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Roundtables

The roundtable is intended for anyone interested in relating to institutions outside of the United States and Canada. Topics for conversation will include online documentation, online collaboration, and grants. There will also be a special presentation by Dr. Michael Poon on his work on documentation at the Center for the Study of Christianity in Asia at Trinity Theological Seminary in Singapore. Participants will be encouraged by the International Collaboration Committee to explore new approaches to international collaboration. 

Archival Good Works in the 21st Century

Theological seminaries, with a few exceptions, have yet to find their archivists and put them to good work . . . Let archival good works be performed by theologians as well as for them.

- Lester J. Cappon, Director of the Institute of Early American History and Culture, in a 1958 address to ATLA members titled “Archival Good Works for Theologians”

Nearly fifty years after Cappon’s address, archival “good works” are more complicated than ever. Technology has led to a proliferation of records in both paper and electronic form. National standards for archival description have brought new challenges along with new opportunities. Many seminaries lack a full-time archivist; others employ archivists who care for denominational archives and manuscript collections in addition to the records of their own institutions.

This roundtable is intended for anyone with responsibility for or an interest in seminary archives. Topics for conversation might include the relationship between seminary archivists and the national archival community; the impact of national standards for archival description on the work; and the practical challenges of caring for seemingly endless records with all-too-limited resources.

Is cataloging/are catalogers under siege? This discussion will focus on materials from several sources: Deanna Marcum, Karen Calhoun, Thomas Mann and the Indiana University cataloging department, plus other relevant information which may become available prior to the 2007 conference. Participants should plan to read the materials before the workshop (URLs to be provided).

Advance reading for discussion:

Karen Calhoun
http://www.loc.gov/catdir/calhoun-report-final.pdf

Thomas Mann

• Critical Review of Calhoun's final report, http://www.guild2910.org/AFSCMECalhounReviewREV.pdf
• "What is Going on at the Library of Congress", http://www.guild2910.org/AFSCMEWhatIsGoingOn.pdf
• "More on What is Going on at the Library of Congress" http://www.guild2910.org/AFSCMEMoreOnWhatIsGoing.pdf

Deanna Marcum letter, http://www.loc.gov/library/reports/CatalogingSpeech.pdf

Indiana University -- White paper on the future of cataloging at IU, http://www.iub.edu/~libtserv/pub/Future_of_Cataloging_White_Paper.pdf

ALCTS: "ALCTS and the future of bibliographic control: challenges, actions, and values", http://www.ala.org/ala/alctscontent/alctspubsbucket/bibcontrol/NextSteps2006.pdf

What have you read this year that has impacted your spiritual understanding? Join us for this annual discussion on contemporary religious literature of all genres – fiction, poetry, drama, journals, essays, etc.  Come and share your favorites.

Many theological libraries need part-time student employees but find that special challenges arise in hiring and training, not to mention evaluation and follow-up! Best practices merit attention, and this roundtable will offer examples of what some libraries have found to work well in their experience with student workers over many years or perhaps just recently. Those who seek, interview, test, hire, train, and/or supervise student workers in a theological library are the intended participants for this roundtable, but others may find it useful as well. Everyone will view or receive lists of training topics and strategies, “maps” of areas typically assignable to student workers, visuals of training in progress on frontline procedures or clerical routines, and other materials of interest. Participants should come ready to share, question, critique, offer fresh ideas, or remain observers according to their preference.

Participants will have the opportunity to discuss problems they have filling out the ATS statistics forms. Discussion will focus on general questions about the best ways to fill out the forms when local data doesn’t smoothly match ATS categories. Particular attention will be paid to electronic resources. The discussions may lead to recommendations for changes in the kinds of statistics ATS keeps. Participants will include library directors and others engaged in reporting statistical information to ATS.

The discussion will focus on the degree to which libraries are choosing not to bind or or not to purchase microfilm for journals because an electronic version is available and what guides those title decisions. Such choices have implications for preservation, budgeting, and cataloging, as well as for the industries that supply binding and microfilm. Participants should bring any written retention policies to share;  we will discuss the pros and cons of these choices. Participants are also encouraged to bring ideas about where unretained materials might be donated.

This roundtable will offer the opportunity for discussion about how to prepare your staff and your library for an Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) (Re-) accreditation visit. There will be a brief, general introduction to ATS site visits; some general tips about how to prepare for a visit; an overview of the kinds of questions you might be asked during a visit; and some helpful hints on characteristics of a good library report within a self-study. Most importantly, there will be time for questions and comments by librarians who have recently been visited and/or who have served as ATS visitors.

Library Directors and seminary development (or institutional advancement) staff sometimes seem to have competing agendas. During this roundtable, participants will focus on ways to improve the relationship between the library director and the development office staff. They will also talk about opportunities for joint efforts. The issues to be discussed will include, but not be limited to, developing good lines of communication, identifying strategies for putting appropriate "spin" on projects, and envisioning library components for comprehensive seminary initiatives.

Recently a new approach to Religious Studies has emerged: that of Material Religion. One definition of this approach is that Material Religion seeks to explore how religion happens in material culture. Colleen McDannell’s book Material Christianity and the new journal Material Religion are key scholarly resources in the area.  Examples of the types of objects for study include fine and popular art, architecture, print ephemera, mass produced materials, bumper stickers, and tracts.  Participants will discuss questions such as whether libraries should be involved in collecting the largely non-book types of materials that constitute the objects for study in this field. Do libraries have the resources (financial, staff time, staff expertise, space, and technology) to support collecting for this field? What types of materials can libraries reasonably be expected to collect? What role might digitization play?

You’re not a “new” librarian anymore, but retirement isn’t exactly right around the corner. How do you assess or enhance your career? When is it time to consider a new challenge? Whether that challenge is moving into management, gaining experience in new areas of librarianship, or becoming a library director, it is difficult to know if you’re ready to leave the safety of the status quo or if you’re truly best off where you are. Sit down with some colleagues to talk about life in the middle of your career, the satisfaction that comes with the experience you’ve gained so far, and the challenges of forging forward. Please come willing to share your own experience and strategies for preventing burn-out, developing leadership skills, and planning for the future.

Are you newly employed at a theological library? Are you looking for a position within a theological library? Let's get together and talk about the special hurdles new librarians might encounter in a theological setting.  Please come to the discussion with questions you might have, experiences to share or advice for other new librarians.

Prior to the advent of the Information Technology Department, there was a time when libraries were usually on their own when it came to implementing technology. Today, even for smaller institutions, there usually is a working relationship between the library and IT Should the systems librarian be a library employee? Should the library director report to the academic dean or to the campus chief information officer? Come prepared to share your stories about how your library manages IT relations.

All are invited to join in a discussion on the present and future racial diversity issues facing theological librarians.  We will explore the issues and share our stories of how race has impacted us as in our careers. We will begin to seek ways to encourage transformation and deal with issues that arise.

Preserving the physical "last copies" of certain categories of theological and religious materials, especially the more ephemeral artifacts such as pamphlets, prayer books, textbooks, hymnals and the like, is not included in many preservation programs. In the space crunch that many libraries are facing, we may well be incrementally losing elements of the history of American religion as these materials are discarded or become unusable.

In this meeting, representatives of various denominational groups, as well as interested members in general, will meet to discuss what different denominations and/or institutions are now doing about preserving such artifacts/information and what resources are available to support these efforts.

It is to be hoped that, as a result of this meeting and future activities ensuing from it, members will learn what categories of materials are threatened,  what they might do about saving such materials, and what repositories that already exist might be appropriate for sending such materials for permanent retention.

To this end, a preliminary survey will be sent to ATLA members to create an initial fund of information, which should help generate ideas and discussion at this roundtable.  

ATLA does not have a statement of professional ethics or an “ethics committee” to address issues or provide educational resources relating to professional ethics. Do we need such a statement or committee? Given our diversity, will we ever be able to agree on the content or mandate of any such initiative? 

In the roundtable last year there was strong support for continuing the conversation. Even if we don’t always agree on the origins of our ethical commitments, everyone agrees that ethics are important. So, what if we focus consensus-building efforts on actual professional practice rather than theological or philosophical foundations? 

The objectives of this second roundtable: 

1. articulate the elements of our professional practice as theological (and allied) librarians, and 
2. identify an ethical issue or two that might surface with each of these elements. 

The conversation is open to all ATLA members.

If you're a teaching librarian, this session is for you. At this roundtable, we'll have a lively discussion about the theory and practice of active learning, a student-centered approach that emphasizes engagement, self-motivation, and collaborative work, and values exploration and discovery over didactic lecturing and rote memorization. This is a great chance to talk with colleagues about why and how to incorporate active learning techniques, ranging from instructor-guided group discussions to role-playing games to hands-on problem-solving, into your teaching. Facilitated by an experienced instruction librarian with an extensive academic background in religious studies, this roundtable will offer a wealth of ideas and inspiration for your future library instruction projects.

St. Charles Borromeo Library has just gone through a six million dollar construction project that involved the renovation a 1911 building into a twenty-first century state-of-the-art library. If your library is planning a construction project in the near future, or has just completed a project, you may be interested in sharing stories about architects, construction workers, planning, library movers, and those unexpected emergencies that happen during renovation.

Theological Librarianship: A New Online Journal
Andrew Keck, Associate Director, Divinity Library, Duke University

A discussion around our new open access journal that publishes essays, columns, critical reviews, bibliographic essays, and peer-reviewed articles on various aspects of theological librarianship and its contribution to theological education. Meet the editors, brainstorm article ideas, and learn about the entire publication process from idea to journal article.

Participants will share their experiences from Theological Libraries Month in 2006. They will then think creatively together about what the association can do to enhance this event in 2007, including the identification of strategies to broaden the event's appeal and its message for theological libraries. Participants are invited to bring TLM materials to share if they wish. Most of the roundtable will be devoted to 2007 and beyond.

What is a wiki? Why would you want to set one up?  Wikis are a form of social networking software currently used in a wide variety of work settings to facilitate communication and speed the transfer of information.

This roundtable will examine current and potential uses for wikis in theological education.  We’ll share ideas for wiki topics, take a look at best practices, the pros and cons of limiting who can edit your wiki and some other wiki challenges.

Don't share the basic beliefs of your parent institution? Let's talk about your experiences - good and bad. This is a roundtable, not a lecture - we want to hear from you! Everyone, regardless of religious background, is encouraged to attend and share.