Library Christmas Break Hours

The library's break hours begin on Tuesday, December 9th. Break hours are as follows:

Monday - Friday: 9am - 4pm
Closed Saturdays and Sundays

The library will be closed for the holidays from Wednesday, December 24th until Sunday, January 4th, 2015. The library will re-open on January 5th for J-term classes.

Additional JSTOR Journals Available Through December 5th

In addition to the library's current JSTOR collections, the Religion & Theology and the Iberoamerica collections will be available as part of the library's entire JSTOR collection until December 5th.

Library Food for Fines Project Thru November 25th

The library is collecting food for fines until Tuesday, November 25th. If you have existing overdue fines, you may bring in one can of food for every $2 of fines you owe. This project will benefit the Hyde Park Food Pantry.

Library Thanksgiving Hours

The library will close for Thanksgiving break at 4pm on Wednesday, November 26th. The library will re-open for regularly scheduled hours on Sunday, November 30th at 4pm.

Ethnography Video Online Vol 3 Now Available

The library's latest addition to its Alexander Street Press streaming video collection is Ethnography Video Online, Volume 3. The library provides access to six streaming video collections through its membership in the CARLI consortium.

November is Academic Writing Month

Attention all thesis writers! Are you ready to accept the challenge of Academic Writing Month? Join other thesis writers in an informal gathering in the Atrium on Monday, November 3rd from 9:45 to 10:30, during class break time. Lisa Gonzalez, librarian and D.Min student, will be available to chat about the writing challenge - stop by to touch base with fellow thesis writers and grab a cookie!

Feedback Requested on Library Book Grant and Lecture

We would welcome your feedback on the Spanish Book Grant Library Lecture that took place on October 21st. If you attended the lecture, you can access the survey here. If you did not attend the lecture, but would still like to provide some suggestions for Spanish language book purchases, please fill out the last question on the survey. Thank you!

Database Trials Through TryIt Illinois Available Until November 30th

The TryIt Illinois database trials are ongoing until the end of November. Many databases with full text and streaming video are available for searching, and can be accessed at the TryIt Illinois website. Please stop by or contact the library for login information.

BibleWorks Workshop on October 8th

CTU will host a BibleWorks Workshop on October 8th from 10am to 11:30am in Room 304. The presenter is Jim Barr from BibleWorks. You can see an introduction to many features of BibleWorks at http://youtu.be/w3SHKdLLrlk. For more information and to register, contact Jim Barr at jbarr@bibleworks.com.

Library Lecture by Neomi DeAnda on October 21st

In keeping with the theme for the grant awarded to the library to purchase books on religion and theology in Latin America, the library is sponsoring a lecture to discuss the question of how to access appropriate materials to conduct research related to religion in Latin America.

Neomi DeAnda, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Dayton and former director of the Hispanic Theology and Ministry Program at Catholic Theological Union, will speak on the challenge of researching women and their writings, focusing on her work with 17th and 18th century Mexican archival resources.

Refreshments will be served, and books purchased with the grant funds will be on display and available for examination. This event is made possible by the State of Illinois Back to Books Grant.

October 1st SBL Handbook of Style Workshop

This workshop will cover the basics of the Society of Biblical Literature’s Handbook of Style, which is used in Biblical Studies courses at CTU. We will review the Student Supplement to the SBL Handbook of Style, the basic outline of key topics in the SBL Handbook of Style, and online tools for working with the SBL Style. You may bring your lunch, and bring your laptop if you wish.

When: Wednesday, October 1st, noon - 1pm
Where: Room 504

October is Theological Libraries Month!

In honor of Theological Libraries Month, come and enjoy a break in the library with treats and coffee anytime on Wednesday, October 1st.

Pilot Project for DMin Theses Online

The library has launched a pilot project for hosting electronic theses written by DMin students at CTU. The library will be using this pilot to assess the possibility of accepting future DMin thesis projects as electronic files.

Beyond this pilot, the library plans on building this institutional repository as a hosting service for other scholarly work produced by the CTU community in the future. The purpose of the institutional repository is to gather, document, preserve and disseminate the academic work of the CTU community. Examples of the types of work commonly deposited in institutional repositories can be viewed at the OpenDOAR project.

Library Display of New Spanish Books from Back to Books Grant

Books purchased with State of Illinois Back to Books Grant funds are currently on display in the library.

Trial for Complete JSTOR Collection Through October 16th

Through October 16, all remaining JSTOR collections that the library does not already subscribe to will be available on a trial basis. This trial period has been arranged by the CARLI consortium.

September Chicago Manual of Style Workshops

This workshop will cover the basics of the Chicago Manual of Style: Documentation I System as used at CTU. We will review the CTU Writing Handbook for Chicago Manual of Style tips, the basic outline of key topics in the Chicago Manual of Style, and the Chicago Manual of Style Online. You may bring your lunch, and bring your laptop if you wish. This workshop will be offered twice in September.

When: Thursday, September 18th, noon-1pm
Where: Room 504

When: Tuesday, September 23th, noon-1pm
Where: Room 504

September Zotero Workshops

Would you like to learn more about using Zotero to manage your citations and make bibliographies? This workshop will cover the basics of installing Zotero for Firefox, how to save citations to Zotero, and how to create citations in appropriate citation styles. You may bring your lunch, and bring your laptop if you wish; additional help will be available after the workshop if you need assistance in installing Zotero. Please install the Firefox browser on your laptop before attending the workshop. The workshop will be offered twice in September, and repeated again in October; stay tuned for the date.

When: Tuesday, September 16th, noon-1pm
Where: Room 304

When: Thursday, September 25th, noon-1pm
Where: Room 304

September E-Book Workshop

Would you like to take better advantage of the library’s e-book collections, as well as explore sources for free e-books? This workshop will introduce many of the library’s 15 e-book collections, familiarize you with basic access methods for different e-book websites, and discuss ways to troubleshoot viewing or downloading issues you may have with your laptop or mobile device. You may bring your lunch, and bring your laptop or mobile device if you wish.

When:  Thursday, September 11th, noon-1pm
Where: Room 504

CARLI Ebook Pilot Program

The CARLI consortium currently has a pilot program to provide ebooks to library patrons of all the CARLI governing member libraries. CTU library patrons can search for ebooks in the program at the EBL website, or search the library catalog to find ebooks.

Library Summer Hours

The library will be open the following schedule from June 30th to August 31st:

Monday - Friday: 9am - 4pm
Closed Saturdays and Sundays

The library be closed Friday, July 4th, and Monday, September 1st. The library's regularly scheduled hours will resume on Tuesday, September 2nd.

CARLI Consortium Provides More Full Text Journals in Academic Search Complete

The CARLI Consortium has upgraded one of library's full text interdisciplinary journal collections from Ebsco, Academic Search Premier, to Academic Search Complete. The number of full text journal titles in this new database has almost doubled, from 4,600 titles to over 8,500 titles. A title list for this journal collection is available from Ebsco.

Library Adds Asian Film Online to Collections

The library is now able to provide access to Asian Film Online through its membership in the CARLI consortium. The library has several streaming video collections from Alexander Street Press; these collections include video transcriptions, and individuals can create playlists for later viewing.

eRead Illinois Collection Now Available

The eRead Illinois collection has been made made available by the Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS). This collection of popular fiction and non-fiction includes e-books selected for all Illinois libraries, as well as religion titles selected by the library. The collection will continue to grow over the next two years due to a grant from the Secretary of State and the Illinois State Library. Books in the collection are available for download to your computer or device for a period of 14 days.

Library Hours for Summer Institute

Summer Institute library hours are as follows:

June 9th-27th
Monday - Friday: 8:30am-9pm
Saturday - Sunday: Closed

Summer hours begin on June 28th
Monday - Friday: 9am-4pm
Saturday - Sunday: Closed

Library Closings for Finals Week

The library will have the following modified schedule for finals week:

Wednesday, May 14: the library will close at 4:30pm for the Liturgy and reopen after.
Thursday, May 15 to Friday, May 16: 8am - 4:30pm
Saturday, May 17: 11am -  4pm
Sunday, May 18 - closed

Library Summer Hours Begin May 19th

The library's schedule for summer hours will begin Monday, May 19th. The summer schedule is as follows:

Monday - Friday: 9am-4pm
Saturday and Sunday: Closed

The library will be closed Monday, May 26th for Memorial Day.

Library Closed for Easter Weekend

The library's schedule this week is as follows:

Thursday, April 17th: 8am - 12:30pm
Friday, April 18th - Monday April 21st: Closed

The library will be open regular hours on Tuesday, April 22nd. Happy Easter!

Library Receives Back to Books Grant from the State of Illinois

The library has been awarded a $5000 "Back to Books" grant from the State of Illinois. This grant will be used to purchase books on religion and theology in Latin America in Spanish. A fall program is in the works to highlight recent scholarly work in theology in Latin America, and will include information about the books purchased with the grant funds. Members of the CTU community are invited to recommend titles for purchase by contacting Lisa Gonzalez in the library.

New Journal TOCs Service for CTU Library

CTU library users can browse through the latest issues of online journals from the library's subscriptions at JournalTOCs. This current awareness service allows users to sign up for newly published table of contents alerts from numerous publishers, as well as browse through the latest issue of current journal subscriptions. JournalTOCs can be accessed from the Find Articles page of the library's website.

Library Workshop on Zotero - Wednesday, March 19th

The next library workshop on Zotero will on:

Wednesday, March 19th from noon to 1pm - Room 337

Zotero is a citation and bibliographic management system that allows you to save, edit and manage citations, as well as take notes for your research. The workshop will cover the basics of installing the Zotero for Firefox for your Firefox browser, how to add items to your Zotero library, and how to insert citations and bibliographies into your papers using Zotero. You are welcome to bring your lunch, and your laptop, if you wish; please install the Firefox browser on your laptop before attending the workshop.

Save the Date! February Zotero Workshops

Library workshops on Zotero will take place on Wednesday, February 19th from noon to 1pm, as well as Friday, February 28th from noon to 1pm - Room 504. Zotero is a citation and bibliographic management system that allows you to save, edit and manage citations, as well as take notes for your research. The workshop will cover the basics of installing the Zotero for Firefox for your Firefox browser, how to add items to your Zotero library, and how to insert citations and bibliographies into your papers using Zotero. You are welcome to bring your lunch, and your laptop, if you wish; please install the Firefox browser on your laptop before attending the workshop.

Library Adds Twentieth-Century Religious Thought to Online Collections

Twentieth Century Religious Thought is a multivolume, cross-searchable online collection of works related to key worldwide religious thinkers, from the early 1900s until the turn of the 21st century. It includes a significant collection of the works of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and a selection of the papers of Reinhold Niebuhr. It also includes a selection of English-language editions of key authors such as Hans Urs von Baltasar, Rudolf Bultmann, James Cone, Gustavo Gutiérrez, Adolf von Harnack, Henri de Lubac, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Dorothee Sölle, and Ernst Troeltsch.