Closing for the holidays

Today is your last day to borrow anything you might need during the break.  The William Smith Morton Library will be closed for Christmas and New Years, 20 Dec - 4 Jan. 

We wish all of you a blessed and peaceful Christmas season.

Repair work in the building

Starting Tuesday, Dec 16th, workers will be conducting repairs on the Library's HVAC system.  There may be some noise, some odors and other disruptions.  The Library will remain open and you can still come in and study, borrow or return materials.

Problem with off-campus database login

We’re back!!  OCLC has managed to restore their online services and correct the problem with our off-campus authentication.  You should now be able to login to our online databases, e-journals, streaming video, ATLAS for Alums and any other services for which you have a valid network login. 

We do apologize again to those who were inconvenienced by this, especially our ECP students, for whom it was a real problem.

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UPDATE :  Apparently this service failure is caused by a huge  technical problem at OCLC, the vendor that supplies our authentication service.  All of OCLC's online services are down!!  If you don't know what that means, let me just say that it's a crisis.  We must bear with them until they can correct their situation, at which time we hope our remote authentication will be restored.  Until then, please come to the Library if you can, and use our databases and e-journals here.

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We are sorry to report that we are having trouble accessing our online databases and e-journals from outside the network.

When you click on a link for one of the databases (for example, the ATLA Religion Database or ATLAS) you are taken to a login screen, as usual.  But when you enter your network user ID and password, it grinds away for a long time until the authentication fails. 

Our IT department is working on this problem.  We apologize sincerely for this -- we know it is a real obstacle for people who need to study from home.  We hope it will be corrected soon!!

Paula

Planned network maintenance

On Monday, November 24 we will be completing an upgrade to the Seminary's network firewall.  Work is scheduled to begin around 3:30 p.m. and conclude around 7:00 p.m.

During this time network availability will be very limited and you should plan for the following resources to be unavailable during this time: Internet access from campus office buildings

The following resources will be available from off campus computers:

Blackboard

Morton Library catalog

Thanks for your cooperation as we complete this important project.

Rachel

Redesigned IRC website goes live

For the past several months, with help from ThM wonder student Daniel Ervin and MDiv alum Jessica Rathbun-Cook, the IRC staff has been involved in rethinking and redesigning the website that gives student, faculty, patrons and congregatonal leaders outside our walls a way to connect with resources and programs in the Instructional Resource Center.  Our website was originally created and managed by Reference Librarian extraordinnaire Paula Skreslet, who wanted to make sure we were represented in Morton Library's offerings.  We are so grateful to her for her work on our behalf, and we acknowledge that we saw a small smile on her face that she was no longer going to have to keep up with our web statistics or make sure I got updates in on time!  But it was time for us to strike out on our own and create a website that we could manage and update quickly, from any location, and that gave us the opportunity to provide more dynamic and less static content without overburdening Paula.  So today, the new IRC website is live!

Designing a website is hard work.  What do users want?  What do we want to make sure and communicate to users?  Who are our users? What should a resource center look like and how can it best convey its purpose through how it portrays itself through your web browser or mobile device? How can this website connect with the vision of Union Presbyterian Seminary?

For us, it was important the resources be digital as well as physical.  While we hope you'll see print curriculum reviews on our site, you'll also find links to digital resources.  (We're still in the process of adding links daily.....if we had waited to go live until every last link was up....well, we wouldn't ever go live!)  We wanted to be able to have an site where the activities of our new Digital Learning Lab were clearly visible and where you could make reservations for equipment and classes from wherever you had access to the internet.  We wanted to design a site that lets you know we're here, that we're thinking of those involved in preparation for ministry and those who are serving already as layleaders, ministers or eductors, and that we want to serve you. And we wanted you to be able to find what we have to offer.  (And I hope you'll let us know if you can't!)

So we moved to WordPress and I turned to Jessica Rathbun-Cook this summer.  Jessica was the person responsible for the fabulous redesign of the Storypath site a year or so ago and I knew that she could take a vision and turn into something usable.  Once she helped get us started, Daniel came to work in September and was a WordPress mastermind in figuring out how to make plugins do the special things we wanted done.  I don't think there was every a problem I sent him that he didn't figure out.  (I'm still trying to figure out a way to make sure he can't graduate.)  I'm so grateful to both of them for helping us get to the launch.  (And a special shout-out to recent grad TJ Remaley whose last act as a student worker was helping to design the new UPSem Libraries logo used here for the first time!)

You'll find our five major areas of content  identified by the five pictures at the top of the home page. You'll also find a chronological list of posts showing on the home page as well. We will post on the site at least once a week, generally highlighting a particular resource or service or class.  You can also receive an email anytime we post any blog post from any category on the site.  (Just provide your email in the space provided on the home page.)

We'll have more information coming out later about the launch of the Digital Learning Lab (with special prizes to be given away), but for now, we hope you'll take a moment to browse our new site and that you'll come back and visit us often!

Ann

The Dean's Forum is coming !

Panel Discussion of Samuel L. Adams' new book, Social and Economic Life in Second Temple Judea (Westminster John Knox, 2014)

Tuesday, 28 October 2014 at 4:10 pm
Lake Chapel, in the Early Center
Reception to follow

The Dean's Forum on Faculty Research is an annual opportunity to focus on a major recent publication by a member of the Union Seminary faculty. Prof. Adams' new work was published by the Westminster John Knox Press in August.

The book has been described as "a major advance for the study of biblical economies. With a broad knowledge of early Judaism, Professor Adams deftly works through biblical and extrabiblical texts to present a balanced portrayal of the social currents of the Second Temple period. Beginning students will find this book accessible and engaging, while scholars will appreciate its thorough research and nuanced discussion." (Roger S. Nam, George Fox University). For further details and reviews, click HERE.

Dr. Adams will discuss his work with a panel of three speakers : Dr. John T. Carroll, UPSem professor of New Testament; Dr. Stephen L. Cook, professor of Old Testament at Virginia Theological Seminary; and Martien Halvorson-Taylor, professor of religious studies at the University of Virginia.

A reception with drinks and refreshments will follow in the Early Center. Students, alumni/ae and members of the public are warmly invited to this special event!

Job opening in the Library

Are you a friendly, reliable person looking for a great campus job?  Come and join us in the Library!

Morton Library Circulation Desk Student Worker Needed

Primary work responsibilities:

• Assisting patrons with catalog and database searches as needed
• Checking in/out materials, helping to maintain order to the Library collection, and working on special projects as needed
• Answering telephone lines and transferring calls to appropriate offices; troubleshooting caller issues and requests
• Performing other clerical tasks and assisting Library Circulation Supervisor as needed

Excellent communication skills and ability to communicate, work, and interact with others in an effective, flexible, and professional manner. Part-time position: minimum 10 hours/week required Applications available at Library Circulation Desk // Accepting applications until September 17.

HVAC system a bit wonky

He are having some trouble with the heating and cooling system just now ... parts of the Library are feeling very warm.  We are told that the repair team needs to order a new part and wait for it to arrive, so we are not sure how long that will take.

Please dress for warm conditions and accept our apologies for the inconvenience!

Interlibrary loan delay

Please be aware that our interlibrary loan service has been delayed this week, due to an unexpected death in our Library family.  The mother of Lisa Janes, our ILL Specialist, passed away suddenly on Monday.

Lisa has been on compassionate leave this week.  Our hearts are with her as she copes with her grief and loss.

CATALOG DOWN

UPDATE : The catalog is working again now, thanks to the diligent work of Ann Knox and our system vendors.  

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I'm sorry to report that our Morton Library catalog is offline right now -- not due to scheduled maintenance, but to some malfunction.

We are working to restore it as soon as possible.  We regret the service interruption.

Paula and Ann

Update on our stacks move

The shift of materials on the lower level and ground floor is going extremely well -- progress is smooth and speedy!!  Many, many thanks to the hard-working, well-organized Circulation team that is undertaking this move.

Books are now in their permanent places in sections A-G.  Amazing!  The G section now makes sense for the very first time!  End labels on the ranges are being updated.  When the lower level is complete, they will do the finishing work in the Reserve Room and in the small stacks area on the ground floor (near the restrooms).  As always, if you have any trouble finding something you want, please just ask at the Circ Desk -- they will know where everything is on a daily basis.

We expect the whole project to be completed ahead of schedule -- probably within the next two weeks.

Paula and Rachel

WELCOME Hebrew class !

Summer language study has begun!  The Library welcomes you, especially new arrivals to the Richmond campus.

We'll do our best to provide you with user access cards as efficiently as possible.  Please see Rachel Perky, our Circulation Supervisor, for help with this.  We ask you to have a bit of patience with the process, because it may take a little time to get them all done.

The Library is a cool, quiet, comfortable place to go over your flash cards, study your paradigms, and get those Hebrew verb forms squared away!  Come on in and meet us, and stake out your favorite seat.
:-)

Paula Skreslet and Rachel Perky
WSML Public Services

Catalog interruption, Wed 2 July

Our Library catalog will be down for maintenance on Wednesday morning, July 2nd.  We expect the work to take about an hour, from 10:00-11:00 am.

This work must be done during office hours -- something we normally try to avoid.  We apologize for this inconvenience.

Paula and Ann

Climate control problem

We apologize for the uncomfortable conditions in the Library today -- the air conditioning seems to be out of order.  Perfect day for it, right?

It is possible to study in here, but dress lightly and be prepared for abnormally warm temperatures, especially upstairs.  Physical Plant has been notified.

Moving update

We're making progress on the major stacks shift ... the A, B and C sections are now in their new places.  You will find these down on the lower level, starting at the north end.  The alphabet now runs all the way across the room (like on every other floor), so just go across the center aisle and keep going.  Also, the sequence wraps around the end of the row snake-wise (again, like every other floor) instead of starting over on the far end.

Also, the As, Bs and part of the Cs used to be up on the ground level, near the restrooms. so they are now in a completely different place.

We realize that these are major changes, and they will take a little getting used to.  Please do ask Circulation for help if you can't find something!

Paula and Rachel

Whole lotta movin' goin' on

We want everyone to be aware that Circ is undertaking a major stacks shift right now, which we hope to complete this summer.  The ground floor and the lower level will be reorganized to follow an uninterrupted flow of call numbers in alphabetical order.

The arrangement that now exists took place gradually over time, without an overall plan, and it has resulted in strange pockets of out-of-order materials that defy logic.  Our aim is to make the entire stacks collection abide by the same plan.  We hope it will be more intelligible for both staff and users.

There will be some disruption while this move is implemented.  If you are trying to find an item that seems to have disappeared, please ask for help at Circ.  They will know which things have been moved on a daily basis.

When the process is complete, we'll publicize details of the new arrangement to help everyone adapt to it.  We apologize for any confusion in the meantime!

Paula and Rachel

Summer hours

There is always a bit of an adjustment when summer hours begin ... we end up with people waiting outside the door in the morning, and we are sorry about that!

Please take note of the reduced HOURS during the summer.  We are trying to be good stewards of our resources by curtailing open hours to save money.  We hope it will not create inconvenience for you.

Paula and Rachel

Closed Saturday

The William Smith Morton Library will be closed on Saturday, May 31st, for Union Seminary's Richmond commencement.

We will open on Monday, June 2nd, according to SUMMER HOURS.  Morning opening at 9:00 am.

Images from the Met online

Do you use art images while teaching or lecturing?  Do you need them for various publishing purposes?

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has now placed almost 400,000 of its most significant works into a site called  "The Collection Online."  These high-quality images are available specifically for scholarly use.  There is a nice search structure provided,

Those labeled OASC are "Open Access for Scholarly Content."  They can be linked online or downloaded in various ways.

Here is the site :

http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online

It might come in handy!

Paula

Whole lotta movin' goin' on

We want everyone to be aware that Circ is undertaking a major stacks shift right now, which we hope to complete this summer.  The ground floor and the lower level will be reorganized to follow an uninterrupted flow of call numbers in alphabetical order.

The arrangement that now exists took place gradually over time, without an overall plan, and it has resulted in strange pockets of out-of-order materials that defy logic.  Our aim is to make the entire stacks collection abide by the same plan.  We hope it will be more intelligible for both staff and users.

There will be some disruption while this move is implemented.  If you are trying to find an item that seems to have disappeared, please ask for help at Circ.  They will know which things have been moved on a daily basis.

When the process is complete, we'll publicize details of the new arrangement to help everyone adapt to it.  We apologize for any confusion in the meantime!

The children's books can breathe again !

If you've wandered up on the second floor east recently, you'll notice you can see some empty space where children's books have been fighting for space for the last several years.  A much needed weeding project has just been completed, thanks to the wonderful student staff from Circulation.  We moved nearly 1,000 books out of the circulating collection and they are currently making their way through the Cataloging office to be officially removed.

I've been working with this collection for more than 25 years and it has a different focus at particular times in its life.  When I first arrived, I was a little amazed to find that a large part of the collection included multiple out of date copies of encyclopedias (remember those?).   Later, stories that helped children navigate through life events such as the birth of a sibling or a divorce were a growing part of the collection.  When it became clear as we moved into the new library that we would have limited space for children's books, it was weeded to focus on primarily religious texts and themes.

More recently, the success of the Storypath website has meant that we are purchasing the books that are reviewed and books that are used to make connections with Lectionary texts each week.  That had the shelves straining and so another weeding project finally got underway.

We will continue to place the focus on supporting the Storypath site as a resource to our students, faculty and patrons.  We have also kept a fairly large selection of children's Bibles and Bible storybooks.   And we hope that being able to actually move the books on the shelves will make it easier to browse the collection and find good books just to read for the fun of it.

So thank Ryan, Jay and Kelli when you see them, and come enjoy the great resources of our children's collection on the east side of the second level!

Ann Knox
Instructional Resource Center

It's Sprunts time !

Come and join us!  Monday through Wednesday, May 5-7, here on the UPSem Richmond campus and at Ginter Park Presbyterian Church.  Prof. Dean McBride will be delivering the lectures, and there are lots of alumni/ae activities and other special events.

During the Sprunts, the William Smith Morton Library turnstile will be open, to make it easier for campus visitors to come and go.  Please consider yourselves welcome to come in!

For a schedule of the Sprunts activities, click HERE.  And for more information about the lectures and events, click HERE.

Sprunts Week is coming !!

We're all looking forward to the annual Sprunt Lecture Series, May 5-7, here on the UPSem Richmond campus and at Ginter Park Presbyterian Church.  Prof. Dean McBride will be delivering the lectures, and there are lots of alumni/ae activities and other special events.

During the Sprunts, the William Smith Morton Library turnstile will be open, to make it easier for campus visitors to come and go.  Please consider yourselves welcome to come in!

For a schedule of the Sprunts activities, click HERE.  And for more information about the lectures and events, click HERE.

Extended hours for exam time

The Library will stay open later on Friday and Saturday evenings this week, in case you need a little extra time to prepare for your Spring term exams or write those final papers.  We'll be open till 8:00 pm on April 25th and 26th.

Thank you to the wonderful student workers who make this possible!!

Paula

Easter break

Just a reminder that the Library will be closed on Good Friday, April 18, and on Saturday, April 19.  Also, of course, on Easter Sunday.  We'll be open again on Monday, April 21, as usual.

ATLAS for Alums online again

We're happy to report that our ATLAS for Alums service has been restored.  If you have trouble with your login now, please contact us for further help.

Paula

ATLAS for Alums offline

UPDATE -- SERVICE RESTORED
 
We've discovered that many of our users are not able to login to the ATLAS for Alums database just now.

There is a fault in the EBSCO platform – we have a service request in and we’re waiting for them to respond.  Please be patient for a bit, and we'll post more info here as it becomes available. 

Paula

Normal schedule today

The Richmond campus of UPSem will be open on a normal schedule today despite the bad weather.  Please be VERY careful walking around the campus, especially on the steps of the Library.  There may be some spots that are icy and slick.

System maintenance 12:00 noon today

To correct an issue with our online catalog, we will perform a restart today at noon.  The Library catalog will be offline for about twenty minutes, 12:00 - 12:20 pm. 

Delayed opening Tuesday 4 March

The Richmond campus of UPSem will open on a two-hour delay on Tuesday, 4 March 2014.  The Library will open at 10:30 am.

CLOSED MONDAY 3 MARCH

The Richmond campus of UPSem will be closed on Monday, 3 March 2014, due to expected severe weather. 

Library mobile site is down

We have discovered that our mobile site service provider, Bluehost, has suffered a "denial of service" attack.  This means that their servers are temporarily out of action and their maintenance team will have to deal with the issue.

We apologize for the failure of the mobile site.  You will discover that our ILL form and the "Suggest a Title" form are also out of order, because they reside on the Bluehost servers as well.

UPDATE : the site is back!

Paula

"Suggest a Title" -- new catalog feature

We have added a new feature to our UPSem Libraries catalog.  It's a form that enables you to recommend books or media items you'd like to see us purchase.  We often hear about valuable works this way, from readers and patrons who make suggestions.

On our Library catalog, look in the upper right corner for the Suggest-a-Title link.  If you click on that link, you'll get a simple form that will go to our cataloging and acquisitions librarian, Irina Topping.

Delayed opening Friday

The Richmond campus of UPSem will open on a two-hour delay on Friday, 14 Feb 2014.  The Library will open at 10:30 am.

CLOSED THURSDAY

The Richmond campus of UPSem will be closed on Thursday, 13 February, due to an expected winter storm. 

New exhibit in the Library

Yes, it's time to think ahead to Sprunts!!  If you're an alum of UTS, Union-PSCE, PSCE or UPSem, please consider coming here for your reunion!  If you graduated in a year ending with 9 or 4, this might be your fifth, tenth, fifteenth or twentieth reunion.  It's fun for us to see our graduates return to campus and have a great time during this special annual event.

We have just installed a new exhibit at the Morton Library to help people anticipate the Sprunt Lectures, which will be presented this year by our own distinguished emeritus professor, Dean McBride.  Dr. McBride's contributions to Union Seminary have been exceptional ... those who experienced his presence as a student or a colleague will rejoice to honor him at this event, and to hear what he has to say.

Dr. McBride will be addressing the emergence of an issue that has occupied Western theological discourse since Hellenistic antiquity.  Is the God who is self-disclosed by name in Jewish and Christian scriptures identical with the anonymous, all-encompassing "One God" of Greco-Roman philosophical theology?  The title of the lecture series is "The Name Above All Others : Denominating Divine Providence and Presence in Biblical Traditions."

The preacher at this year's worship services will be Agnes Norfleet, another accomplished alum, the pastor of the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church.  And the former President of PSCE, Heath Rada, will be honored as 2014's Distinguished Alum.

Please enjoy the exhibit as you pass through the Library's main entrance.  And plan to join us for Sprunts in May!

Paula

Delayed opening Thursday

On Thursday, January 30th, the Richmond campus of Union Seminary will open on a two-hour delay.  The campus will be open by 10:30 am.

CLOSED WEDNESDAY

On Wednesday, January 29th, the Union Seminary campus in Richmond will be closed due to inclement weather.

New books from our creative people !

We'd like to call your attention to some exciting book news involving several members of the UPSem community.

Dave Csinos (Th.M, 2010) published a new book last year which has been selected as "Best Book About Children's Ministry for 2013" by Hearts and Minds Books.  It's called Children's Ministry in the Way of Jesus  (IVP/Praxis).

Marilyn Johns (MACE, 1994), Director of Program Development in UPSem's Leadership Institute, has published Where Everybody Knows Your Name : Best Practices in the Small Church (VPS Press).

Andrew Taylor-Troutman (M.Div. 2009) has a forthcoming book, Parables of Parenthood : Interpreting the Gospels with Family (Wipf and Stock).  We'll feature this on our Library homepage as soon as we get a cover image.

It's wonderful that our alums and staff are doing so much to support congregations, children and families in their Christian life together.

Paula