collaboration with artists, designers and cultural organisations. If you are an artist or cultural institution and would like us to send you a free, pre-paid envelope in order to contribute materials to NIVAL, please get in touch.
Access to NIVAL’s Reading Room is strictly by appointment to ensure every researcher is properly accommodated. We are open for appointments on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays all through the year from 10:00 to 17:00. You can book an appointment by email (nivalinfo@ncad.ie), over the phone or in person at the NIVAL offices.
You can browse NIVAL’s online catalogue and databases before you visit to get a flavour of what we hold. You can specify an item that you would like to view during your appointment or you can simply outline your research area in your query and we will help you get started. If you are not sure what you would like to view and are looking for inspiration, try our ‘Surprise me’ button below, which will bring you to a random page of our special collections, or come along to one of our public events to learn about something new.
We are passionate about sharing our knowledge and collections with wide audiences and so we are working on our internship and placement policy to ensure a fair submission and selection process for all. Further updates will be posted in our policies section, news section and on social media in due course.