Library System Update

Library System Update

Thursday, January 18, 2024

The Coppenger Library has begun a major project to transition our Integrated Library System (ILS) to new software. This new system, once fully implemented, will result in improved library services for our seminary community. However, throughout this process, there will be some disruptions to library services. We desire to ensure that you have the library resources you need when you need them, so to aid during this time of transition, we are informing you of some key dates in the project and how they may affect you as a library user. Below is the most up-to-date timeline of what to expect.

  • CURRENT: Prospector borrowing and lending has been suspended indefinitely. No new Prospector requests will be fulfilled, and current checkouts must be returned to lending libraries by their respective due dates. MOBIUS hopes to reinstate Prospector borrowing and lending in the future.
  • Friday, March 8: Final day for Interlibrary Loan (ILL) requests for print books. All returnable ILL items must be checked in by this date. No new print-book ILL requests can be processed until the transition is completed. Scan requests for items owned by Midwestern will continue to be fulfilled through ILL as usual. Article requests will continue to be fulfilled through ILL as usual. We encourage users who need to receive print books through ILL after this date to pursue print-book ILL services with their local public libraries and/or guest privileges at nearby academic libraries.
  • Thursday, April 18: Final day for MOBIUS borrowing and lending. No new MOBIUS requests can be processed, and the MOBIUS/Classic catalogs will be permanently inaccessible. All future access to the library catalog will be incorporated through the Joshua search function.
  • Friday, April 19, through Tuesday, April 23: MOBIUS/EBSCO engineers construct the new library catalog for Midwestern. During this period, you may experience some interruptions or incomplete search results when using the Joshua search function.
  • Friday, May 3: FINAL DAY TO CHECK OUT PRINT BOOKS. No new checkouts can be made until the transition is completed. All current checkouts for faculty and returning students will be extended to August 16. Please check out any books that you need for the summer before Friday, May 3, as the project completion date is subject to change.
  • Monday, May 22: Expected completion of transition to new ILS. Library services are anticipated to return to normal operations.

We appreciate your patience throughout this process as we transition to our new ILS. While we understand the disruptions outlined above are inconvenient, we hope that informing you of key dates will help ensure that you do not find yourself in a position of being unable to access the library resources you need.

Please note that as the ILS transition is ongoing and relies on personnel from other organizations, key dates and disruptions to services are subject to change. Therefore, we ask that you please check the library’s ILS transition update page regularly. If you have any questions about the ILS transition and its effects on library services, please contact Dr. Millsap (mmillsap@mbts.edu) or Chris Vaughn (cvaughn@mbts.edu).

Mrs. Judy Howie Retires after 25 Years of Service

Mrs. Judy Howie Retires after 25 Years of Service

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

After 25 years of service to the Seminary and Library, Mrs. Judy Howie will be retiring in June.

Judy Howie is a native of Monroe, Louisiana. She met her husband, David, while at Northeast Louisiana State University where she earned her BA degree in Elementary Education. After graduation, she taught the visually impaired for all students of the Baton Rouge Parish in Louisiana. She was also the Resource teacher for Rayville Junior High School in Rayville, Louisiana, and for the West Louisiana Parish.

The family moved to Kansas City in 1992 so David could attend Midwestern. He served as a bi-vocational pastor before, during, and after his graduation. Most of this time he served as pastor at Greenton Baptist Church in Odessa, Missouri. Judy sang in the choir and taught women’s Bible studies.

When arriving in Kansas City, Judy first became active in the student wives’ group on the Midwestern campus. She also joined Midwestern Singers at that time and continues to sing with the Voices of Midwestern today. She volunteered in the library which led to a part-time job as a library assistant and then in 1997, a full-time position as Reference Librarian. She earned her Master’s degree in Library and Information Science at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2003 while working full-time at the library. Seeing a need to better assist Midwestern students, she took two years each of Greek and Hebrew. In her position as Reference Librarian, she helped many students with their research projects and was also responsible for interlibrary loans. As staffing changed in the last ten years, she also served as interim library director in the last half of 2014.

Judy has always believed in the importance of education. She further demonstrated that by earning her Master of Theological Studies degree from Midwestern in 2021. She is retiring this June after twenty-five years of faithful service at Midwestern. She and David are moving back to Louisiana this summer.

MBTS Library Wins ACL Award for Excellence in Innovation

MBTS Library Wins ACL Award for Excellence in Innovation

Friday, December 31, 2021 Chris Vaughn

The inaugural 2021 Award for Excellence in Innovation is awarded to Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary library staff for the creation of an online version of their library instruction sessions previously only available for in-person doctoral students. In a six-month time span, they developed an online course through Canvas LMS for all students (undergraduate, masters, doctoral) and faculty that is self-paced, with small lessons while simultaneously completing a total library renovation. The course also reaches Korean and Spanish-speaking students through translation and subtitles. Collaboration with the Online Studies department was helpful in converting their session into an easy-to-follow course. As a result, no additional time is required for their librarians to offer more in-person sessions and it has exponentially increased the number of students and faculty that can access the library instruction course.  Advantageously, the first course was launched a few weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic caused the shut down of in-person classes.

  • There are 4,005 enrolled in the course with over 20,252 lessons viewed since July 2020. (Previously, only two in-person sessions were conducted with a total of 60 students in attendance.)  
  • The project directly fulfills the library’s mission of supporting the seminary’s curriculum and research projects.
  • The course will continue to be offered on Canvas LMS with a review of course contents each semester, updating lessons and videos as necessary.

 

Link to award announcement: http://www.acl.org/index.cfm/about-acl/recognitions/acl-award-for-excellence-in-innovation/