BETH Bulletin: European Theological Librarianship

Incoming

Hanne Storm Ofteland — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0200

As Chief Librarian at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society, I am very interested in collaborating with other
theological libraries, both on a national and an international level. Those interested in hearing more about my particular workplace are welcome to read my conference paper, 'Looking into the crystal ball,' which I presented, together with my colleague Senior Librarian Rune Keisuke Kosaka, in Rolduc last autumn. Hence I will not give further background here. Instead, let me use this space to give a brief introduction to myself and my presidency.

From the Departing Vice-President

Matti Myllykoski — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

My first BETH meeting was in Nice, back in 2010. My institution, the Theology Library at the University of Helsinki, had joined BETH but soon after that it ceased to exist, becoming part of the central Helsinki University Library. Since 2012, my new job in the brand-new Kaisa house has had nothing to do with the acquisition of theological materials. After the integration of nineteen faculty libraries, both large and small, the Helsinki University Library became, little by little, step by step, a great digital library trying to satisfy the needs of tens of thousands of users. We still have our collections of printed books, but the future belongs to the digital library with its great variety of connections to all available knowledge and research. Clearly, my institution is now quite different to how it was back in 2010. But BETH has also changed significantly in these years.

From the Departing BETH Representative

Rev. Dr. Penelope R. Hall — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Shortly after I joined ABTAPL, I discovered, at one of the general meetings, that the British Association was a member of the Le Conseil International des Associations de Bibliothèques de Théologie and that they needed someone who spoke both French and German to represent ABTAPL at a Conseil meeting. As I met this prerequisite and was willing to go, I was appointed as the ABTAPL representative to the Conseil. This was the beginning of a very interesting and challenging part of my life...

Invitation to Feast

Hannah L.M. Garrison — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Quiet Day, June 2022

Helen Steffens — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The Old Bodleian Library Door

Grace Jeon — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Editors' Preface

Hannie Riley, Jussi Hyvärinen — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

In September 2022, BETH celebrated its 50th anniversary in Rolduc, the Netherlands. Having been the cooperative organisation of European theological libraries for five decades was something to celebrate. The jubilee seminar was held in the historic monastic milieu of Rolduc Abbey, where attendees heard many interesting presentations about the future of theological libraries and theological librarianship. At the General Meeting, members accepted a proposal to publish a new BETH Yearbook which would include, among other topics, articles based on the presentations delivered at the conference. We two Board members – Jussi Hyvärinen and Hannie Riley – were elected editors. Since the word ‘yearbook’ sounds perhaps unnecessarily staid and official, the board later decided to call this publication the ‘BETH Bulletin’.

Mission in the Age of Digitalisation

Guichun Jun — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

We are living in a transitional period where the metaverse is expected to shape our future in all aspects of our lives. In particular, the metaverse and other relevant computing technologies have already led us into a new era of Christian mission. There is no doubt that the metaverse is a significant mission field for the next generation. Churches and mission agencies need to recognise the urgency of developing practical strategies and methods for mission in the metaverse. However, it is equally vital for them to realise some of the negative trends manifested in the metaverse, which need attention from cultural, social, and theological perspectives in order to consider missional approaches to deal with the underlying thoughts underpinning the trends.

Put a Ring on It

Hannie Riley — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

There are many ways to increase the stream of users coming through the library doors: high-tech equipment, top-notch buildings, airy spaces with lots of natural light, comfortable study spaces, high quality yet easily accessible digital resources, all kinds of useful books, historically valuable materials, widening access policies, long opening hours including weekends, active online presence, numerous helpful and capable staff, interesting programmes, useful training, wonderful events and exhibitions, café(s) serving delicious food and drink, and so on. The list is endless. This sort of high-quality library service provision can definitely increase user satisfaction and numbers. However, in this article my focus is on library users themselves. Rather than looking at what we can provide and do for them, I would like to concentrate on users and how to build relationships with them.

Looking into the Crystal Ball

Hanne Storm Ofteland, Rune Keisuke Kosaka — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The MF Library is a theological library, but first and foremost a HE library, and as such we need to take into consideration all the rules and regulations that apply to this sector. As our institution is broadening its scope, now providing both teachers’ education as well as studies in social sciences, the development of the library’s collections are also subject to change.

From Collections to Connections

Jussi Hyvärinen, Matti Myllykoski — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

At some universities, the theology libraries have undergone dramatic changes in past decades. They are no more independent units holding collections that consist of printed books. Instead, these libraries have ceased to exist, and they have become an integral part of modern university libraries whose collections have become more and more digital, informing their clients about globally accessible open access publications and cultural heritage digitized all over the world. While clear-cut collections have ceased to exist, these libraries have become new spaces of learning, in which scholars, teachers, and students are connected by all kinds of means to all kinds of information. The university libraries in Helsinki and Joensuu are good examples of this development.

Dreams to ignite the Spirit

Ágnes Bálint, Kornélia Mészáros — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Hungary may be counted among the European countries where ecclesiastical presence was long and well established through social, educational, medical, and liturgical institutions. The two world wars and their aftermath left an unfortunate mark on this heritage. Considerable institutions and collections fell outside of the political borders of the defeated country, others fell prey to hostile internal political forces. The fifty years of communist regime which aimed a total eradication of faith-based institutions and civilians serve as an explanation to the state of the existing ecclesiastical heritage, libraries included. However, thirty years have passed since the change of that regime, and in another twenty we will reach exactly the same amount of time. Will libraries bridge the time gap and be as contemporary as they used to be before WW2? What role has the Hungarian Association played in achieving this global restorative aim? Contemporaneity will mainly be understood in terms of our mastering the ecclesiastical heritage, our online availability, our online services. We vision that 50% of our staff will belong to the born-digital generations, with a higher percentage among our patrons. Our strategic working group has formulated 8 strategic goals to achieve this aim of contemporaneity. 1. to regain ownership over confiscated library collections as completely as possible in all cases of restitutions, and achieve a 98% completeness of electronic cataloguing of existing collections; 2. to establish digitalization centres, work out harmonized digitalization plans according to the different denominations represented in the Hungarian Association; 3. to establish repositories in member libraries that are able to preserve content, and allow metadata harvesting into UNITAS, the existing union catalogue of our association; 4. to bridge the gap between digitalization and digital preservation of digitally born items, mainly journal articles, but possibly book editions as well; 5. to elaborate the principles and practice of acquisition harmonization among libraries; 6. to create, maintain and cherish a work ethic based on knowledge sharing and management through transforming existing theoretical, practical and tacit knowledge into library and best practice courses (while maintaining the present practice of „neighbouring” that is a form of exchange of experience based on in person visiting of ecclesiastical and state libraries); 7. to advocate for a better social appreciation of our profession and activities; 8. to provide library spaces and an excellent IT background for a distinguished online and offline user experience.

Legacies of Enslavement Inquiry and Exhibition at Queens’ College, Cambridge

Tim Eggington — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The University of Cambridge Legacies of Enslavement inquiry was instigated in 2019, in the wake of growing public interest in the issue of British universities’ historical links to enslavement. Yet this story of enslavement could not be told without input from the university’s colleges. It was partly with that in mind that a subsequent Queens’ Governing Body meeting invited the college’s librarian and historians to conduct an inquiry into Queens’ College’s legacies of enslavement.
Following much discussion between students and fellows, it was agreed that all interested Queens’ members would participate in a wide-ranging project to examine the biographies of as many eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Queens’ members as possible. Given that it was not until the lockdown in March 2020 that work began, the library team drew up guidelines so that students, fellows, and librarians could do the research from home. Researchers picked names from the Cambridge Alumni Database, researched them on UCL’s Legacies of British Slavery database, and many other similar resources, and entered their findings onto a shared Google Docs spreadsheet. By Autumn 2020, a coherent picture was emerging, and the library pressed ahead with its planned ‘Legacies of Enslavement’ exhibition, whilst continuing with archival and biographical enslavement research.

Project Omboeken

Michèle Meijer — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Like many other libraries, the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam faces the challenge of dealing with a large but very little used print collection. In 2021, we started the project Omboeken (“Re:book”) in order to repurpose our print collection in innovative ways. In my paper, I will outline several approaches and illustrate how print collections can contribute to fostering community building and knowledge creation in a 21st-century library. To discover the different values and potentialities of our print books, we divided them into four categories: 1) rare books, 2) books for research and teaching, 3) books for inspiration and 4) books for artistic endeavors and social activities. One of the issues I discuss in the paper are the challenges we faced so far in formulating and applying criteria for these categories.
The core working material of the project consists of books from categories 3 and 4. For the selection of books for inspiration, we curate “inspiration libraries” based on the Sustainable Development Goals. In this way, we make VU research themes visible and foster interdisciplinary knowledge creation. We also aim to make visible how research from theology and other humanities fields contributes to societal issues. I will give examples of inspiration libraries that we created so far. Finally, I will discuss a case study pertaining to the last category, books that lost their informational value due to their online availability or outdated content but still have value as objects. One of the goals of the project is to explore the value of books on campus in the form of artworks. I will present the “Pantheon”, an artwork created with books that aims to create a campus environment that fosters creativity and a research mindset.

The Scientific Library of Volyn Orthodox Theological Academy

Vladyslav Fulmes — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The Volyn Orthodox Theological Academy (VOTA) (Lutsk, Ukraine) is an accredited institution of higher spiritual education of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which prepares various types of people – future pastors of the Church of Christ, precentors of the church choir, employees of eparchial institutions and missions, specialists in the field, and those at different levels of church service and public positions related to educational, research, cultural, and administrative-consultative work – with deep knowledge of Christian doctrine, church-historical, religious and social processes, and phenomena.

The Oxford Scriptorium

Jessica Woodward — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Pusey House Library is a reference library in the centre of Oxford, UK. It forms part of Pusey House, an independent institution founded in 1884 to keep alive the theological legacy of Oxford Movement leader Dr Edward Bouverie-Pusey (1800-1882). Pusey House offers Anglo-Catholic worship at its Chapel, while the Library and associated Archive are open to all researchers – university-affiliated or independent – who wish to learn about Anglo-Catholicism or simply to enjoy a peaceful, historic study space. The Library holds over 75,000 volumes, ranging from a 1475 incunable originally owned by Dr Pusey to newly published monographs. The specialisms of the collection remain true to Dr Pusey’s personal interests: church history, patristics, liturgy, and doctrinal theology.

Strahov Library - Theological Hall, Philosophical Hall

Evermod Gejza Šidlovský — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The Strahov Library is the library of the Royal Canonry of Premonstratensians in Strahov, Prague. Its beginnings go back to the middle of the 12th century, when the Strahov Monastery was founded, and since several original volumes from that period have been preserved, it can be stated that the history of the Strahov Library has been continuous since then, despite all the calamities and misfortunes of war. Over the centuries, the library has had to deal with adversity many times. The fire of the monastery in the 13thcentury, the escape of the convent during the Hussite wars, the looting of the library by the Swedes in 1648, and the temporary expropriation of the library by the communist state gives an overview of the biggest disasters in its almost nine hundred year history.

Atla Annual 2023

Hannie Riley — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Location: Hilton Forth Worth, Forth Worth, Texas, USA
Dates: 14th June - 17th June 2023

51st General Assembly of BETH 2023

Hannie Riley — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Location: Episcopal Palace, Cordoba, Spain
Dates: 30th September - 4th October 2023

All kinds of ecclesiastical institutions today are under pressure. Membership numbers are falling. Seminaries are facing fewer and fewer student numbers and are sometimes even forced to close, and monasteries are struggling with fewer and fewer vocations and are sometimes dissolved or merged with another monastery of the same order...

ABTAPL Spring Conference 2024

Hannie Riley — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Location: New College, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Dates: 21st March - 23rd March 2024