Server maintenance Saturday night

Just want folks to know that the Morton Library catalog server will be down for backup on Saturday night, Feb. 27th, from about 11 pm till Sunday morning.

All functions of the catalog, SFX and MetaLib will be offline. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Paula

Restricted Curriculum

Many curriculum publishers, concerned that library and resource center patrons may be tempted to use library copies of consumable copyrighted curriculum material in their own educational settings, are licensing their curriculum products for in-house use only. For students on campus, this may not present a problem. It's easier for you to come to the Library and see something here. For those who live off campus or who are our public patrons, this makes for a challenge if you're trying to have a group evaluate a particular piece of material!

If you have a group that would like to preview this restricted curriculum, please contact me at the Library as I would be glad to schedule a time when your group could come and see it.

Ann

Karl Barth Section

The Circulation staff continues the moving project in the lower level, C-L section. Currently we're working in the Barth section (GW call numbers). This section may be difficult to navigate due to the lengthy call numbers (sometimes 8 or more lines long). Please be sure to ask the Circulation staff if you have difficulty locating what you need. We'll be glad to help!

Rachel

The sky is falling !

Well no, not really. But over the weekend, there were some serious water leaks in the Library. They were not the result of snowmelt, as you might expect, but rather a failure of the HVAC system. In a number of places on the East side of the building, water built up behind the ceiling tiles and brought them down, resulting in a big mess. Our hard-working staff dealt with it at once, so the water and debris have been cleaned up by now.

In a few places you will still see tarps or plastic sheets over the stacks, mainly as a precaution in case the HVAC system is not quite finished leaking. If you need access to materials under cover, feel free to ask the folks at the Circ Desk for help.

We apologize for the mess and noise during the weekend hours, and for any disturbance as repair work continues.

Paula

Summer's coming ... new VBS materials available for preview

I know we can still see the snow on the ground, but I've already had people coming in asking to see VBS material for their summer programming. In keeping with all the work we've been doing around here with children's literature and ministry, I thought I would mention several summer series that use children's literature as a central theme and connecting point with the Biblical story. You can preview all of these in the Instructional Resource Center.

LeaderResources has really taken the lead on producing material that connects the themes of the Christian faith with children's literature. They have produced four series based on very familiar novels for children. We have a resource center subscription to LeaderResources, so you can come preview these on computers in the Center. Unfortunately, you cannot check them out to preview with a church.

• Aslan on the Move. Uses The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (the DVD) as a focus for study.


• Wizards and Wonders. The Harry Potter books provide themes such as identity, moral choices and faith that are explored in this package.


• Dare to be Different . Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time is used in this series.


• Wild Willy's Candy Factory uses the DVD of Roald Dahl's classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory to explore the story of the Prodigal Son.

If you use one of these for VBS, we'd love to see a review here!

Ann

Problem with network access -- FIXED NOW

There is a technical fault blocking access within the Library to one of our IP-authenticated online resources, the Digital Karl Barth Library. When you click on that link on our Online Databases page and attempt to make a search, you get an error message asking for another login. That's a fault -- it shouldn't be happening.

It's still possible to get to this database when you are outside of our network and you login with your network user ID and password. So if you are at home, you probably won't even notice it. Only on-campus access seems to be affected.

We apologize for this situation and hope to have it resolved soon.

Paula

The academic library

You must read this beautiful, quotable post on the nature of academic libraries and librarians (especially theological libraries). This guy really gets it!!

Faith and Theology blogspot

Paula

Another Great APCE Conference

It has always one of my great joys to attend the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators annual event, held this year in Nashville, Tennessee. While it isn't a conference that focuses on libraries and their work, it is a place where I am exposed to lots of new resources and ideas from people in ministry all around the world and I'm always grateful the Seminary sees it as important to the work of the Instructional Resource Center It helps me think about the work of theological education that we do here, and how we can connect what I am see at APCE with what might be helpful to students and faculty and other patrons. I'll be ordering resources I saw there over the next few weeks and hope they will be useful to you.

Before those new resources come in, I highly recommend a book we have on our shelves now - Leaving Northhaven: The Further Adventures of a Small Town Pastor - by Michael Lindvall. Dr. Lindvall was the keynote speaker at APCE this year and the stories he shared from this book are not to be missed! Read it while you wait for the compact discs of his reading of the stories to arrive.
Ann

Campus closed Wednesday, February 10th

We have been notified that the Richmond campus will not open today due to the stormy weather. Unfortunately, the Library must be closed as well. We are sorry to disappoint you!

Paula

Delayed opening Monday, February 8th

The administration has announced that Union-PSCE's Richmond campus will open at 10:30 am on Monday, Feb 8. The "Delayed Opening Class Schedule" will be in effect.

Please expect the Library to open at 10:30 on Monday morning, in order to give our staff sufficient time to get there, and the hard-working Physical Plant workers time to clear steps, walkways and parking areas.

Be safe, everyone!

Paula

LIBRARY CLOSED THIS WEEKEND

The Library will be closed today and tomorrow, February 6 and 7, due to the inclement weather.

Please check back regarding possible closings or delayed openings for next week.


Rachel

Open Friday, February 5 ...

We now intend to keep the Library open all day today, until 8 pm. Several of our wonderful student workers (who live on campus and are able to get home safely) have volunteered to cover the Circ Desk so we can stay open.

The Reference Librarian will be here till 2 pm, but the rest of the professional staff and department heads will not be available.

We are not yet sure about weekend hours, but we will probably have to remain closed on Saturday, since ice and heavier snow are predicted, and that will make the building (steps, walkways) unsafe. We will wait to make that decision until tomorrow morning. Please check here for further updates.

Paula

Friday, Feb 5 snowfall

We have been told that the Union-PSCE campus will close today from 9:30 am. Offices will close and classes are cancelled.

The Library will remain open as long as possible today. The current plan is to remain open until 2 pm and then re-evaluate staffing and building access. We will post further changes here ... and you can also call the Circ Desk at 804-278-4310 for updates.

Paula

Delayed opening Tuesday, February 2nd

The Union Seminary campus will delay opening until 10:30 on Tuesday, Feb 2nd.

More precipitation is forecast, and the grounds crew needs time to ensure that buildings and parking lots are accessible. It's our understanding that the Library opening will be delayed as well.

Paula