Luther Seminary Library

Maxims to the Max

I've just begun reading Mary George's Elements of Library Research: What Every Student Needs to Know (Princeton University Press, 2008), but in my thus far brief acquaintance I have discovered and enjoyed perusing the author's compilation of home grown snippets of advice which she intersperses throughout the text.  Mary's Maxims, as she calls them, are distilled bits of wisdom about the research process intended to reduce anxiety and increase enjoyment.  Here are several I particularly like:

+ Expect complexity
+ Don't settle for what's handy
+ Taking time will save time
+ One good thing will lead to another
+ When in doubt, document
+ Verify, verify, verify
+ If at first you don't succeed, read the research tips

To the last I would add, "or ask a library staff person for a little help."  Like proverbs everywhere, these maxims and others (she has 16 in all) point to some fundamental truths about research that, if taken to heart, will most certainly maxim-ize results achieved and satisfaction therein.

Bruce Eldevik

A TIME TO LAUGH!

I was watching an Adam Sandler movie ("Bedtime Stories") with my youngest daughter the other night, and there's one scene where the Sandler character is supposed to be reading a story to the two children of his way-too-earnest-and-sanctimonious sister.

The only two story books he can find in their bedroom are Rainbow Alligator Saves the Wetlands and Organic Squirrel Gets a Bike Helmet. 

Hah! It did us a world of good to laugh so hard, and I think (it never pays to analyze these things too closely) what made it so funny was the scene's tension between earnestness and absurdity. Which is something we need when studying a subject like theology: our study takes us, it is true, into deep subjects, but nobody benefits if our endeavors leave us humorless, ponderous, and blasé, cheerless casualties of our own scholarship. The end of the semester, with all its attendant deadlines and demands, is a very good time to keep the lighter side of things in view.

One little-known fact about the library's excellent collection is this: if you do a keyword search in MARTIN (the library's web catalog) using the single word "humor," you will get a list of 125 results. That speaks well of the people who have selected items over the years, don't you think? Examples: Zwingli's Humor, And the Laugh Shall Be First: A Treasury of Religious Humor, Jokes of Sigmund Freud (who knew?), Saints, Demons, and Asses: Southern Preacher Jokes, and many, many more.

Enjoy!

 

Doing a 360

A few months ago the library engaged the services of a link resolver.  No, it's not that we had to hire an outside person to help us with work-related interpersonal problems.  Much better!  A link resolver is a software protocol that establishes a link between a bibliographic citation, typically a journal or newspaper article, and the full text of the article from another source, typically a different database that contains full text content.  In most cases the link resolver places a button next to the citation.  Clicking the button takes the researcher to an intermediate screen which indicates whether the complete article is available online and, if so, another link to get there.  Our link resolver is called "360 Link" and its button looks like this--

So, what's the big deal, you say?  If I'm searching the ATLA database, I've always been able to go to the online text of the article if the "View Full Text" link is there.  True, but the 360 Link gives you the potential capability of linking to the text of an article online even if it is not carried by the ATLA database, significantly extending your reach for getting to the content you are looking for from another database subscribed to by the library.

In concrete terms, perhaps you come across a citation to what looks to be a very helpful article in the New York Times while searching in the Academic Search Premier database.  ASP does not provide full text access to the articles in the Times, BUT by clicking the 360 Link button you quickly see that there is a link to the article via another database we carry, ProQuest Newsstand Complete.  One more click and the article itself is at your disposal.

Thus, when next you find yourself searching in one of the library's main databases, think about doing a 360.  It's a small but powerful tool that can make getting your hands on the content you need that much easier and faster.

Bruce Eldevik

A Noble Task

The Library beyond Term Papers

As we enter the final stage of the semester, many of you, in between work on final projects, may be looking toward graduation and your future work. Others may be going on internships next year, or otherwise thinking about service in churches or elsewhere. All the buzz about these future activities got me thinking about what the library can offer to you as you prepare to engage in these "noble tasks," to use part of the title of a recently translated history of entry into the clergy by Lewis Patsavos (BV 664.P37).

There are many books in the BV 600's are that have information and suggestions for almost every conceivable aspect of entrance into the clergy, and the BV 4000's contain many practical resources for ministers. You can also try searching by subject using "Clergy" as a starting point. A few of the recent titles are listed below, but there are many more that you may find useful. 

A fact you may not know about our library is that we serve a great number of clergy and full-time church workers in the area, as well as mailing borrowed books out to Lutheran clergy across the country.  So, if you get in a tight spot out there, don't forget there might be someone who's been there before, whether that be a person in your life or church context, or someone who has written a library book about the experience.

You Might Also Try...

Some of you may also be considering activities for your spare time once the semester is over. If you want to combine gaming with preparation for ministry, you might consider becoming a warrior priest. From the description of these fearsome persons in the Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning guide:

Warrior Priest Specialty
 For the Warrior Priest, faith is life […] With sufficient Righteous Fury, the divine power invested in their righteous litanies and sermons is extended beyond their immediate circle of Righteous Fury to all those who can hear their words.

 

Back to the real world, here is a list of new titles that may be of interest.

--Will, Acquisitions

	The pastor as minor poet : texts and subtexts in the ministerial life / M. Craig Barnes. BV4014 .B276
	Insights from the underside : an intergenerational conversation of ministers / edited by Neal D. Presa. BV660.2 .I574
	Travelers on the journey : pastors talk about their lives and commitments / Mark D. Constantine. BV4014 .C66
	Surviving your first year as pastor : what seminary couldn't teach you / Angie Best-Boss. BV652 .B47
	Letters to new pastors / Michael Jinkins. BV660.3 .J56

Defining Luther Seminary Library

In high school I was asked to come up with a list of words that describe who I am.  I don’t remember the list today, but it probably read (uncontroversially) something like the following: female, Caucasian, observant.  In thinking about this idea over the past week, I’ve attempted to identify a few more words that get at the very core of my being.  If I was born on the other side of the globe, would those traits still describe me?  The pleasure (or displeasure) of this exercise can depend upon the stage of life one is in, or even the mood du jour, but I think it can help center thoughts and actions the way a mission statement does for an organization.

My thoughts have also wandered to what words might describe a library, specifically Luther’s library.  The building?  I don’t think this is essential to the library’s essence since buildings come and go (some more swiftly than others).  The books?  Getting closer, but what about the internet and the prominent place digital resources hold?  What books represent is organized information, which is very central to the library.  What makes a library a library is its capacity to not only hold books and provide journal articles, but to make those items findable and usable.  That’s why Google is not called a library, and I think in the year 3000, when we are living on other planets, a library will still be a collection of organized information, in whatever means that information is presented (paper, pdf, or brainwaves). 

This simple exercise invites one person or one organization to focus on the central aspects of its existence, leading to a more focused life or mission.  In times of budget deficits and ever-increasing tools for research, study, and reading that are competing for library users’ attention, a mission statement driven from the steadfast qualities of the library will help guide decisions, focus staff energies, and hopefully ensure stability in the 21^st century and beyond.

What other words would you use to describe Luther’s library?  A few more ideas: community center, research assistance services, study space, research collection.

-Sophie Schottler, Luther Seminary Practicum Student

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

Academia (and honor) demands that every student and researcher who uses the work of another tell us about it, and include enough information so anyone who is interested can find it. Citations vary a little with format (book, article, personal interview, online database) but cover the basics: Who created it, What is it called? Where it was published? Who published it? When was it published?

"Demonstrating that you have read what the experts have to say gives weight to your work. It also allows your instructor to look at the sources you used to further their understanding of the topic, as well as to evaluate your understanding of it." This is from the University of Georgia's web pages on academic research: http://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/unit08/index.phtml

Whether you are writing a very basic paper or plugging along on your thesis, preparing an article or book for publication, the skill of citing properly can be mastered:

• Learn on your own (see Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers or the Chicago Manual of Style)
• The SBL Handbook of Style may help you through a tricky citation if you are working in Biblical or Early Christian studies.
• Databases now have citation information in the abstract area of your article. Look for "How to Cite this item" or similar text.
• Facebook has a widget that you can add to your profile. http://apps.facebook.com/citemeapp/ It was created by OCLC (the library giant that brings you WorldCat). I put it on my Facebook page and like the 5 style options it gives me: APA, Chicago (author-date), Harvard, MLA, and Turabian.
• Go directly to WorldCat and build your citations for your bibliography there.
• Learn how to use EndNote. Luther Seminary has a campus-wide site license for this great software. It is worth learning how to use if you are writing a thesis or some long papers with lots of footnotes.

Ask the library staff for help if you have a particularly tricky citation. Let us know if a workshop would be helpful.
—Jennie Bartholomew, Electronic Services Librarian

An Unusual Milestone

There are all kinds of ways of marking events and transitions in the life of a library.What might immediately come to mind are occasions such as retirements of longtime staff, the addition of a "milestone" item (the hundred-thousandth book, etc.), or the dedication of a new library building.

Busy as things are, no events fitting these categories have occurred recently at our library. But something more distinctive and therefore well worth noting certainly has: this past week we replaced our bookdrop.

If that's not a familiar term to you, you are likely in good company: a bookdrop is just one of those things that is always there, not really needing a name or label. But I'll also bet that the next time you enter the library's main entrance, you'll notice something different right away. The bookdrop is the big metal box provided for you and others to return library items (mostly books and DVDs) when you are done with them.

Here to the left is an example: a functional, stainless steel receptacle.

What I'm noting here is that, with considerable help from you (the library users) and the notorious Minnesota weather,
we wore one of these things out, completely.

Rusty, broken, cumbersome to use and no longer a healthy place for books and other resources, the venerable orange unit had to be decomissioned, hauled away to the junkpile, and replaced by something shinier and more attractive. (Manufactured in St. Cloud!)

Big deal?

Here's why I think so: wouldn't it be interesting to know how many books passed through the old rustbucket-of-a-bookdrop over its lifespan at Luther? Think for a just a moment about all the assignments due, sermons prepared; all the sources – read, skimmed, never-gotten-to-in-spite-of-good-intentions – dropped off here after use. This whole process of our "conversation" with the voices of the past and present, is fostered in such a profound way by our interactions with books and other resources, and in its own humble, silent way, the bookdrop is part of the equipment that helps make that exchange possible.

So long, old bookdrop, hello shiny new one: we'll lay on a more public celebration sometime soon!

DRS

 

“The Day of the Elves is Over”

One of the most touching themes in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is that of the passing of the elves and elvish ways from Middle Earth, giving way to the age of men and orcs and their battle for supremacy. By the end of the trilogy most readers have become thoroughly charmed by this honorable and graceful race of creatures. Their reluctant but noble acquiescence to the inevitable environmental shift in what had been their home gives a sad, elegiac overtone to the story.

No wonder thoughts of elves have come to mind as we have been putting together our next noontime forum (Wednesday, March 18, GH103. Watch for email announcements) devoted to finding and linking to full-text content of journal literature online. Subscriptions to print journals, magazines, and newspapers have been a major component of library collections for more than a century. It has taken work to build, title by title, issue by issue, our collection of journals, but the result has been the amassing of a huge amount of scholarship, opinion, and creative thought in the shorter forms of articles, letters, and reviews.

Now, however, given the enormous popularity of access with the click of a mouse to many of these same articles and reviews, we are left to wonder about the ultimate fate of this genus and species of print publication. So even as we are getting ready to show even more ways to find the full text of journal content online, we are sensing a slow but inexorable march off the stage where these sometimes cantankerous, sometimes elegant, but always interesting publications have played their part.

--Bruce Eldevik

Besa

Taking a moment to reflect during Lent often reminds me of the blessing of forgiveness, atonement, and simply making amends with those around me. We have recently received a number of titles that relate to these topics, but even beyond an academic discussion, there was one book that really struck me as I was receiving it, entitled Besa : Muslims who saved Jews in World War II by Norman H. Gershman (D804.65 .G476). The publisher's description includes the following:

"The tradition of besa--keeping one's word--is so deeply rooted among Albanians that when they committed themselves to saving the lives of Jews during World War II, they did so despite the danger they put themselves in. It is because of the courage and conscience of the mostly Muslim Albanians that the country's 2,000 Jews survived the Holocaust."

It is inspiring and comforting to know that, in the midst of suffering, during the low moments of history, we can be reminded of the power of something as simple as "besa," and may reflect in turn on the many good promises of our Lord.

Here are some other new titles on the general topic.

 

As we forgive [videorecording] / produced and directed by Laura Waters Hinson ; in association with Different Drummer. , Widescreen format. [Washington, D.C.] : Image Bearer Pictures, c2008. Ask at Circulation Desk DT450.44 .A82 DVD

Forgiveness [videorecording] / Jeremy Nathan & Joel Phiri present ; a dv/8 film ; in association with National Film and Video Foundation ... [et al.] ; in co-production with Film i Väst ; a Giant Films production ; directed by Ian Gabriel ; written by G, Standard format. [San Francisco, Calif.] : California Newsreel, c2005. Ask at Circulation Desk PN1997.2 .F67 DVD

McCullough, Michael E. Beyond revenge : the evolution of the forgiveness instinct / Michael E. McCullough. , 1st ed. San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass, c2008.   BF637.R48 M238

Radzik, Linda, 1970- Making amends : atonement in morality, law, and politics / Linda Radzik. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2009.   BJ1451 .R32

Deepening faith, hope and love in relations with neighbors of other faiths / Simone Sinn, editor. Geneva : Lutheran World Federation, c2008.   BL410 .D436

Bridges instead of walls : Christian-Muslim interaction in Denmark, Indonesia and Nigeria / Lissi Rasmussen, editor. Minneapolis, Minn. : Lutheran University Press, c2007.   BP172 .B74

 

Ministry During a Recession

While the winter blues are a yearly occurrence, another source of "the blues" is affecting more and more people as the winter relentlessly continues. The troubled economy is unavoidable as citizens are losing jobs and homes and political discussion centers around stimulus packages and bank bailouts. As persons providing spiritual guidance, it is important to know that you have resources available to help parishioners, friends, or even yourself get through these hard times.

The Luther Seminary Library has many options to help you along during these times of economic crisis. For books on counseling individuals, you can browse the BV4012.2 section of the stacks. One useful title here is Money Problems and Pastoral Care by Paul G. Schurman. Although written in 1982, Schurman's concrete examples provide clergy ways of counseling as well as ways of managing their own personal or parish finances.

Concerned about the money (or lack thereof) you're earning from your job? You might be interested in the BV4397 section of the stacks in which you will find more books on how to manage on a clergy's salary. Dan Hotchkiss' Ministry and Money: A Guide for Clergy and Their Friends is a good example of what you can find in this section. Get tools, strategies, and inspiration to deal with financial concerns to help both individuals and congregations.

Are you interested in historical perspectives of economic hardships within churches? There are some interesting books from the 1930s in the section BR115.E3 to remind you that another generation survived something similar to what we are experiencing today. The Church and the Economic Debacle by N. Astrup Larsen provides an interesting local look back, while The Churches and Present-day Economic Problems from the Conference of Christian Social Workers in London in 1930 provides an international flavor.

In addition, BR115.E3 offers general books on Christianity and economics. Examples include Economic Anxiety and Christian Faith by Larry Rasmussen and Is the Market Moral?: A Dialogue on Religion, Economics & Justice by R.M. Blank and W. McGurn.

For more up to date information, be sure to check out www.workingpreacher.org which features resources for preachers. The entry titled "Preaching in Times of Economic Crisis" posted on January 13, 2009, is written by Luther Seminary's own David Lose, Marbury E. Anderson Biblical Preaching Chair. Finally, don't forget to take a look in Academic Search Premier and ATLA-R for journal articles on the topic.

And of course, if you just want to escape in a good book, you can't go wrong with Hard Times by Charles Dickens. Although Luther doesn't own a copy, you can get it for free via netlibrary.com. H