Tag: Spring 2018

SEPTLA Institutional News, Spring 2018

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Biblical Theological Seminary

Lydia Putnam announced that Biblical will change its name in October to Missio.  The institution signed a lease for a building near the Philadelphia Art Museum and the Free Library of Philadelphia, and the move will take place between December 16, 2018 and January 22, 2019.  The library staff are busy with collection reduction.  Faculty are playing an important role in this project and discovering useful materials in the process.  Also, Biblical is scanning 750 theses and uploading them to the Digital Commons.

Cairn University

Stephanie Kaceli shared updates about the library and the University.  In February, the library switched to Open Athens, and this change has been very well received.  She also highlighted that the library lobby is being converted into a café.  Library director, Dr. Hewey is retiring, and Stephanie has been named the new director.  Stephanie mentioned that Cairn will be offering more STEM programs, specifically in chemistry.

Evangelical Seminary

Mark Draper reported that Dr. Len Sweet has been hired to teach in the newly approved doctor of theology (ThD) program.  Evangelical has applied for an online MDiv and an online Bible degree; both programs will impact the number of patrons who visit the physical library.

Lancaster Theological Seminary

Myka Kennedy Stephens announced that she returned from sabbatical in January and has been busy since her return.  The library continues its multi-year weeding project with a goal to complete it by August 2019. A modest climate control unit that helps stabilize temperature and humidity has been fixed in the rare books room.  Lancaster Seminary graduated the first students from its redesigned MDiv program on May 5 and looks forward to welcoming a new class of students in early August.

Moravian Theological Seminary

Elizabeth Young Miller reported that representatives from both ATS and Middle States visited this semester.  The administration is pleased with the result of these visits.

New Brunswick Theological Seminary

Ondrea Murphy explained that there have been a number of changes at New Brunswick.  Three library staff members resigned, including the library director.  Dr. John Coakley, a faculty emeritus, who holds an MLS, is serving as the interim library director.  A search will begin for a new director.  Rev. James Brumm was hired to oversee the new theological writing center and serves as archivist too.  On May 18, Rev. Micah L. Mcreary, Ph.D will be inaguarated as New Brunswick’s new president.  Another positive change involves technology upgrades, including new computers.

Palmer Theological Seminary/Eastern University

Dr. Jim Sauer shared information about staff changes and new programs.  He announced that Eastern University has a new president—Dr. Ronald (Ron) Matthews.  Dr. Matthews is a musician, as well as a faculty member, and it is hoped that he will raise money for the institution.  Marvin Smith in the library is retiring, and Chelsea Post, formerly of St. Charles Borromeo, has been hired as the Systems Librarian.  Eastern University offers several new programs: a doctoral education degree in STEM, a MA in classical education, and an online MA in theology designed for the Spanish speaking community.  The fourth cohort is enrolled in the MA in theology.

Princeton Theological Seminary

Virginia Dearborn announced that Chip Dobbs-Allsopp is the new James Lenox Librarian and that Evelyn Frangakis was named the Managing Library Director.  Princeton is currently working on their self-study for Middle States.

Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

Alan LaPayover explained that there is movement and change within Reconstuctionist Judaism.  While there has been a change of the movement’s central organization’s name to Reconstructing Judaism, the College will not change its name for a year.  Nonetheless, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College will be putting up a new website sometime this summer.

Reformed Episcopal Seminary

Russ Buchanan reported that Reformed Episcopal will be conducting their self-study this fall ahead of their ATS site visit in 2019.  Reformed Episcopal welcomed their first international student this year; he is from Nigeria.  The Seminary anticipates other students enrolling from Nigeria.

St. Charles Borromeo Seminary

James (Jim) Humble provided several updates regarding St. Charles Borromeo.  The Seminary is working on both ATS and Middle States accreditation; they are currently trimming their ATS report.  The site visits are slated for next March.  Jim explained that nothing has been finalized either with the purchase of their current location nor where they will be moving.  The Seminary is waiting on the Board to vote, which may occur over the summer.  Most likely, it will be two (2) years before the Seminary relocates to their new campus.  Jim shared that Chelsea Post left in January to go to Palmer Theological Seminary at Eastern University.  Her position has been frozen and may not reopen.  Jim, paraprofessionals, a secretary, and student workers are staffing the library.

United Lutheran Seminary

Evan Boyd shared that there have been a lot of changes at United Lutheran. In March, the seminary board relieved the school’s first president of her role and put in place an acting president. His tenure will end June 1, as an interim president, Dr. Richard Greene, begins his duties for the coming year. ULS has received reaccreditation for all of its degree programs from both Middle States and ATS. During graduation, it was announced that the seminary received a $30 million bequest, to be used to establish a new chair on the faculty, with the bulk endowing student scholarships.

Westminster Theological Seminary

Donna Roof announced that Robert (Bob) McInnes began in January as the Archivist and Special Collections Librarian; Westminster is excited that he has formal training and experience in these areas.  She also reported that the library has new study carrels.

SEPTLA Business Meeting Minutes, May 11, 2018

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Spring Meeting – May 11, 2018
Cairn University

Download PDF

I. Welcome and Thanks
Myka Kennedy Stephens welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order.

II. Approval of Agenda
Myka Kennedy Stephens asked if there were any changes to the agenda. Seeing
none, the agenda was approved.

III. Approval of Minutes from October 4, 2017 Meeting
Myka Kennedy Stephens explained that since minutes from the fall meeting were not submitted, she reconstructed them. She asked if there were any changes, encouraging members to e-mail the Executive Committee with any corrections.

IV. Reports

A. Treasurer’s Report
1. Checking balance: $4,192.48
2. Deposits reflect dues
3. Withdrawals account for meeting expenses and SEPTLA’s web presence
4. PNC Money Market balance: $6,718.14
5. Total balance: $10,910.62

B. Membership Task Force
Elizabeth Young Miller thanked committee member Jim Sauer and provided some context for the report. She emphasized that the membership would be consulted regarding the recommendations and clarified that stipends will not be offered to the president of SEPTLA.

C. Continuing Education Committee Report
Ondrea Murphy thanked Cairn University for hosting the meeting and recognized the contributions of the Continuing Education Committee: Julie Dawson, James Humble, and Lydia Putnam. The Committee will be in dialog about the fall meeting, as well as the workshop piece for the spring 2019 meeting. Currently, the Committee is looking for hosts for the fall meeting. Lydia Putnam mentioned that Biblical may be interested in hosting.

D. Communications Committee Report
Virginia Dearborn thanked those who serve on this committee and reported that that there are openings. The “News” section of the website has new content and feedback is welcome. Lydia Putnam highlighted the RSS feed on the website.

E. Research Services Interest Group Report
Ondrea Murphy reported on behalf of Bethany O’Shea. The Interest Group
discussed instructional videos, a conversation that will continue in the fall. Lydia
Putnam highlighted that there are further questions, such as meeting standards and
complying with accessibility. Virginia Dearborn also mentioned that the group
discussed how to share these videos. Bethany will share the PowerPoint slides
with Virginia, who can post them to the SEPTLA website

F. Cataloging and Metadata Interest Group
Melvin Hartwick reported for Chris Schwartz. The main topic of the meeting was the RDA Toolkit Restructure and Redesign (3R) Project. This project is dramatically changing the web-based version of the cataloging code, RDA Toolkit. At the meeting, we examined the preliminary screenshots that are available now. A beta version is scheduled to be released on June 13, 2018. We also discussed the ATLA NACO Funnel Project. Melvin highlighted that Princeton will be offering NACO training this summer and encouraged any interested libraries to contact Princeton.

V. Election of Officers
Since the past president was not in attendance, Myka Kennedy Stephens presided over the election of officers.

A. Secretary
Myka asked for nominations from the floor. Patrick Milas nominated Robert (Bob) McInnes. Bob accepted the nomination. Seeing no new nominations, Steve McKinzie moved to close nominations. Bob was elected by a clear majority.

B. President
Myka opened nominations from the floor. Donna Roof nominated Elizabeth Young Miller, who accepted the nomination. Seeing no additional nominations, Elizabeth was approved as president.

VI. Additional Openings (to be appointed by Executive Committee)

A. Archivist
Myka Kennedy Stephens shared that the Executive Committee voted to appoint Jim Humble the archivist earlier that week. The archives, which had been housed at Lancaster Bible College, will be moving to St. Charles Borromeo.

B. Newsletter Editor
Myka Kennedy Stephens explained that Stephanie Kaceli would be stepping down from her role as newsletter editor, and Myka asked for volunteers. Myka shared more about this position, explaining that this individual is part of the Communications Committee and serves a two-year renewable term, sharing the newsletter with the membership four (4) weeks before each meeting. Chris Schwartz asked if this person attends Executive Committee meetings. Myka replied that this individual would serve as a co-chair of the Communications Committee with Virginia Dearborn. Virginia and the newsletter editor would take turns attending the Executive Committee meetings. Since no volunteers were forthcoming, Myka encouraged interested parties to talk with her. The Executive Committee will appoint someone if there are no volunteers.

VII. Other Business
Myka Kennedy Stephens asked if there was any additional business. There was none.

VIII. Adjourn
Myka Kennedy Stephens thanked everyone for attending and adjourned the meeting.

Respectfully Submitted,
Elizabeth Young Miller

Cataloging and Metadata Interest Group Agenda, Spring 2018

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The Cataloging and Metadata Interest Group will be discussing two topics as times permits at the Spring 2018 SEPTLA meeting.

  1. RDA 3R Project: The RDA Toolkit Restructure and Redesign Project. If you have time, please look at this Powerpoint presentation ahead of our discussion: https://www.olasuperconference.ca/SC-2018/event/rda-update-current-issues-and-future-trends/
  2. ATLA/NACO funnel project: Let’s revisit this topic to see who within SEPTLA is participating or planning to participate in the near future.

Thanks,

Chris

SEPTLA Business Meeting Agenda, May 11, 2018

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  1. Welcome and Thanks
  2. Approval of Agenda
  3. Approval of Minutes from October 4, 2017
  4. Reports
    • Treasurer’s Report
    • Membership Task Force Report
    • Continuing Education Committee Report
    • Communications Committee Report
    • Research Services Interest Group
    • Cataloging and Metadata Interest Group Report
  5. Election of Officers
    • Secretary
    • President
  6. Additional Openings (to be appointed by Executive Committee)
    • Archivist
    • Newsletter Editor
  7. Institutional News
  8. Other Business
  9. Adjourn

President’s Message, April 2018

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These are extremely challenging times, my friends. Many of our member institutions are in transition – staff transitions, facility transitions, and larger institutional transitions. In the face of so much change it is hard to know what, if anything, is stable enough to stand upon. Sometimes we might feel that if we could find a resting place, somewhere away from the change to catch our breath, it would help us recover our strength to continue moving forward.

I would like to offer that SEPTLA has the capacity to be such a resting place. As a 50+ year organization, SEPTLA remains committed to bringing our institutions together for fellowship, collaboration, and continuing education. While we are not immune to change and are experiencing our own transitions, our shared commitment to theological education and librarianship in this region provides a constancy that many of us can turn to for support and encouragement.

Serving as SEPTLA’s president for these past two years has been a rewarding experience, and I thank you for the opportunity. In that time, we received the findings and recommendations of the Future Task Force and began the work of acting upon those recommendations. Our meeting in May at Cairn University developed out of some of those suggestions. We will be exploring our capacity for resource sharing as a consortium through a dialogue facilitated by the Resource Sharing Task Force, in addition to hearing about new EBSCO products like FOLIO and ATLAS Plus.

Our Membership Task Force will also be presenting its findings and recommendations during our Business Meeting. The Executive Committee, having heard the report on March 2, is eager to hear feedback from the membership about its recommendations.

The spring meeting also brings with it officer elections. We will be electing a new secretary and a new president—I will have served the two consecutive terms allowed in the Bylaws. There are also two positions open on the Communications Committee: Archivist and Newsletter Editor. Please consider volunteering for one of these positions. SEPTLA is a friendly and supportive organization for those interested in serving.

I look forward to seeing you at Cairn in May,

Myka Kennedy Stephens

SEPTLA President, 2016-2018

flower buds on a tree

SEPTLA Spring 2018 Meeting Invitation

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DATE: Friday, May 11, 2018
LOCATION: Cairn University

Please plan on attending the SEPTLA spring meeting at Cairn University on May 11, 2018. All activities will be held in the Masland Library. Please park anywhere in lots A-E.

Thanks to EBSCO’s generosity, there is no additional cost to lunch for individuals. Please RSVP by April 28, 2018: https://goo.gl/h9ggu5

Directions: https://cairn.edu/about/area/map/
Campus Map: https://cairn.edu/documents/2014/01/campus-map.pdf/

Questions? Email stephaniekaceli@cairn.edu

Tentative schedule

8:45-9:15, Registration and Light Refreshments, Biblical Learning Center (BLC) 131
9:15-9:30, Welcome and Introductions
9:30-11:30, EBSCO Presentations, BLC 131
11:30-12:30, Lunch, BLC Area
Sponsored by EBSCO, Inc.
12:30-1:15, Interest group meetings
• Cataloging and Metadata Interest Group, BLC 132
Discussion of the new look to the RDA Toolkit—3R Project
• Reference Interest Group, BLC 134
Creating Library Instructional Videos
1:15-2:15, A Conversation with the Resource Sharing Task Force, BLC 131
2:30-3:00, Business meeting, BLC 131
3:00-3:30, JSTOR Forum demonstration (refreshments included), BLC 131