Roman Catholic

David Kriegh, Saint Mary’s College of California, Convener

Kathy Harty, Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology, Secretary

Members Present

  • Jennifer Bartholomew, Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology*
  • Jessica Boyer, Mount St. Mary’s University
  • Stephanie Garrett, Catholic Distance University
  • Kathy Harty, Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology
  • Barnaby Hughes, Atla**
  • David Kriegh, Saint Mary’s College of California
  • Alan Krieger, University of Notre Dame
  • Brian Morin, Mt. Angel Abbey
  • Philip O’Neill, Barry University**
  • Ann Owen, Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology**
  • James Pakala, Covenant Seminary (Emeritus)**
  • Betsy Polakowski, St. Paul Seminary**
  • Arthur Quinn, St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary**
  • Derek Rieckens, Chicago Theological Union
  • Dora Rowe, Union Presbyterian Seminary*
  • Connie Song, Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology
  • Stephen Sweeney, St. John Vianney Seminary*
  • Kris Veldheer, Catholic Theological Union*
  • Alexis Weiss, Loyola Marymount University**
  • Deb Winarski, Catholic Theological Union**

* - in person only

** - online only

Agenda

  1. Opening prayer: Connie Song
  2. Review of 2021 Minutes
    • No changes or corrections
  3. Welcome and introductions
  4. Old Business
    1. Presentation Roundup
      • While no one from the group gave a presentation this year, staff from the University of San Diego and Catholic University presented on Catholic topics.
    2. Atla LibGuide Project
      • There is not currently much denominational content in the Atla LibGuides. Several resources were suggested, including the CRRA subject guides and the Harmless bibliographical site. Christine Fruin is the contact at Atla for the guides.
      • Brian Morin will contact Christine Fruin about details of the project.
      • Stephanie Garrett will receive links sent from members’ currently-existing guides to include in the Atla guide, as a type of clearinghouse. Send your links to sgarrett@cdu.edu.
    3. Core Print Analysis
      • This is a continuing item of interest, but a very large project. There is potential funding from Atla for such a project.
      • Update: After the virtual meeting Kris Veldheer sent a written update about using GreenGlass from OCLC. Due to staffing issues, pending retirements, and a lack of pricing information, a pilot test of GreenGlass has been shelved by CTU.
    4. Catholic Library Association Update
      • Kathy Harty is the CLA/Atla liaison.
      • The call for proposals for the fall conference has been sent to the listserv, but members are encouraged to submit proposals.
      • The conference theme is “Catholic Libraries: A Healing Presence in the Church’s Field Hospital”.
      • Those at smaller libraries in particular are encouraged to submit, as they may have practices or experiences useful to CLA members.
      • If anyone is looking for publishing opportunities, contact the CLA office about doing book reviews: cla2@cathla.org.
      • CLA is encouraging library school students to join and to become active members. If you know any library students, please encourage them to join.
    5. CRRA Update
      • A written update was submitted prior to the meeting.
      • Highlighted points include: an upcoming webinar on the Catholic Portal in the fall, most likely November.
      • Email invites will go out this summer – keep an eye out for yours.
      • Topics will include a brief history, content, scholarly use of the portal, among others.
      • Jennifer Younger will be retiring as the director this summer. The executive board is working on her successor.
      • There is now a set record in OCLC for the Catholic News Archive, allowing linkage to the content. This repository continues to grow and thrive.
    6. Origins
      • As mentioned at the last meeting, Origins News Service ceased publication. It was a valuable resource for less-well-known documents and statements, as well as a clearinghouse for news items.
      • There is interest in any other sources that may serve as a partial replacement.
      • In addition, Atla indexers have not been receiving l’Osservatore Romano. They recently changed their U.S. distributor. If anyone has issues they would like to donate for indexing, please contact Barnaby Hughes, bhughes@atla.com.
      • David Kriegh and Brian Morin will follow-up with EBSCO and other contacts.
    7. Atla Communities Site
      • The upcoming site will replace some of the list-servs and provide a new way for groups to keep in contact and work together.
      • Anticipated launch is early Fall.
      • More details will be coming from Atla.
  5. New Business
    1. Call for proposals
      • If anyone is interested in creating a presentation for next year’s conference on the new PPF6 and whole-person formation, please contact Kathy Harty, kharty@shsst.edu.
  6. Transitions
    • See “Round Robin Reports” section below
  7. Closing prayer: Stephanie Garrett

Year in Review

For our in-person meeting, noting that we had not met in person in three years, we deemed it best to ease back in with a simple round of introductions and updates to get reacquainted. We dined in small groups the previous night, as many of us planned to watch the Orioles immediately following the meeting.

Anticipating that our in-person meeting in Baltimore would be small and informal, our group business meeting was held online on June 29, 2022 to allow for broader participation. Most of the time was devoted to following up on old business from our previous online gatherings. A couple Catholic-focused presentations were noted, and we felt that the hybrid format provided an opening to our Catholic colleagues to attend in the future, and us regulars to think more about presenting. There was renewed enthusiasm for creating a resource for researching Catholic content within the framework of Atla’s LibGuide format. There are a number of questions about how this can be properly expressed in its proper context and representatives of the group will be reaching out to Atla to develop a strategy. However, the notion of developing a shared print project among the Catholic seminary libraries has lost some steam as many members report they lack the resources and bandwidth to give the project the attention it deserves. Those in attendance continued to express concern that Origins ceased publication without a comparable replacement for organizing Catholic news as promulgated by the Vatican and national entities such as the USCCB. CRRA and CLA provided their regular updates for the group, and we are preparing to migrate our main channel of communication from the Atla-RC listserv to the new Atla Communities forum later this year. Finally, Kathy Harty, our long-serving group secretary, invited members of the group to join her in developing a presentation of the long-awaited new edition of the Program for Priestly Formation to Atla.

Overall, our meeting served as a valuable time of conversation among the Catholic members of Atla to assess where we stood on various projects and we look forward to building upon these in the development of new initiatives.

Round Robin Reports

Catholic Distance University – Sr. Rebecca Abel, OSB, retired as director, but is busy traveling to Benedictine sites and helping them set up local archives.

Catholic Theological Union – It was noted that Melody Layton McMahon’s passing is a great loss to the group and to Atla in general. She will be missed.

Kenrick-Glennon Seminary – David Morris named as new library director.

Mt. Angel Abbey – Victoria Ertelt retired in 2020, and Brian Morin was appointed the new library director.

Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology – Jennifer Bartholomew will be retiring as library director at the end of December. The job is currently posted, and Kathy Harty will also send it to the listserv.

Saint Mary’s College of California – David Kriegh will soon be receiving his M.A. in Theology from Holy Apostles College & Seminary.

St. Paul’s Seminary – Betsy Polakowski was named the new permanent director. Pray for her!

group photograph

Left to right: Derek Rieckens, Stephanie Garrett, Stephen Sweeney, Jennifer Bartholomew, Brian Morin, Jessica Boyer, Alan Krieger, Connie Song, Dora Rowe