Still true

Paula

Server maintenance AGAIN

The Morton Library catalog and some other services will be offline for server maintenance this weekend, from about 11 pm Saturday till noon on Sunday.

In case you are wondering why this seems to happen so often, it's because we are compensating for the limitations of our server backup systems. A "cold" backup of the production server is needed periodically.

On this Thanksgiving weekend, let's be thankful for our wonderful systems librarian, Leland Deeds, who gives up his own holiday time to supervise this process. He intentionally schedules this work for times that will have a low impact on our users, but that means some pretty ugly hours for him. We owe him our gratitude!

Paula

Copyright....

We are in the process of helping the institution look at its copyright policies, particularly as it relates to use of Library materials. But it got me to thinking about all the ways the church needs to be paying attention to copyright issues as well. If your church shows a home video only movie at a retreat, or you copy a cartoon into your church newsletter without permission, your church may be in violation of copyright laws.

Copyright is a maddeningly confusing but the Presbyterian Church has a very good website to help you look at ways to make sure you are in compliance with current understandings of the law. You can check it out here.

Ann

Hours over the Thanksgiving break

Just a reminder that our hours will be shortened, starting tomorrow :

Nov 20 (F) 8 am - 5 pm
Nov 21 (Sa) 8 am- 1 pm
Nov 23-25 (M-W) 8 am - 5 pm
Nov 26-29 (Th-Su) CLOSED

On Nov 30 (M), regular Fall Term hours will resume. You can always find details about the current academic term hours at the Library by clicking HERE.

Paula

Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception

We want to call your attention to an exciting new resource, The Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception. This rather opaque title doesn't really convey what this new work can do. It's not just another Bible dictionary ... it's a comprehensive, detailed history of biblical interpretation.

Take any article at random -- AARON, for instance. This resource discusses the figure of Aaron the brother of Moses in the OT or Hebrew Bible, as you might expect. But then it proceeds to cover the treatment of Aaron in later Judaism, then in the New Testament, then in archaeological records, then in patristic, medieval, Reformation and modern Christian thought, then in Islamic teaching and tradition ... that's an amazing scope of detailed information about this figure through centuries of history and theology. Then it goes on to describe the portrayal of Aaron in art : in literature, the visual arts, and music. Each section includes a bibliography of further sources. That's an exceptional wealth of information all collected in one place!

What's more, you can use this resource on paper, in the form of a multivolume set in the Reference Room, or you can access it online, from anywhere, with your network user ID and password! Just go to our Online Databases page, and click on its name. It's searchable, printable ... even highlightable. Please, investigate it NOW!! I think you'll be very pleased.

Paula

Veteran's Day

Veterans past and present, THANK YOU for serving and protecting our freedom. Thank you to our Union-PSCE and BTSR students and alumni in active duty or Reserves who serve in various roles such as Military Chaplaincy.

Rachel

Server maintenance THIS WEEKEND

Our Systems Librarian will be performing regular maintenance on our Library OPAC this weekend. The OPAC will not be available Saturday, November 7, at 11:00pm until Sunday, November 8, at 6:00am.

Thank you for your patience as we enhance our online services.

Rachel

Last chance to see the Rare Books exhibit

Now that we've reached the end of October (which was Theological Libraries Month, in case you missed it!), we'll be taking down the rare books display in the main entryway of the Library. It will be in place this week during the Board of Trustees meeting, so you get one more chance to come over and see it!

For further information about the display, click HERE.

Paula