DTL2 Newsletter: Home

The DTL is turning 10!

The DTL began as a conversation in the fall of 2015 (the Global DTL, OADTL and DTL2 began over the next few years). As we celebrate our 10^th anniversary, we’re excited about what we have built together with this co-ownership model of librarianship. As employees, we are also a bit nostalgic. 

Many of the people who were deeply involved in building the DTL during our early, very formative years of the DTL have either retired or moved to new assignments. No doubt, many of you inherited membership in the DTL when you accepted your current job assignment. Therefore, we wanted to remind people that they read a little bit about the DTL’s history and mission on our webpage.

Article on DTL Workforce Now Available

Exciting news! The article that we have been discussing for several months now has finally been published. Our Executive Director, Dr. Thomas E. Phillips, and Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Drew Baker, have co-authored an open access article, titled Considering the HR Implications for a Work-at-Home Workforce.

Dr. Phillips and Dr. Baker contributed the article as part of a volume titled Management in Theological Libraries, about the implications of running a nonprofit with an entirely remote workforce. The article discusses careful considerations, personal experiences, and interesting insights on what it's like to supervise and lead an entirely remote staff. 

Click here to read the open access article! 

You can also purchase a copy from ATLA via Amazon by clicking here if you’d like to read a hard copy.

Meet the Staff - Annette Phillips

1. What is your role? Annette’s official title is Digitization Specialist, which includes digitizing priority books and processing them in conjunction with other members of DTL staff. Annette completes Internal ILL requests, including chapter and journal requests. So, when you request via Google Form for a PDF version of a chapter or article, Annette is the DTL staff member who fulfills that request. Annette also enters new journals into LibGuides in preparation for them to be scanned and recorded in OCLC.

2. When did you start at the DTL? Annette started working for the DTL in 2019 by scanning books. 

3. What are your responsibilities at the DTL? Annette has multiple responsibilities, such as fulfilling Internal ILL requests, digitizing priority books, and entering titles into LibGuides as part of the digitization process.

4. What is it like working for the DTL? Annette enjoys working for DTL because it provides her with flexibility to adjust her working hours to her new responsibilities as a grandmother to 16-month-old twins. Annette also appreciates the commute, which is unusually short (~10 feet). 

5. What is one of your hobbies? Annette’s favorite hobby is embroidery, which is her favorite pastime while she watches TV at night. Currently, she is working on a small bag with sea creatures on it for her granddaughter (one of the twins mentioned earlier). An honorable mention is feeding her birds, rabbits, and squirrels outside of the home. The birds provide a nice distraction every now and then from work when the digitizing process gets monotonous (Dee Kelle, who shares an office with Annette, agrees). 

6. What is the last non-academic book you've read? Annette likes to listen to audiobooks on Libby. She alternates between a few different genres to keep reading interesting, including mysteries and Amish fiction. 

7. Who is your favorite artist? Annette’s favorite artist of the moment is Jelly Roll because each of his songs has meaning.

We live for our mission!

The DTL is a nonprofit, mission-driven, organization, so from time to time, we like to remind everyone of the DTL’s mission and core values.

The DTL mission is to enable everyone to engage in self-critical reflection upon their own faith and in humble dialogue with those of other traditions. We fulfill this mission by providing access to curated library resources.

The DTL’s Core Values are

- Consistent Truthfulness in all its interactions with its members and vendors;

- Treatment of all people as we would wish to be treated;

- Respect for each school’s individual and unique mission;

- Regard for the stability and sustainability of the DTL;

- Commitment to co-ownership of the DTL & partnership for mutual advantage; &

- Desire for service beyond the narrow confines of the DTL membership.

Your Institutional Portal: Your Gateway to Essential DTL Information

Bookmark it. Use it. Keep your information current.

Your Institutional Portal (IP) page is designed to be your one-stop destination for key resources and information you need to manage your institution's DTL services efficiently. This centralized page puts critical information at your fingertips, including:

• Real-time database status pages 
• Invoice access
• ILL program descriptions and procedures (for DTL 1 Institutions)
• Acquisitions guidelines and links
• Authentication procedures
• Usage statistics

Why bookmark your portal? Instead of searching through emails or hunting down URLs, your Institutional Portal provides instant access to everything you need in one convenient location.

Forgot your login details? Don't let a forgotten URL or password slow you down. Simply email us, and we'll get you back on track immediately.

Keep your membership information current. Your portal includes a membership information form that's crucial for maintaining seamless communication. Please update this form whenever there are changes to key personnel or email addresses at your institution. This ensures we can reach the right person quickly when time-sensitive issues arise.

Important Copyright Rulings regarding AI

In late June, two very important rulings came out regarding AI and the use of copyrighted material. In both cases, local courts found that the defendants (Open AI and Meta, the parent company of Facebook) were allowed to train their AIs on copyrighted material without payment to the copyright holders. Both judges ruled that the training of an AI as “transformative” and “fair use” of copyrighted content. There were nuances to the cases (the material had to be “legally acquired” and owned, not licensed) and these judgements will undoubtedly be appealed (in the U.S., local “district” courts decisions are only binding upon the parties directly involved in the lawsuit). Still, these two precedents are very important. As a library, the DTL would have much more latitude under copyright law to train an AI than would for-profit companies. These rulings (and other forthcoming rulings) will help the DTL decide how to shape its own AI applications in the next few years.

Ebook Central Reader App

The Ebook Central Reader App is a new, dedicated mobile and desktop app designed for reading downloaded ebooks from the Ebook Central platform. It replaces Adobe Digital Editions as the primary offline reading solution, offering a streamlined, secure, and accessible experience for students and researchers. The app supports EPUB and PDF formats, allows users to manage their loans and devices, and is available on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.

Downloading the App: https://proquest.libguides.com/ebookcentral/appdownload

Video: https://videos.clarivate.com/watch/p3uotemSgEckwR7WDM7qew

Ebook central app FAQ: https://support.proquest.com/s/article/Ebook-Central-App-FAQ?language=en_US

Content Spotlight - Loeb Classical Library

The mission of the Loeb Classical Library, founded by James Loeb in 1911, has always been to place the written treasures of the Greek and Roman past within the reach of all interested readers. The digital Loeb Classical Library extends this mission into the twenty-first century. Harvard University Press is honored to renew James Loeb’s vision of accessibility, and presents an interconnected, fully searchable, perpetually growing, virtual library of all that is important in Greek and Latin literature.

Epic and lyric poetry; tragedy and comedy; satire and the novel; history, philosophy, and oratory; the great medical writers and mathematicians; those Church Fathers who made particular use of pagan culture—in short, our entire classical heritage is represented with up-to-date texts and accurate English translations. More than 550 volumes of Latin, Greek, and English texts are available in a modern and elegant interface, allowing readers to browse, search, bookmark, annotate, and share content with ease.

Meet the Staff - Scott Tirrell

Working at the DTL

1. What is your role? I serve as the Chief (and only) Financial Officer of the DTL

2. When did you start at the DTL? I started working with the DTL August 21, 2021. I knew Tom when I served as controller and later CFO of the Claremont School of Theology.

3. What are your responsibilities at the DTL? I oversee the financial operations of the organization, which involves preparing financial reports, membership billings, payroll, etc.  

4. What is it like working for the DTL? I enjoy serving in a supportive role, and to work with the caliber of staff which we have is a joy. There is not only high integrity from the Executive Director on down, but there is a true servant attitude to serve the membership institutions around the globe with a high quality, dependable product that enhances one's academic pursuits and hopefully one's walk with the Lord.

Fun Questions

1. Do you have any pets? I do not have any pets, but if I had one, it would be a tarantula, but my wife would disown me. 

2. What is one of your hobbies? I enjoy growing things - fruit trees, raspberries, plants, etc. My first degree was in forestry, so I enjoy seeing things grow.

3. What is the last non-academic book you've read? "If There is a God, Wouldn't You Want to Know Him?" by Gus Bess. It is an autobiography. It's an easy, but thought-provoking read.

4. What is your favorite food to make and/or eat? Hubbard squash. I know, I'm weird, but ask any New England-er, if there isn't any better squash than that.

5. Who is your favorite artist? I know this dates me, but it is Steve Green. 

A New AI-Generated Book Series by DTL Press

Did you know that a scholar can now create a high quality introductory textbook in an afternoon by using AI? Skeptical? Read this book. The DTL is excited to announce that its new press is establishing a series of AI generated textbooks for introductory theological classes. DTL staff can train a scholar to generate a brief introductory textbook (15,000 to 25,000 words) in less than a day and see the work published in multiple languages within a few weeks.

This series, Theological Essentials, wants to create introductory textbooks which are credible (created by scholars), affordable (Open Access) and accessible (immediately translated into multiple languages) on as many topics as possible. The vision is to provide Open Access introductory textbooks in Biblical, theological and practical studies for a global audience via AI generation and AI translating and to distribute those books to eager readers everywhere. If you know of scholars who would be interested in helping us with project, please have them contact us.

Library Power Hours

First of all, thank you to everyone who joined our first official Information Literacy Sessions/Library Power Hours. 

Second of all, if you aren't sure what a Library Power is, then the DTL is excited to announce Library Power Hours. Going forward, we will host two hour-long sessions every month. Every quarter, we will share specifics on how to access the DTL in a session that focuses on basic information literacy as relates to DTL content.

For the remaining power hours every month in between those sessions, we will host open office hours for you to join and ask questions about accessing the DTL. 

Stay Updated

To make sure you get an email about the next Library Power Hour, subscribe to our newsletter. We will send out emails to everyone who subscribes to our newsletters. So, if you got this newsletter, then you are already set up to get reminders of upcoming Library Power Hours. 

Previous Sessions

As mentioned above, we have already hosted two Library Power Hours. Click here to watch one of them. Enjoy!

DTL Staff Travel

The DTL staff work aggressively to promote the DTL and its libraries through presentations and exhibits at conferences around the country (and the globe).

In May and June, DTL staff will be present for:

- a (virtual) exhibit at the Catholic Library Association (April 24-25);

- an onsite exhibit at the Christian Leadership Alliance (April 29-May 1);

- an onsite exhibit at the Correctional Ministries and Chaplains Association conference (May 1-2); and

- an onsite exhibit at the Association of Christian Librarians (June 2-4).

If you participate in any of these events, stop by and chat with us.

Update to E-Reserves Procedures & Access

Due to recent decisions in the US court regarding copyright, the DTL administration and board have regarded it as wise to revise its e-reserve policies and practices in order to comply with a strict interpretation of fair use provisions for the academic use of copyrighted materials. Going forward, our policies will be:

1. To license any content that can be licensed (as we always have);

2. To create a digital backup (e-reserve) for copyrighted content which the DTL owns in print and which cannot be licensed;

3. Access via e-reserves will typically be intermediated through the DTL staff. When users click on content, they will be directed to a form which asks the user to request a portion of the work (specific articles or chapters, and NOT the entire work). The DTL will then email that specific portion of the work to the user. Users can make multiple requests for different portions of the work over time, but the DTL staff will not fulfill requests for an entire book or journal issue.  

4. Students with a documented learning disability (like low vision) can be provided with the entire work, but only when an official from their school (a librarian, professor, or administration) verifies that the student has a documented learning disability which requires this accommodation.

5. The DTL remains committed to providing our users with every resource that is needed to meet their academic needs. The DTL owns more than one million print items and is continuing to digitize content to increase access within the confines of copyright restrictions.

Meet the Staff: Fiona McMillan

1. What is your role? I am the Cataloging & Metadata Librarian.

2. When did you start at the DTL? As a student library worker and then a librarian at Claremont School of Theology, I was involved informally with the DTL in its early days, but I have formally worked for the DTL since 2020. When the DTL moved to San Diego, I remained in Claremont.

3. What are your responsibilities at the DTL? My work is now remote and digital. It involves keeping catalog records accurate and accessible and dealing with broken link reports. Finding and fixing errors is like being a detective. Sometimes open access links change URLs and links need updating, or new books need to be cataloged and added to the collection. Sometimes I scan some print materials that are to be added. I also help manage the materials in Dropbox and LibGuides.

4. What is it like working for the DTL? It is my dream job which combines librarianship with my academic background in comparative theology. The work is great fun and interesting and I find checking long Excel sheets to be relaxing and meditative. I have great colleagues, and it is a pleasure and privilege to work with them. It is also gratifying to help students and patrons access materials.

5. What is your favorite food to make and/or eat? I eat British, Levantine Arabic food and Indian curries. I prefer cooking from scratch with natural, fresh ingredients. Then I take long walks in the Botanical Gardens or Claremont Colleges grounds, or go to the gym.

Publications?

Are you looking for a publisher for a monograph or edited book? The DTL is establishing an Open Access press. We will soon begin publishing Open Access books in religious and theological studies. As an Open Access publisher, the works will be copyrighted, but the authors will agree to make the pdfs available to any reader without charge for personal use. (Users will not have the right to reproduce the works for profit or further distribution.) 

We will also make the print book available via Amazon. Interestingly, a considerable amount of research has shown that Open Access books (with free downloads) actually sell more print copies. If you have a manuscript or book proposal (monograph or edited) that you would like us to consider publishing, contact Tom (director@thedtl.org).

Internships at the DTL?

The DTL has a robust internship program (we have trained over 250 interns). We offer internships in digital resource management. Our internship program teaches students how to manage digital collection. 

Our internships are limited to people who are enrolled in a library program and who are doing the internships for academic credit. If you know someone in library school who is interested in an academic internship with the DTL, contact Ann Hidalgo (ahidalgo@thedtl.org).

Spanish Language Theology Text forthcoming

The DTL will be publishing a Spanish language version of Dr. Don Thorsen’s introductory theology text, What's True about Christianity? An Introduction to Christian Faith and Practice. Dr. Thorsen is a professor of theology at Azusa Pacific Theological Seminary and a leading Wesleyan theologian. He is making the book available as a free downloadable pdf without charge to end users. Look for the book to appear in early 2025. If you own the copyright to a book and are interested in creating a Spanish language translation for Open Access distribution (that is, without charge to end users), contact us (director@thedtl.org).

Meet the Staff: Dee Kelle

1. What is your role? Digitization Specialist

2. When did you start at the DTL? Dee started working for the DTL “officially” at the end of May in 2022, but she actually started scanning books in June.

3. What are your responsibilities at the DTL? Dee digitizes priority titles, which are the titles requested by students and faculty members at institutions in the DTL1 and DTL2. In addition, she (in addition to the other to people on our Digitization team) also digitizes all of the content you can find in our Electronic Reserves. So, when you read a scanned title on your device, Dee may have made that possible for you to read!

4. What is it like working for the DTL? Dee says that she enjoys working for the DTL because it’s fun to be surrounded by her coworkers and it’s relaxing to digitize books. She describes working for the DTL as “a nice job to have.”

5. What's one fun fact about yourself? Dee was senior homecoming queen (see attached picture to a newspaper clipping of her handing the crown to the next year’s homecoming queen).

Content Spotlight

Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus Online

J. F. Niermeyer's Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus is a highly practical lexicon, providing researchers, teaching staff and students in the field of Medieval History with concise, essential information. This new online edition, still the “compendious lexicon for rapid information” envisaged by Niermeyer, recreates the second print edition (2002) on Brill’s Dictionary Platform , providing French, English and German translations for every entry of a Medieval Latin concept and searches on lemma and full text: searches can be refined by century of use. All entries are contextualized with relevant text passages. The Niermeyer Lexicon Minus has proved to be invaluable to medievalists for almost 50 years and is an indispensable working tool for academic libraries.

The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek
The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek is the English translation of Franco Montanari’s Vocabolario della Lingua Greca. With an established reputation as the most important modern dictionary for Ancient Greek, it brings together 140,000 headwords taken from the literature, papyri, inscriptions and other sources of the archaic period up to the 6th Century CE, and occasionally beyond. The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek is an invaluable companion for the study of Classics and Ancient Greek, for beginning students and advanced scholars alike.

The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament Online

The third edition of Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner’s Hebrew dictionary ‘The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament’ is widely acclaimed as the most up-to-date dictionary for the Old Testament and related literature in classical Hebrew and Aramaic and is now available online. The study edition has proven to be a valuable resource for scholars and students. Combining scholarly thoroughness with easy accessibility, the dictionary meets the needs of a wide range of users. The enormous advances that have taken place in the field of Semitic linguistics since the days of the older dictionaries of Classical Hebrew are well documented and assessed, as well as the often detailed discussions in modern Bible commentaries of words where the meaning is particularly difficult. Full text search and possibility to find conjugated verb forms in the context of their roots is particularly helpful to the new student. Specialist users will find here a wealth of bibliographical information on Old Testament exegesis.

Serving Those Who Are Called to Serve

The DTL is planning to publish an edited volume, tentatively titled Serving Those Who Are Called to Serve: Reflections and Insights into the Mission, Theory, and Practice of Theological Education.

This book aims to share the collective wisdom of DTL community leaders for the benefit of theological educators and students alike. We are inviting presidents and deans from schools within the DTL1 or DTL2 to contribute. 

Here are the details:

• Content: Brief essays (500-2,500 words) from various presidents and deans at schools served by the DTL1 or DTL2.
• Focus: Reflections or insights based on your experiences that you wish to pass on to others in the field of theological education.
• Publication: The book will be published Open Access (the PDF will be available at no cost). Print copies will be available on Amazon.
• Deadline: Essays are due by July 31, 2025.
• Contributor Benefits: Contributors will receive a print copy for their personal library.
• Accompanying Information: Each essay will be accompanied by brief paragraphs about the author and their institution.
• Editors: Dr. Thomas E. Phillips, Director of the Digital Theological Library, and Dr. Greg Henson, President of Kairos University, will serve as editors.

If you are interested in submitting an essay, please email Alyssa Phillips, Executive Assistant to Dr. Thomas E. Phillips.

Flourish Institute of Theology

DTL2 has helped the Flourish Institute of Theology from the very beginning. As a new, mostly online seminary, finding such a comprehensive library has enabled us to keep costs to our students low and provide our students and faculty with a wealth of research and textbook opportunities. DTL2 Also gives us confidence that our application for accreditation will include a robust library service.

— Rev. Dr. GP Wagenfuhr

Get to Know Flourish Institute of Theology

- DTL2 member since: 2022

- Address: 400 E Las Colinas Blvd, Suite 900, Irving, TX 75039

- President: Rev. Dr. Mark Patterson

- Library Director: Rev. Dr. GP Wagenfuhr (Lay Leader Certificate, MA, and MDiv)

- Religious Tradition: Evangelical Presbyterian (ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians)

- Number of Faculty: 2 full time, 18 part-time

- Student Headcount and FTE: 62 enrolled, FTE 30

- Accreditation: Applying to ATS in 2025

Meet Ann Hidalgo

What is your role?
Acquisitions and metadata librarian

When did you start at the DTL?
I was a student worker at the Claremont School of Theology library while working on my PhD. In 2016, I started working full time for the library, so I got in on the ground floor of the DTL.

What are your responsibilities at the DTL?
I have the best job: I buy books and help train future librarians! On the acquisitions side, I receive selections of new titles from the librarians at DTL1 and DTL2 schools and place ebook orders. I track spending for each of the schools, and I manage our interlibrary loan program for DTL1 (DTL2 coming soon!). I also run our internship program for students in library/information science graduate programs. Students get academic credit for their time with us, during which they learn to create collections of open access resources. I meet with the interns each week, teach them how to use the OCLC knowledge base, and guide them through the process of creating collections.

What is it like working for the DTL?
I particularly enjoy working with people from all over the world. On any given day, I might exchange emails with librarians and students from a dozen different countries. Working in acquisitions, I get to see new titles all the time. (My personal "to read" list keeps getting longer and longer!) I also really appreciate working remotely. During the time I've worked for the DTL, I've lived in 4 different cities, 2 states, and 2 countries (US and Costa Rica).

What is one of your hobbies?
I can't pick just one: music (playing piano and cello), running, learning Korean, taking my cat for walks, and, of course, reading!

Meet Lydia Putnam

What is your role?
My job title is "Digital Collection Management Librarian".

When did you start at the DTL?
There are actually sort of two answers to this question! My previous job was at Missio Seminary, where I served as the school's representative on the DTL board 2019-2023, and on the board's executive committee 2021-2023. I was delighted to join the DTL as a staff member in April 2024.

What are your responsibilities at the DTL?
As you might expect from my job title, I make sure that all new acquisitions are added to our WorldCat holdings, but I also update authentication codes for our member libraries and wrangle the DTL's monthly usage statistics.

What is it like working for the DTL?
Honestly? A dream come true. Some days I have to make myself stop working because it really doesn't feel like work.  

What is one of your hobbies?
Embroidery, which I really got into during this past Christmas season. I tried it when I was younger and thought it was tedious, but now I find myself drawn to the tactile nature of it, as well as how easily you can put it down to do something else and pick it up again later, unlike many other types of art or crafting where there's a large mess of supplies needed.

Give Your Alums Access to a Library!

Most of you have probably heard alums ask some version of this question: “Can I still have access to the library after I graduate?” The answer is, of course, a firm: “No, I’m sorry that is not allowed by our licensing agreements.” However, you can provide your alums (and any of your core constituencies [e.g., board members, supporting pastors, donors]) with discounted access to the Seminary Bookshelf, our parallel library for religious professionals.

The Seminary Bookshelf contains hundreds of thousands of the key resources from the DTL1 and DTL2. This library is available to religious professionals (e.g., pastors, chaplains, counselors) who meet two criteria: (1) they reside in North America and (2) they are not currently enrolled in, or working at, any higher education institution.

Your alums and key constituencies can have either 3 months of free access to the Seminary Bookshelf or a 25% discount off the $10/monthly membership fee. (For more information about the Bookshelf, visit: https://seminarybookshelf.libguides.com/home). The discount codes are: CallMeRev24 (for the 3 months of free access) and DTLAlum25 (for 25% discount during the first year of membership).

**Please note that an alum cannot use both codes. They may use one to register. Thanks!**

Answering the Question: "Is the DTL a Christian Organization?"

A note from Tom Phillips, Executive Director at the DTL

As the executive director of the DTL, people sometimes ask me if the DTL is “Christian.” It is not surprising that people would ask this question. After all, most of the DTL’s membership schools are Christian seminaries. However, the answer to this question is: “No, the DTL is not Christian.” In fact, the DTL was intentionally created as a non-confessional organization. The DTL is not “Christian,” or “Muslim,” or “Jewish,” or even “religious.”

When we founded the DTL, we chose to avoid tying it to any particular religious tradition for several reasons. On the one hand, as librarians, we did not want to create any possible conflict between some particular doctrinal or religious orientation and the DTL’s mission as a comprehensive research library in religious studies. On the other hand, as non-profit managers, we did not want to create any confessional barriers that would exclude any possible member on the basis of religious or theological orientation.

So, the DTL is non-confessional. Our members are various kinds of Christians (Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant), Jews, and Muslims. Our staff also represents a wide variety of religious perspectives (Evangelical Christian, Mormon, Buddhist, Mainline Protestant, Catholic, Celtic, non-religious). We require no faith commitment from our employees, but we do seek out people who possess knowledge about diverse religious traditions. What all of the employees hold in common is a commitment to our core mission of helping all people engage in self-critical reflection upon their own faith and humble dialogue with those of other traditions.

Get to Know Ryan Schrauner

So, you are the chair of the DTL board, can you introduce yourself and what you do for a "day job?"

Ryan Shrauner is the Director of Library Services at Baptist Seminary of Kentucky (BSK) Theological Seminary. BSK is a small seminary in Lexington, Kentucky and Louisville, Kentucky. As per recent admissions, they have students in about 19 different states. Ryan is a remote worker and serves as a temporary pastor in Washington.

Where did you go to school and do you do any teaching or ministry activities besides your library work?

When asked about where he went to school, Ryan has a few different answers because, as we talked about during our interview, “the facts don’t always make sense, but the narrative does.” He earned his library degree from University of Kentucky in 2008 and worked in public libraries before transitioning into theological librarianship. Coincidentally, BSK started off his career in theological librarianship, where he has worked for the last ten years. 

Ryan earned his M. Div. from Princeton Seminary and his Master’s in Sacred Theology at General Theological Seminary in New York City. In addition to his library work, he teaches Spiritual Formation and Introduction at BSK and he does transitional pastoral work. Ryan likes to aid in the transition between pastors whenever he is needed and can be hopeful to a local congregation. He mentioned that he likes to take an active role in the content that he teaches because it adds a level of real-world experience and credibility to the courses he teaches and the work he does as Director of Library Services.

What role does the DTL play in your school's academic life?

The DTL plays an important role in BSK’s academic life since their student body spans 19 states. The DTL makes it as easy and cost-effective as possible to provide BSK’s student body with the digital library they need to fulfill their mission. Ryan mentioned that one of the most helpful parts about the DTL, especially as the Director of Library Services, is the support that he gets from DTL staff. For small seminaries that have a small library staff, the extra help that they get from the DTL, which is largely made up of librarians and theological scholars, is hugely beneficial and likely saves them from a few headaches throughout the year.

What made you want to get involved in the governance of the DTL?

Ryan wanted to get involved with the DTL ultimately because he saw how valuable it was to his seminary and he wanted to get involved in any way that would benefit the DTL in the long-term. He saw the way the DTL was rapidly out-growing the governance structure it had been founded with and thought he might be able to help answer some of the questions that the DTL was grappling with as it expanded based on his experience as a librarian and theologian. Since he understood that proper governance was one of the keys to the DTL staying strong, he wanted to do whatever would make it easier for the DTL to run as smoothly as possible. This is true of both Ryan and his seminary, which supports his participation on the board in helping the DTL to thrive. 

How do you understand your role as chair of the DTL board?

Ryan’s role is still emerging as the board grows. He notes that the Wise Stewards program offered by the In Trust Center was particularly helpful in helping him conceptualize his role as the DTL continues building it out in real-time. He has enjoyed watching the way his role changes based on how Executive Director, Tom Phillips, has actively made more and more space for the board to be involved in the vision, leadership, and long-range planning at the DTL the more that it grows and faces new questions. In any founder-led organization, Ryan noted, there is space for growth as the organization grows and requires more leadership and governance. Ryan has enjoyed being a part of that process and exploring his role as it changes and expands. 

Ryan views balance as one of the most important aspects of his role and the role of the board in general. He focuses on finding the right amount of governance that will help the DTL continue to thrive. Ryan wants to provide enough governance that the board can give the DTL healthy, forward-looking guidance without limiting the DTL by providing unneeded oversight. In other words, he sees part of his role as laying the foundation for what the DTL will be and what it will need in the future while also being responsive to current needs.

Is there anything that you would like the membership to know about the DTL?

Ryan appreciates all of the ways that members get involved with the DTL, whether you have a representative on the board or appreciate our updates through this newsletter. Keep in mind that there is no shortage of ways for you to get involved if you’d like to be and remember that the DTL is designed to benefit all members. Overall, the board is trying to be as helpful as possible while staying as flexible as possible and they appreciate you playing a role in that by being a member of the DTL.

Institutional Portals

You can find your Institutional Portal linked in an email you received from Drew Baker. Within your Institutional Portal, you will find everything you need for your institutional membership in one place, including:

- Announcements

- Basic Links

- Your Invoice

- Acquisitions Information (including your annual acquisitions sheet)

- Usage Statistics

- Your Authentication Information

- Contact Information

You will also find a member information questionnaire; please take the time to complete this form for your institution as soon as possible. If any information changes for your institution, you will be able to edit your responses in the future.

Please also review the DTL authentication procedures (also found on your Institutional Portal). If your school uses rotating codes, individual codes, or hybrid codes (options #2-4 on the procedures document), going forward your institution will use the authentication sheet (also linked on your Institutional Portal) to maintain your list of current codes.

We also no longer have an implementation queue for SSO, so if you are interested in exploring SSO as a DTL authentication option for your institution, email Drew Baker.

If there is any additional information that would be helpful to include on your Institutional Portal, please let me know. All questions are also very welcome.

Memphis Theological Seminary

Memphis Theological Seminary has been a DTL2 member since 2021. They are located at 168 East Parkway South, Memphis, TN 38104.
Their President is Jody Hill, PhD and their Director of Library Services is Ed Hughes (since 2020), MACM, M.Div.; D.Min.

Some Quick Facts

Religious tradition: Cumberland Presbyterian Church

Faculty: 9 full-time (including administration)

Students: 201 (head count) 120 (full-time equivalent)

Accreditation: ATS

https://memphisseminary.edu/

Thanks to the Digital Theological Library, we are able to deliver high quality,
abundant resources to our remote and onsite students at any hour of the day and any day of the week.

— Ed Hughes

Meet Drew Baker, PhD, MLIS

What is his role? Managing Director & COO

When did he start at the DTL? 2016.

What are his responsibilities at the DTL? Like everyone at the DTL, I wear a lot of hats. I manage a team of six dedicated to the technical side of the DTL, including collection management, systems, ILL, acquisitions, the website, and more. Sometimes my own work involves making long term plans for releasing new features for our users; other times, it means adding new collections to our library, or repairing a particularly stubborn resource access problem. My favorite part of the job, though, is leading a team of truly awesome people.=

I also collaborate with Tom on executive and business-related meetings, decisions, and support.

What is it like working for the DTL? I love my job. I work with absolutely amazing people. I serve a wonderful mission: serving students and scholars of religion around the world. I work for an organization that is able to adapt quickly to serve our communities better. I honestly wouldn't change a thing about my work for the DTL.

What is one of your hobbies? I got back into Legos a few years ago with my seven year old son. I had played with Legos as a kid, but my old collection was mostly gathering dust until my son expressed interest. Now we often spend weekends building new creations together. We also put together a Christmas Village around the holidays the past few years. I've even built some Lego sets on my own now again--there is something truly meditative about building something great one piece at a time.

You are the proud owner of the DTL!

Did you know that as an institutional member of the DTL or DTL2, your institution is legally a co-owner of the DTL nonprofit?

That’s right, as a member in good standing of the DTL or DTL2, your school is, by the DTL’s bylaws and California law, legally a co-owner of the DTL (that’s not an owner of some piece of the DTL, but rather a co-owner of the entire corporation and its libraries). The DTL is not a vendor that supplies services and content to its members; the DTL is a member owned nonprofit.

Co-ownership is very important to the DTL, because it means that our institutions have joined together to build something bigger and better together than we could ever hope to build separately. We structured from its inception as a member owned nonprofit so that the interests of the DTL and the interests of its members would always be the same—and so the DTL would never function on a customer or client model.

The DTL has co-owners, not customers. Co-ownership exists as long as your institution pays its annual membership dues; institutions which cease to pay annual membership dues forfeit all ownership rights and can take DTL content with them after leaving the DTL.

Get Access to Our Alum Library

Due to licensing restrictions, access to the DTL1 and DTL2 is restricted to current students and employees of your institution. Alums should not be allowed to have continued access to the collections. However, the DTL has recently a new library especially for religious professionals (pastors, counselors, therapists, and other ministers) who want access to a world class theological.

Our new library, the Seminary Bookshelf, contains access to hundreds of thousands of our most desired titles (those licensed via ProQuest) for $10/month. Access is limited to religious professionals in North America who are not affiliated with any academic institution as a student or instructor. Group discounts are available if your institution wants to set up access for a core group of constituents (e.g., alums, donors, board members, key pastors, etc.). Send us an email for more details (director@thedtl.org).

Accreditation with the DTL

Access to any of the DTL libraries (the DTL1, DTL2 or Global DTL) almost certainly meets the library collections requirements with any accrediting body. If you need a brief letter from us, explaining your membership in one of libraries to your accrediting agency, just send Tom a note and he’ll send a letter (director@thedtl.org).

Note: Most accrediting agencies also have requirements about the school’s ability to provide reference (information literacy) services to students. Membership in our libraries does not address that accreditation standard. Unless you have contracted with the DTL for reference services, you should have local contacts at your institution assigned to master the skill of library research.

Background on the DTL

The DTL is co-owned by the members of the Original DTL and the DTL2. Like all nonprofit corporations, the DTL is governed by a board of trustees who have responsibility to guide the organization to fulfill its mission. Our mission is to enable people in engage in self-critical reflection upon their own faith and humble dialogue with those of other traditions.

We facilitate this mission by providing legal access to curated library content in religious studies. As part of their responsibility to provide oversight for this mission, the DTL board has affirmed that core values listed below. These core values guide everything we do.

The DTL's Core Values:

- Consistent Truthfulness in all its interactions with its members and vendors

- Treatment of all people as we would wish to be treated

- Respect for each school’s individual and unique mission

- Regard for the stability and sustainability of the DTL

- Commitment to co-ownership of the DTL & partnership for mutual advantage

- Desire for service beyond the narrow confines of the DTL membership.