Revised: February 1, 2022

Purpose of Document:

To define the scope of the library collection at Asbury Theological Seminary.

Document Outline

Mission Statement
Collection Development Priorities
Overview
Current Resources
1. General Collection
2. Online Resources
3. Non-Circulating Special Collections
Depth and Scope of Subject Selection
Core Definition and Collection Evaluation
Preservation and Access
1. Special Collections
2. Digitization
3. Born Digital Material
4. Access
Collection Maintenance- Purchasing new Material
1. History
2. Selection Policies
3. Monograph Selection Procedures and Guidelines
4. Other Materials
5. Budgetary Considerations
Collection Maintenance- Discarding and Storage
Gifts
Collection Development Guidelines
1. Books and Periodicals
2. Electronic Resources
3. Media Collection
4. Institutional Repository
5. Archival Material
Division of Collection Development Responsibilities
Diversity and Racial Reconciliation
Statement on Open Access
Library Bill of Rights
Appendices
1. Appendix A: Archives Collection Development Policy
2. Appendix B: Archives Collection
3. Appendix C: Areas and Levels of Collection
4. Appendix D: Collection Access
5. Appendix E: eBook Publishers Chart
6. Appendix F: Statement on Potentially Harmful Language in Library Subject Headings and Description Data

Mission Statement

The Asbury Theological Seminary (ATS) B.L. Fisher Library exists to support the objectives of the seminary by providing appropriate resources and services. The library is committed to:

Playing a vital role in enhancing the global reputation of the Seminary.
Supporting global teaching, learning, research, and service missions in all disciplines.
The transformation of teaching and learning across the Seminary.
Engagement with patrons to understand their needs, goals, and expectations.

Collection Development Priorities

In developing our collections, the following priorities will normally apply:

Providing access to materials that support the curriculum (faculty requests and resources listed in the course syllabi).
Comprehensive collection of Library of Congress subject headings on Holiness and Sanctification materials.
Providing Ph.D. level collection in the areas of world missions, intercultural studies, and biblical studies.
Purchasing research-related requests.
Providing electronic resources as a priority, along with digitizing the materials most needed by our global community for accessibility. If appropriate, hard copies will also be collected.
Producing Open Access resources for the wider global community of scholars.
Whenever possible, we will work with other institutions to provide access to more resources.

Overview

The Asbury Theological Seminary (ATS) library serves a graduate community comprised of the faculty, student body, alumni, administration, and staff of Asbury Theological Seminary and Asbury University, as well as continuing education participants and community borrowers; a combined user base exceeding 5000 people. Through formal relationships with FoKAL, WALDO, KYVL, and the Theological Education Association of Mid-America, the library also serves an academic community that extends throughout Kentucky and into neighboring states. ATS also has reciprocal agreements with institutions that are members of Lyrasis, the Library Discount Network, and ATLA. Asbury also maintains reciprocal agreements with the Memphis Library Association. Library Loan services enable the library to receive materials from many other libraries and help enhance the scope of our collection.

The library offers a collection representing the curricular and research needs of ATS and provides a depository for the primary and secondary materials of the American holiness movement and evangelical denominations that are Wesleyan in origin. The library serves the campuses as the primary source for information access outside of the classroom. For the community to be served well, some materials in the collection necessarily will not reflect the views and perspectives commonly promoted or officially represented on campus.

Current Resources

The library collections contain more than 800,000 items. All aspects of the theological curricula are covered in the collection, including representative literature from non-theological disciplines. Approximately 7,000 new items are added annually. In accord with the seminary’s doctrinal emphasis, biblical studies, Wesley and the Wesleyan movement, Pentecostalism, as well as the literature of the origins of the American holiness movement are the designated areas of focus in selecting materials for the collection. With the E. Stanley Jones School of World Mission and Evangelism, an increased emphasis is placed on Christian mission, Church Planting, Development, and related disciplines, especially with a focus on global Christianity. Likewise, the Ph.D. in Biblical Studies requires an emphasis on doctoral level biblical studies material. The collection also reflects holdings in support of the Beeson Pastor Program in Biblical Preaching and Pastoral Leadership. With Asbury Global, the library aims to provide resources to students no matter where they live in order to promote quality academic research for the global Church. ATS also provides the automated library system and online public access catalog to Asbury University. The resources are placed in three major collections: General, Online Resources, and Special.

General Collection

The general collection circulates and consists of the following resources: monographs classified in the Library of Congress system; ATS dissertations and theses; oversized volumes; current and bound periodicals; reference materials; conference journals; instructional media; maps and charts. The book stacks, currently containing more than 240,000 volumes, is by far the largest of the collection. The library subscribes to more than 600 periodicals (many more if you include periodical access from various databases). Back issues of over 40,000 periodical items are maintained on the Kentucky campus. Various types of media are also available in the circulating collection. The reference collection consists mainly of materials published for consultation rather than comprehensive reading. This collection includes dictionaries, encyclopedias, bibliographies, indexes, directories, commentaries, yearbooks, atlases, lexical and grammatical tools, and biographies. With over 150 online databases, students are able to access a large amount of academic material offsite, which helps support the programs of Asbury Global and online education.

Online Resources

Asbury’s academic community has online access to the full text of many monographs and journal articles through electronic databases such as ATLA, Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, the Eighteenth Century Collections Online, PsycARTICLES, and full-text dissertations provided by ProQuest, for example. A full listing of Asbury’s electronic holdings is available through the library website. Students can access eBooks including reference materials like commentaries through our library catalog and through their course syllabuses. Students are referred to free online sites such as the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, STEPBible, the Internet Archives, and the Wesley Center Online when appropriate. Finally, all students have access to citation databases such as WorldCat (holdings of materials in libraries throughout the world), Research in Ministry, OT/NT Abstracts, Religious and Theological Abstracts, and the Christian Periodical Index.

Additionally, the library has made the addition of eBooks a priority to help further the availability of resources to online students no matter where they live in the world. With the development of Asbury Global, it is essential that electronic resources be available whenever possible. This prevents delays and costs in mailing material, or in scanning material on a case-by-case basis, and allows students immediate access to important academic resources to support their education.

Non-circulating Special Collections

The archives and other special collections maintain a rich accumulation of research materials in a variety of formats with thousands of original, primary source materials to aid in unique academic research. Unpublished manuscripts, a major resource, document the work of persons and organizations within the Wesleyan/Holiness tradition. In addition, rare periodical material, as well as correspondence, documents, and photographs, are preserved to assist those researching the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. Appendix B provides more detail on the collections stored in this part of the library.

Additionally, the special collections contain a wealth of microform material. Those of particular significance include: the China Inland Missions Papers, Korean Mission Records, Congo Missions Archives, Student Volunteer Movement Papers, several selections of the Church Missionary Society Archives, and Turner Collection on Religious Movements.

The archives and special collections of the library are subject to their own unique rule of collecting, organizing, and preserving the material in this collection. Appendix A is a more detailed collection development policy for this material.

Depth and Scope of Subject Selection

Collection categorization on the basis of subject divisions is not adequate unless coupled with functional criteria that distinguish sources used in disciplines individually. Five kinds of sources identifiable to any given subject exist:

Research communication, written by scholars for other scholars in dialogue on topics of timely interest, consists largely of academic journal articles and academic monographs.
Primary resources for research are not produced by scholars for scholars, but by individuals or communities who are the focus of scholarly interest. Such items include the archival materials of missions agencies or holiness bodies, self-published biographies and treatuses, the theological publications of important historical figures, and others.
Instructional resources introduce or summarize the current state of knowledge in various fields, such as textbooks, manuals, and topical introductions.
Historical resources, no longer in demand for currency, will remain important in perpetuity.
Bibliographical and reference sources organize knowledge and provide informational access to other sources.

Defining core titles in a given discipline is accepted as a fundamental ongoing responsibility of the Collection Development Team and involves the participation of the broader academic community. This participation includes patron requests, and limited purchasing of items requested by InterLibrary Loan.

Because ATS is a product of the Holiness Movement, the library has strived to create a collection of materials to honor, interpret, and preserve the movement in such a way that this collection is a strength of the library, a source of pride for the institution, and is recognized nationally for its scope and breadth. This extensive collection consists of both published materials and, because of archival and records management programs, a repository for non-published items.

Areas of more recent vigorous growth and strength include missions and biblical studies in order to support the needs of the doctoral programs offered by ATS.

The Collection Development Team evaluates its collection development priorities on the basis of the following levels of collection intensity. Appendix C offers a more detailed understanding of individual subject level priorities based on the Library of Congress Classification system.

Out of scope: The library does not collect in this area.

Minimal level: A subject area in which few selections are made beyond very basic works.

The library maintains minimal collections in a few areas. Such areas include law, modern languages, war, and military science.

Basic information level: A collection of current general materials serving to introduce and define a subject and to indicate the varieties of information available elsewhere.

The library maintains basic collections in subject areas of general usefulness to graduate theological education that are themselves not directly relevant to course offerings. Subject areas include political science, physical science, economics, business administration, information commons and information science, computers and technology, communications, medicine, health, and fiction.

Instructional support level: A collection adequate to support most graduate instruction, or sustained independent study.

The library maintains a curricular support collection in the areas of practical specialization. This support level includes the subject areas of Christian education, youth ministry, leadership, worship, marriage and family therapy, mental health counseling, ethics, cultural studies, feminist studies, social sciences, comparative religions, non-traditional theologies, and general history. Foreign language materials in these areas will be purchased sporadically.

The library also maintains curricular support for Asbury Global through a specialized focus on electronically available resources which can be used by any student no matter where their primary residence is found.

Research level: A collection that includes the major published source materials required for dissertations and independent research, including materials containing research reporting, new findings, scientific experimental results, and other information useful to researchers. It includes all important reference works and a wide selection of specialized monographs, as well as a very extensive collection of journals and major indexing and abstracting sources.

The library maintains research collections in the areas of Wesleyana, missiology and evangelization, and biblical studies. The intent is to procure the major published source materials for research, essential texts and documents, important reference works, major indexing and abstracting services, specialized monographs, journals, dissertations, and other cognate non-published materials as appropriate. Foreign language material, especially French, Spanish, and German, is emphasized.

Comprehensive level: A collection in which every reasonable effort is made to include all significant works of recorded knowledge, published and unpublished, in all applicable languages, for a narrowly defined and limited field.

The only area of collection development that can be undertaken with comprehensiveness (level 6) given these constraints is that of the holiness movement and sanctification, their sources, history, and products. Here the Collection Development Team endeavors to collect all significant works, all publications and manuscripts, regardless of language.

Core Definition and Collection Evaluation

The core collection for each subject or discipline must have boundaries commonly recognized by the assessment of researchers and authorities in that area.

Several approaches to collection evaluation can be undertaken, ranging from inspection, random sampling, statistical analysis, comparative studies, use analysis, checklists, etc. Evaluation should be undertaken to answer such questions as:

What is the true scope of the collection?
What is the depth of the collection?
What are the strong areas of the collection?
What are the weak areas of the collection?
Do any subject areas of the collection fall outside the Library’s focus and mission?
How well is the collection development program doing?
What allocations are needed to maintain areas of strength?
What allocations are needed to strengthen weak areas?
Where should retrospective collecting be focused?
Is the collection too old?
Is the collection adequate for present educational programs?
Is the collection adequate for proposed/nascent educational programs?

It remains vitally important for the library to be involved in discussions on new programs being offered by the Seminary to continue to shape the core collection as well as to evaluate the future development of the collection. For these purposes, the Library Director serves on the Curriculum Committee and the Academic Council.

Preservation and Access

Preservation is defined as the acquisition, organization, and distribution of resources to ensure adequate protection of information of enduring value for the purpose of access by present and future generations. Library preservation management includes responsibility for planning and implementing policies, procedures, and practices that prevent deterioration and/or renew the usability of items that have been selected to receive appropriate preservation action. The preservation program of the library focuses on providing a basic level of protection and care for all holdings, including: environmental control; proper housing; disaster prevention; appropriate security; and procedures that favor stabilization and preservation of all holdings.

Special Collections

The Special Collections and archival materials receive standard preservation treatment. Books valued as artifacts or of great age are relegated to compact storage in the closed stacks of the Archives area to minimize handling, exposure to light, and security concerns. Barcode and classification numbers are not applied directly to these items, but to acid-free slips inserted loosely into their text-blocks. Very fragile items or items in several pieces will be encased in acid-free cardboard boxes sized appropriately to the item

Archival materials receive routine preservation treatment during processing. All metal is removed from manuscripts, and materials are placed into acid-free folders and acid-free archival quality boxes that protect them from light, dust, and deformation. Humidity in the archives area is monitored and controlled locally. The lighting is normally kept off to lessen UV deterioration. The area is kept locked at all times, and only authorized staff members are permitted into the area. Certain items may be selected to receive treatment beyond that provided for all archival holdings. These treatments normally would include conservation procedures (mending, cleaning and reinforcement) or reformatting via digitization. Items will be selected for preservation action on the basis of the following criteria: amount and nature of use; condition, including level of protection already applied; significance (in relation to the mission and collecting policies of the library); and value for research.

Digitization

The library’s printed materials are deteriorating most in the areas where its holdings are the strongest and the materials are of most value. The peculiar strength of the library is also its chief problem. The materials of the Holiness Movement, camp meeting revivalism, and sectarian Wesleyanism come from a period in time between 1820 and 1970 in large part. By 1820, traditional ways of making books using rag paper had given way to the more easily obtained wood pulp paper. Virtually all the print matter from this 150-year period will have been produced on this cheaper, very acidic paper. The main culprit in the decay of our collection is the paper that self-destructs with time.

The library staff continues to digitize the most important items from the collection. Additional areas of digitization include copyright free material, course syllabi, and other institutional records. This material is housed on the digital library, ePlace (powered by Digital Commons).

Born Digital Material

The library has become increasingly aware that more material is being created, accessed, and preserved in digital formats as opposed to traditional print and media formats. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the library needs to find policies and methods to collect material produced by the Seminary in digital formats, catalog it, and be sure it is preserved for future academic use. Video produced and stored on Vimeo by various offices and schools are a part of this challenge. The library is committed to continuing to seek ways to recognize, collect, and preserve these important resources along with relevant metadata to help make them useful in the long term.

Similar challenges are being faced in Special Collections and Archives as material is being donated in digital formats and material produced by the Seminary is increasingly being stored electronically. The ongoing development of an institutional repository is intended to help meet some of these demands, but challenges will continue to develop in the near future in all areas of library collection development.

Access

The library seeks to serve researchers and users within the Asbury Community as well as outside researchers and members of the wider community with their information needs. The specific guidelines for access to the library’s collection are outlined in Appendix D.

Collection Maintenance- Purchasing New Material

History

From its humble beginnings in 1923, the B. L. Fisher Library collection has grown to become one of the largest research collections of theological materials in the world. Guided by the seminary’s commitment to the Holiness Movement ethos, the focus of the collection began with an emphasis on training Methodist/Holiness pastors. It has grown to include resources for the training of denominational leaders and professors with its D.Min and Ph.D. degrees, along with a rapidly growing number of professional counselors.

Historically, the library has included a heavy emphasis on the collection of print resources. Print materials can be found on all three floors of the library. By the 2000s, the housing of the collection had grown to the point where it was necessary to begin using a nearby offsite storage facility. Currently about 200,000 physical volumes can be found in the library stacks, about 60,000 in storage, with another 20,000 to 40,000 expected to be added to storage by the year 2023. However, now that a majority of Christian publishing companies are making their titles available as ebooks, it is believed that the seminary’s Asbury Global constituents will best be served by offering electronic resources whenever possible.

The Digital Revolution began in the B.L. Fisher Library in the early 1970s when it became a founding member of the bibliographic record sharing cooperative known as SOLINET, a subsidiary of the non-profit OCLC corporation. The library’s first computers were used to create electronic bibliographic records that would later be used in a series of electronic catalogs, initially implemented in the early 1980s. The advent of electronic books and journals began in the late-1980s as the availability of personal computers and the internet expanded, along with the introduction of the first eBook readers. It was at that time that the library subscribed to its first database. It was also at that time that the seminary audio visual department began the process of switching from analog sound recording to digital audio tapes and later to digital audio CDs and MP3 files.

Like most research libraries, the B.L. Fisher library quickly embraced the use of electronic journals, because of fast access to articles, and cost saving in the areas of binding and physical storage. The cost saving for publishers also accelerated the use of this medium.

Although electronic books were also available, publishers of religious literature, especially Christian publishing companies, were slow to adapt to the format, as were many scholars. It has only been since the mid-2010s that this trend has changed, due in large measure to the expansion of distance education, the Google book digitization project and the popularity of the Kindle format in the general population. In the 2020s, most Christian publishers sell their new titles both electronically and in paper, though not all of them are willing to sell ebooks in formats that are available for library purchase and distribution. Also, some smaller denominational presses have still not made the transition to ebook publishing.

The pandemic of 2019 was a turning point in the acceptance and demand for ebook resources. Fortunately, the B.L. Fisher Library had already been collecting ebooks since the early days of distance education. These core resources proved to be in constant demand as social distancing policies were implemented at the Seminary. As more and more scholars were compelled to use ebooks, they became more comfortable with their use, and realized some of the advantages ebooks have over paper. Some department heads now indicate that they prefer the purchase of ebooks.

The biggest downside to the rise in popularity of electronic resources is cost. It is not uncommon for an ebook single use purchase to cost 5 times as much as it’s paper counterpart. These new realities have required several adjustments to the purchasing priorities of monographs.

Funding for the continued growth and maintenance of the seminary’s library resources in the 2020s includes two small endowed funds devoted to missions and intercultural studies, one small endowed undesignated fund, an annual gift from a generous donor designated for biblical studies Ph.D. level material, together with the general acquisitions budget. The budget allocation is approximately 1/3 subscription databases, 1/3 ejournals, 1/3 monographs. Of the monograph dollars, at least 50% are devoted to electronic books.

Selection Policies

Database subscriptions are typically proposed throughout the year by the Director of Instructional Services and voted on by the Collection Development Team. All database subscriptions are reviewed annually to determine if it is necessary to eliminate any titles because of budgetary constraints.

Journal subscription purchases of new titles are made throughout the year and are based on recommendations by Collection Development Team members and other requestors. All journal subscriptions are reviewed annually to determine if it is necessary to eliminate any titles because of budgetary constraints.

Monograph selections, both print and electronic, are primarily made by the Director of Strategic Collections Services. Specific policies in this area include the following:

Faculty and doctoral student requests are always purchased unless the cost exceeds $500, in which case the final decision is made by full Collection Development Team approval.
Student requests are always purchased unless the title requested falls outside of collection development parameters.
Electronic copies are purchased when they are available and when they do not cost more than 3 times the price of available print offers.
Endowed funds are only used to purchase titles in the subject areas designated by the donor.
All titles listed on faculty syllabuses are purchased.

Monograph Selection Procedures and Guidelines

The Strategic Collections Services Department relies heavily on the shareware software called JTacq in every collection development, acquisitions, and cataloging process. Also essential is access to FirstSearch, a portal into the OCLC database with critical search features. Outlined procedures are based on the continued use of this software.

Candidate titles for purchase are compiled from a number of sources including:

Faculty requests
Faculty syllabuses
Student requests
Collection Development Team member requests
Publisher Catalogs
Publisher websites
Vendor websites, especially Amazon.com
FirstSearch Publisher searches qualified by date, comparator schools, etc.
FirstSearch Subject searches qualified by date, comparator schools, etc.
FirstSearch Series searches qualified by date, comparator schools, etc.
FirstSearch LC Call Number searches qualified by date, comparator schools, etc.

Compiled titles are then searched electronically, to determine if the library already owns a copy. Final decisions on what titles to buy, and in what format, are then made by a designated selector.

For a detailed listing of the procedures used to create lists of candidate titles for purchase, and methods for distributing those lists, see Appendix E.

The acquisition of print books is a relatively straightforward process. Those titles are simply purchased from the vendor that offers the best price for a volume in an acceptable condition. The acquisition of ebooks, on the other hand, is more complicated. Publishers that sell to libraries have various licensing policies that must be observed. The most common licenses are: Unlimited, 3 users, 1 user, and multiple concurrent users. Each of these options will have a corresponding purchase cost. Once purchased the library owns the title, but it may be impossible to upgrade to an expanded availability level at a future date because publishers reserve the right to change the licensing availability and even to withdraw a title from the marketplace. The following are policies that are applicable specifically to ebook purchases.

The purchase of ebooks is now given priority over the purchase of print books.
All required and recommended classroom textbooks listed on faculty syllabuses are purchased, at the highest available licensing level, whenever available.
All Seedbed Publishing titles are purchased at the Unlimited user level.
All titles authored by Asbury Theological Seminary faculty are purchased at the highest available licensing level
At least 2 single use licenses will be purchased for all titles authored by Asbury Theological Seminary faculty when an unlimited license is not available.
At least 2 single use licenses will be purchased for all titles that have incurred more than 20 “turnaways” when an unlimited license is not available.
No standing orders for physical books will be established with publishers when their titles are available for purchase in ebook formats.

Minimum License Level	Category / Subject Guidelines
Highest available	Titles written by faculty
Highest available	Required Textbooks on a faculty syllabus
Highest available	Recommended textbooks on a faculty syllabus
Highest available	Scholarly commentaries
1 user	Popular commentaries
Highest available	Holiness / Sanctification
Highest available	Methodist
1 user	Biblical Studies
1 user	Missions
Unlimited	Unlimited license available under $20 (Listed Publisher)

For a detailed listing of the various publishers and how they are categorized using this system for purchasing electronic material, see Appendix E.

Other Materials

Other library materials will be added on a case-by-case basis, depending on the potential use of the material. Media needed for classes will be at a higher priority than other media sources. Electronic databases will be decided by the Collection Development Team taking into consideration cost, potential use, and other relevant factors. Collections of archival material or complete personal libraries will also be done at the discretion of the Collection Development Team based on the factors relevant to those individual situations.

Budgetary Considerations

When examining the use of available budgetary funds for acquisitions, the library operates on several important principles. Funds are not simply divided into separate equal accounts for each area of the Seminary. These areas are used to determine a general division of how material is collected and items are purchased based on institutional needs. This flexibility is needed for a number of reasons. The library cannot anticipate what materials might be published in any particular year, and so it may need to purchase more in one area for one year and less in the next. The library also needs flexibility in the case of special opportunities to purchase existing libraries from individual scholars in their entirety. This has been done in the past for both Biblical Studies and Intercultural Studies.

It is also important to recognize that each school has different needs and each subject area also requires a different distribution of budgetary funds. For example, in the School of Theology and Formation 51% of the money spent for this school is used for periodicals (25% for books and 24% for databases) due to the importance of periodicals for their subject area. The School of Practical Theology uses 52% on databases (12% on books and 36% on periodicals) due to the critical importance of databases and the most recent information for the Counseling program. Intercultural Studies shows a distribution of 44% on databases (28% on books and 28% on periodicals, again due to the need for the most recent and relevant research for the subject areas involved. Biblical Studies funds are spent at 50% for books (29% for databases and 21% for periodicals) because of the importance of monographs, commentaries, etc. in their field of study.

To make this system of collection development work smoother, the B.L. Fisher Library uses several additional approaches:

Interlibrary loan requests show subject areas that are of current interest for those who use the library, especially at the Ph.D. research level. It is actually cheaper to purchase a book than it is to borrow one, so the library has instituted a policy of purchasing items that are requested whenever possible. Traditional collection development is based on educated guessing about what topics might be of use. This approach allows those who use the library the most to shape the collection without guesswork.
There is a “Recommend a Title” link under Library Services to encourage users of the library to recommend items of interest. This is especially suggested for faculty who would be the most knowledgeable people in their fields and who would also know the potential research interests of their students.
Using specialized software and reports, the Acquisitions Librarian can compare the current collection with competitor schools based on specific call number ranges. Librarians then go through the lists of items not currently owned to flag those items that should be purchased for the collection. This eliminates the need for specialists in each field to make recommendations by the time consuming practice of going through numerous book catalogs.
Both Biblical Studies and Intercultural Studies have specific subject specialists who can make suggestions and advise when an item might be questionable at the doctoral level.

The library recognizes the importance of maintaining a strong collection to support all degree programs offered at Asbury Theological Seminary in all of the various schools. Currently the budget is sufficient for maintaining a strong Master’s level collection in all of the various schools. Additional funds from the Amos family allows for good support for collecting at the Ph.D. level to support the doctoral program in Biblical Studies. The library cannot take any additional resources from the other schools to supplement the Ph.D. program in Intercultural Studies without damaging the potential to support these other programs. Every effort is made to equitably distribute available funds for library material keeping the health of the entire institution in mind, without favoring any individual program or school.

Collection Maintenance- Discarding and Storage

Discarding of materials must be approached very carefully. The items of most value to our collection tomorrow may well be the items deemed of little value to us today. The weeding of older materials should be based on some simple considerations. If the library owns several copies and the items are no longer of curricular value, then two copies may be retained, one for circulation and one for special collections. If the title has been preserved by electronic means, then the print copy may be discarded when its useful life has expired. If the title is ubiquitous or falls outside of the present and projected collecting interest of the libraries, then it may be discarded provided another library has taken preservation interest in it. Otherwise, it may be withdrawn for placement in another more suitable collection elsewhere. Items from which preservation copies have been made may be discarded if too brittle to circulate. Since the library is research based with strong preservation interests, weeding should be a last resort for items even remotely associated with the holiness tradition.

Items that are not used or that are multiple copies, but of importance to the collection are put in remote storage in the underground storage located at High Bridge, Kentucky. These materials can be retrieved within 24 hours if requested by a patron. Storing at High Bridge also helps with preservation.

Gifts

The library gratefully receives gifts of materials and manuscripts. One must understand, however, that the library will not retain all gift items. Items that fall outside of the collection development policies can be handled in various ways, from inexpensive sale to students, donations to international libraries, or discarding. The library cannot accept items with mildew, mold, or water damage. Furthermore, we do not appraise the value of items donated to the library. Tax receipts are offered for all items received.

Collection Development Guidelines

Books and Periodicals

Collection Development should include all of the following activities:

An annual comparison report of the collections of comparative schools is performed to determine the ability of the library to support the degree programs offered;
The purchase of special collections when offered for sale;
The purchase of collections of primary and secondary sources on microform;
The acquisition of unique and specialized materials;
The development of those areas of historical strength and preeminence;
Outstanding English language commentaries on the Bible will include one print reference copy and at least one electronic copy or a print copy in the main stacks if an electronic copy is not available;
Print foreign language commentaries will be placed in the main stacks;
The remedial development of areas of historical weakness;
The ongoing provision for preservation of the collection;
Factors of acquisition pertaining to periodicals include indexing, embargo periods, the credibility of the publisher, and vendor availability.

Electronic Resources

Electronic resources comprise any resource requiring technology for access. These resources include, but are not limited to, full-text databases, indexes, Bible software, and training resources. In addition to the policies and procedures laid out in the rest of the Collection Development Policy Statement, the selection, acquisition, and evaluation of electronic resources is guided by the following:

Preference is given to electronic resources that come from a reliable vendor and, in addition to relevant, authoritative, and comprehensive content, provide the following:

24 hour remote access;
A powerful and user-friendly interface;
Material that is indexed well;
Full-text resources;
Good customer support;
Reasonable pricing;
Compatibility across a wide variety of platforms; and,
A common interface with other electronic resources used by the libraries.

An electronic resource is not purchased unless the library has the funds, technology, and staff to maintain the resource for the foreseeable future.
Electronic resources are given preference over similar print resources when they meet the preceding criteria; however, embargo periods and ease of preservation are also to be considered.
Electronic collections that are for purchase or perpetual access are preferred over subscription collections.
The staff of the library evaluates electronic resources before making the final decision regarding purchase. Trial subscriptions are utilized whenever possible to access valuable information.

Media Collection

The primary reason for the purchase of audiovisual materials is for classroom instruction. The collection is split between media available for faculty use, which is housed at the Help Desk, and a circulating collection held in the library. CDs and DVDs are the primary audiovisual materials purchased currently. The library also subscribes to streaming media databases. Materials available online are preferred over physical media. For further information on archival media see the Archives Collection Development Policy.

In addition, the library is actively involved in producing original media for use by the community. Chapels, academic events, and material used for classes is created by Instructional Design and Technology. This unit of the library follows the following procedures and does this with a special concern for following all laws regarding copyright and securing the proper permissions.

Chapels

Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) adds the Chapel recordings (Full Service and Sermon Only / MP4, WAV, MP3) to a Google Drive folder shared with the LITS Cataloger and Communications. IDT also adds the MP4 files for the Full and Sermon-Only recordings to the ATS Formation Vimeo account. The LITS Cataloger then goes in and labels these Vimeo files and adds catalog information to their description field. These items are then made public. LITS informs Communications that the Vimeo files are public and the files are on Google Drive, and then Communications is able to promote the files to the wider community.

Academic Events

When IDT is requested to capture video and audio of an academic event, that footage

goes into Vimeo for future access.

Classes

When IDT assists faculty with capturing video and audio course content, or live classroom sessions, that footage goes into Vimeo for future access.

Institutional Repository

The library maintains an institutional repository for the purpose of preserving Seminary records and publications, and in order to assist with the process of assessment. The following is a non-exhaustive list of areas maintained:

The official papers of ATS. These papers include the charter, the minutes of the Board of Trustees, the reports of the President, the reports of the executive officers and departmental chairpersons. The records and papers generated by the various administrative offices as well as the files of leading committees and organizations on campus are also collected.
The official publications of ATS and all of its departments.
The personal and professional papers of the faculty of ATS. This material includes correspondence and other records relating to research, teaching, and professional affiliations. Additionally, the Collection Development Team attempts to obtain all publications written by current faculty members.
Photographs and tapes documenting the history of ATS, contributions to scholarship, and general campus activities. The blueprints of campus buildings are also collected.
Theses and dissertations produced by ATS students for completion of degree requirements.

Archival Material

The Archives collects papers of individuals and family groups, and records of institutions and corporate bodies that document or are within the Wesleyan/holiness traditions. These materials are acquired through gifts and the transfer of materials. Collections are occasionally purchased. The Archives also collects books, journals, and selected recordings that document the Wesleyan/holiness traditions. Furthermore, the ATS Archives serves as the official Archives for the Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church, and collects materials relating to the Conference through donation and purchase. For more detailed information, please consult the Archives Collection Development policy (Appendix A).

Division of Collection Development Responsibilities

Collection development responsibilities are divided between the faculty of ATS and the professional staff of the library. The Collection Development Team generally purchases all faculty requests for materials. Sometimes, depending on the status of the budget, the purchase may be delayed, but the intention of the Collection Development Team is to purchase any materials the faculty feel are needed for the collection. Furthermore, any request costing over $500 must be approved by the Collection Development Team. In addition, all materials listed as required in the faculty course syllabi are purchased.

In the normal course of processing library loan requests, the Library Loan Specialist will consider books requested by patrons in light of possible purchase, based on the criteria set forth in this document. Consultation will be made with the Technical Services Manager for approval of the purchase, and to determine the best format (print vs eBook) for the specific title. Once purchased, the book is routed directly to the patron who requested it. In this way, patrons have direct input on purchases made by the Library. Patrons may also use the “Recommend a Title” service on the Library’s web page to request that an item be purchased. It has been found that books requested by InterLibrary Loan are more likely to be used again, so adding them to the collection is a practical way to build the collection based on what is actually used.

The members of the Collection Development Team include the Executive Director of the Library, the Director of Strategic Collections Services, the Director of Instructional Services, the Archivist, the Scholarly Communications Librarian, the Acquisitions specialist, and faculty representation in the area of biblical studies. The Collection Development Team may be contacted by emailing help.desk@asburyseminary.edu.

Diversity and Racial Reconciliation

The Asbury Theological Seminary library makes every concerted effort to collect material reflective of the entire Christian experience, regardless of race, ethnicity, nation of origin, or viewpoints arising from within these diverse communities. Recognizing that a traditional bias against diverse communities has led to unbalanced access in publishing and other avenues of scholarly communications, it is expected that our collections will continue to be weaker in representing these communities in the near future. However, the library is committed to searching out, purchasing, collecting, and preserving materials representing the Global Church whenever possible, so that diverse voices can be heard within our community and used to bring together our often fractured Christian community in true reconciliation as the Body of Christ.

To this end, the library continues to seek ways to balance our collection development in line with this statement. Representing global diversity, acquisitions uses specialized providers to collect material published in diverse parts of the world, such as Hogarth (Africa), Libros Latinos and Libros Centroamericanos (Latin America), and D.K. agencies (India). Such an approach is helpful, but does not cover every part of the world equally and is not comprehensive of all published material in these parts of the world. Due to limited publishing, distribution, and marketing, it is difficult to collect material such as this, but the library makes every effort to fill these gaps.

Working with diverse authors within the United States is also complicated, as the ethnicity of various authors is not necessarily known. As much as possible, the library seeks to collect material to represent diverse voices in the fields that are typically collected for various Seminary programs. The library continues to search for more effective ways to locate and collect these resources from diverse perspectives. Additionally, the library is committed to working to address equity issues in updating subject headings to be more inclusive of diverse viewpoints in how the global Church is represented within the collection (See Appendix F).

Statement on Open Access

The Asbury Theological Seminary library is committed to the principles and practice of Open Access, whenever it is economically feasible. Open Access materials assure free global access to information regardless of geophysical location or socio-economic status. It allows for a free flow of ideas between scholars no matter where they live or what their scholastic affiliation. First Fruits Press and the library’s digitization efforts reflect the commitment to this principle. In addition, the library aims to link to Open Access material relevant to our community whenever possible, and continue to encourage and defend this practice throughout the institution.

In order to support the library’s view on Open Access, it has developed First Fruits Press as an avenue for digitizing older material and making it available, helping professors reprint material which has gone out of print, and producing new material, all of which is freely available online to a global audience. This project has partnered with individuals and groups including: the American Society of Missiology, the Association of Professors of Mission, West African Theological Seminary, the Marston Historical Society of the Free Methodist Church, the Society of Christian Philosophers, and the Church of God (Holiness). All of this material is housed in ePLACE, but is easily accessible through a Google search. The library has allowed the Open Access Digital Theological Library to trawl First Fruits and ePLACE, and First Fruits material is also added and linked from the Digital Theological Library.

ePLACE has also provided an avenue to store and promote Open Access material such as dissertations, archives collections, and chapel recordings. All of this material is free for access by global scholars following the principles of Open Access. The library continues to partner with groups such as the American Theological Library Association and the Denominational Methodist group to find new ways to provide Open Access resources.

Library Bill of Rights

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas. Because of this affirmation and Asbury Theological Seminary’s commitment to higher education, the library believes that the following basic policies should guide our services:

Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community that the library serves. The community consists primarily of the students, faculty, staff, and alumni of ATS and Asbury University, as well as those institutions and their constituents with whom we have reciprocal agreements. In addition, the library is open to community borrowers, local clergy, and visiting researchers. Materials should not be solely excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
The library should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues.
The library should encourage freedom of access to information in the fulfillment of its responsibility to provide information and enlightenment. Furthermore, the library should cooperate with persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgement of free expression and free access to ideas. The partnerships with FoKAL, WALDO, and KYVL enhance the service of the community of ATS in providing access to as much information as practical.
Members of the seminary community with good standing will not be denied the right to use the library because of origin, age, background, or views.

The Asbury Theological Seminary Library Bill of Rights is a statement on intellectual freedom and censorship. Some provisions have incorporated language from the American Library Association’s Bill of Rights. The American Library Association’s Interpretations of its Library Bill of Rights are not applicable to the ATS Library Bill of Rights.

Appendix A

Archives Collection Development Policy

Objective:

The mission of the archive of Asbury Theological Seminary is to collect, arrange, preserve, and make available administrative records created by the seminary for legal and institutional use.

Scope:

The scope of the Archive’s Collection includes the official Records Management for Asbury Theological Seminary. As such, the Archives collects records, documents, and publications following the institution’s retention schedules, keeps it in original order, and preserves it in case of legal or institutional necessity. This material is kept for the use of the institution and is therefore not open to outside researchers without special administrative or legal permission.

Acquisition:

The archivist has primary responsibility for receiving documents from the various departments of the institution and ensuring that retention schedules are updated and followed. The archivist does not create or manipulate the retention schedule, but may give advice as requested. The choice to preserve or maintain any material is determined by the official office which produced it in line with any legal or official obligations.

Access:

Since this material includes official and legal material sensitive to the operations and legal requirements of the institution, this material has a restricted access and is limited to the use of those with administrative positions that permit access, and to those with proper legal and administrative permission.

Preservation:

Given the restricted nature and legal importance of this material, it will be preserved for the lifetime of the institution. Material which is not deemed relevant for permanent preservation should be maintained by the department of record until the retention schedule permits its destruction. All materials will be preserved in a digital format whenever possible, although legal documents requiring valid seals or signatures will be maintained in paper files. Proper controls for the legal preservation and security of this material will be maintained. Archival material may be transferred to newer formats for preservation purposes as needed.

Deaccession:

The Archivist, as the legal custodian of these materials is not permitted to deaccession any item unless it follows the guidelines of the official retention schedule. This is to ensure that all material legally required to be preserved will be kept per the guidelines established by the offices of Asbury Theological Seminary. The Archivist cannot add to or remove from the archives anything that contradicts the retention policy of Asbury Theological Seminary.

Legal Custodianship:

The Archivist is the legal custodian of the official Archives of Asbury Theological Seminary and as such must maintain confidentiality of any material in their control and keep this material secure. Material can only be released to the proper officials of the administration of Asbury Theological Seminary or to legal representatives of the institution or the government who have the proper authority to view this material.

Appendix B

Archives Collections

Updated: January 25, 2022

Unpublished manuscripts are among the Archives’ major resources. These document the work of persons and organizations within the Wesleyan/holiness traditions. These include the personal papers of such persons as Harmon A. Baldwin; C.W. Butler; D. Willa Caffray; Albert E. Day; Charles G. Finney; E. Stanley Jones; Mabel Jones, Howard T. Kuist; Leslie Marston; John Paul; Paul S. Reese; B. T. Roberts; the Shelhamer family; Gerrit Smith; Hannah Whitall Smith; Phebe and Ernest Ward; Ruth Tipton; Mark Elliott; John Birmbaum; and Orville S. Walters.

Organizational records include the papers of: the International Society of Christian Endeavor, the World Christian Endeavor, Ireland Christian Endeavor, Texas Christian Endeavor, the Christian Holiness Association; Oriental Mission Society (OMS); United Christian Ashrams International; Indian Spring (Georgia) Camp Meeting; Simpson Park (Michigan) Camp Meeting; the Pentecostal Publishing Company; the Ed Robb Evangelistic Association; the Mission Society for United Methodists; and the Institute for Religion in Democracy (IRD). The IRD records also include the papers of Diane Knippers.

Appendix C

Areas and Levels of Collection

(According to Library of Congress Subject Headings)

LC CLASS	LEVEL	Description of Subject

A	3	General works. Polygraphy.
B	3	Philosophy.
BC	3	Logic.
BD1	3	Speculative philosophy, general.
BD95	3	Metaphysics.
BD143	3	Epistemology. Theory of knowledge.
BD240	3	Methodology.
BD300	3	Ontology. Soul. Immortality.
BD490	3	Cosmology. Teleology. Space/Time. Atomism.
BF1	2	Sensation (Psychology).
BF311	2	Cognition. Perception. Intelligence.
BF511	3	Emotion.
BF608	2	Will.
BF636	3	Applied psychology.
BF660	2	Comparative psychology.
BF683	2	Motivation.
BF698	2	Personality.
BF699	2	Genetic psychology.
BF795	2	Temperament. Character.
BF840	2	Physiognomy. Phrealogy. Grephology. Palmistry.
BF1000	2	Parapsychology.
BF1405	3	Occult.
BH1	2	Aesthetics.
BJ1	2	Ethics
BJ70	2	Ethic, history of.
BJ990	2	Ethics, general works.
BJ1188	3	Religious ethics.
BJ1298	2	Ethics, special topics.
BJ1501	3	Individual ethics. Character. Virtue.
BJ1801	2	Ethics. Social usages. Etiquette.
BL1	3	Religion/Religions. General works.
BL175	3	Natural theology.
BL300	2	Mythology, general.
BL350	3	Religions in relation to one another.
BL425	2	Religious doctrine.
BL500	2	Eschatology.
BL550	2	Worship. Cultus.
BL660	2	History and principles of religion.
BL1100	3	Hinduism.
BL1300	2	Jainism.
BL1500	2	Zoroastrianism.
BL1600	2	Semitic religions.
BL1800	3	History, principles of religion. Asian, Oriental.
BL2700	2	Rationalism.
BM1	3	Judaism. General. Study and teaching.
BM150	3	Judaism. History.
BM495	3	Sources of Jewish religion. Literature.
BM534	3	Judaism, special subjects. Doctrines.
BM650	3	Practical Judaism.
BP1	3	Islam. General.
BP89	3	Islam, literature. Sacred books.
BP140	3	Islam, special subjects. Doctrines.
BP174	3	Practice of Islam.
BP300	2	Bahaism.
BP500	2	Theosophy.
BP595	2	Anthroposophy.
BP600	2	Other beliefs and movements.
BQ1	3	Buddhism. General.
BQ250	3	Buddhism, history. Biography.
BQ1000	3	Buddhism literature. Sacred books.
BQ4000	3	Buddhism. Teachings, doctrines, special topics.
BQ4910	3	Practice of Buddhism.
BQ7000	3	Modifications, schools, etc.
BR1	4	Christianity. Early writers.
BR140	4	Church history by period.
BR500	4	Church history by country.
BR1640	4	Movements transcending denominations.
BR1690	4	Christian biography.
BS1	4	Bible. Versions.
BS410	5	Bible. General works.
BS569	4	Men, women and children of the Bible.
BS585	5	Bible. Study and teaching.
BS620	5	Bible Auxiliary topics.
BS700	5	OT. Versions.
BS1110	5	OT. General works.
BS1143	5	OT. Commentaries.
BS1160	5	OT. Criticism, interpretation, study and teaching.
BS1196	5	OT. Auxiliary topics.
BS1200	5	OT. Historical books, Pentateuch.
BS1410	5	OT. Poetical books.
BS1500	5	OT. Prophetic books.
BS1690	5	OT. Apocryphal books.
BS1900	5	NT. Versions.
BS2270	5	NT. General works.
BS2333	5	NT. Commentaries.
BS2350	5	NT. Criticism and interpretation.
BS2407	5	NT. Auxiliary topics.
BS2415	5	Teachings of Jesus.
BS2430	5	Men, women, children of the NT.
BS2525	5	NT. Study and teaching.
BS2545	5	NT. Other topics.
BS2547	5	NT. Gospels and Acts.
BS2630	5	NT. Epistles.
BS2830	5	NT. Apocrypha.
BT1	4	Doctrinal theology.
BT98	4	God.
BT181	5	Christology.
BT591	4	Saints.
BT695	4	Creation.
BT750	4	Salvation. Grace.
BT765	6	Sanctification. Holiness.
BT770	4	Faith. Doubt. Grace. Conversion.
BT785	4	Assurance. Regeneration. Free will.
BT811	4	Eschatology. Future life. Invisible world.
BT990	4	Creeds. Catechisms.
BT1095	4	Apologetics.
BT1300	4	Doctrinal histories.
BV1	4	Worship.
BV590	4	Ecclesiastical theology.
BV659	5	Ministry. Church administration.
BV800	4	Sacraments.
BV1460	4	Religious education.
BV2000	5	Missions by denomination.
BV2600	5	Missions. Special types.
BV2700	5	Missions by country. Biography.
BV3750	5	Evangelism. Revivals.
BV3798	5	Camp meetings
BV4000	4	Pastoral theology.
BV4012	4	Pastoral psychology, psychiatry.
BV4017	4	Clergy training.
BV4200	4	Preaching.
BV4320	4	Clergy. Office and lifestyle.
BV4400	4	Church work.
BV4480	4	Christian life.
BV4610	4	Moral theology.
BV4800	4	Works of meditation and devotion.
BV4912	3	Conversion literature.
BV5015	3	Asceticism.
BV5070	3	Mysticism.
BV5099	3	Quietism.
BX1	4	Ecumenism. Church unity.
BX100	3	Eastern Churches.
BX200	3	Eastern Orthodox Church.
BX800	3	Catholic Church. General works
BX938	4	Catholic Church. History.
BX1747	4	Catholic Church. Theology, doctrines, sermons.
BX1781	4	Catholic relations. Worship, liturgy.
BX2315	3	Catholic Saints. Relics.
BX2347	4	Christian life. Biography.
BX4800	4	Protestantism.
BX5000	4	Church of England. Anglicanism.
BX5800	4	Episcopal Church.
BX6100	4	Adventists to German Evangelicals.
BX7990	5	Holiness churches.
BX8001	4	Lutherans to Mennonites.
BX8201	5	Methodism. General works.
BX8231	5	Methodism. History by country.
BX8330	5	Methodism. Doctrines, sermons, teachings.
BX8336	5	Methodist worship.
BX8339	5	Methodist church administration.
BX8350	5	Wesleyan Methodist Church. British Methodism
BX8380	5	Methodist Episcopal Church. Methodist Church (US)
BX8390	5	Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Meth. Prot. Church.
BX8410	5	Free Methodist Church
BX8431	5	Methodism. Other Branches.
BX8432	5	Wesleyan Church.
BX8435	5	Methodism. Afro-American branches
BX8475	5	Methodist camp meetings. Individual Churches.
BX8500	3	Millennial Dawnists to Independent Churches.
C	4	Auxiliary sciences of history (Archeology).
D	4	General and Old World History.
E	4	History. America and U.S.
F	4	History. U.S. local.
G	3	Geography.
GN	4	Anthropology.
GR	1	Folklore.
GT	1	Manners and Customs.
GV	1	Recreation.
H	2	Economics.
HM	4	Sociology.
HN30	4	Church and social problems.
HN41	4	Social history. Social problems.
HQ1	3	Sex.
HQ500	4	Family. Marriage. Home.
HQ750	2	Eugenics.
HQ755.7	2	Parenting.
HQ760	2	Family Size. Birth Control. Abortion.
HQ767.8	2	Children.
HQ793	2	Youth. Conduct of Life.
HQ800	2	Singles. Celibacy.
HQ805	2	Marriage problems.
HQ1000	2	Marriage, the State and the Church
HQ1058	2	Widows and widowers.
HQ1060	2	Aged. Retirement.
HQ1073	4	Death and dying.
HQ1075	2	Sex role.
HQ1090	2	Men.
HQ1101	2	Women. Feminism.
HS	2	Secret Societies
HT	4	Communities. Classes. Races.
HV40	2	Charity.
HV5001	2	Alcoholism. Temperance.
HV5725	2	Tobacco habit.
HV5800	2	Drug habit.
HV6001	2	Crime. Penology.
HX	2	Socialism. Communism. Anarchism.
J	1	Political Science.
K	1	Law.
L	2	Education. General works.
LB	4	Theory and practice of education.
LC8	2	Forms of education (self, home, private)
LC65	2	Social aspects of education.
LC251	3	Moral and religious education.
LC1001	2	Types of education.
LC1390	2	Education of special classes of persons.
LC5201	2	Adult education.
LD	2	Individual education institutions.
LH	2	College publications. Fraternities. Textbooks.
M1	2	Instrumental music.
M1495	2	Vocal music. Secular.
M1999	4	Vocal music. Sacred.
M2115	4	Hymns. Gospel Songs.
ML	3	Literature of music.
MT	3	Music instruction.
N	3	Fine arts.
P	3	Philology and linguistics.
PA1	3	Classical Greek philology and language.
PA2000	3	Classical Latin philology and language.
PA3051	3	Classical Greek literature.
PA6000	3	Classical Latin literature.
PB	2	Modern European languages.
PJ1	1	Oriental languages. General works.
PJ1001	2	Egyptian. Coptic
PJ2301	1	Hamitic languages.
PJ3001	3	Semitic languages. General works.
PJ3101	3	Assyrian. Sumerian.
PJ4501	4	Hebrew.
PJ5201	4	Aramaic.
PJ5403	3	Syriac.
PJ6000	3	Arabic.
PJ9001	3	Ethiopian.
PK1	2	Indo-Iranian.
PK8000	1	Other languages and literatures.
PN1	2	Literary history and collection.
PQ	2	Romance literature.
PR	2	English literature.
PS	2	American literature.
PT	2	Germanic literature
PZ	2	Fiction and juvenile literature.
Q	1	Science.
R	1	Medicine. General works.
R722	1	Missionary medicine.
R723	1	Medical ethics.
R728	1	Medicine. General works.
RA390	1	Medical missions.
RA396	1	Public aspects of medicine.
RA790	1	Mental health.
RA791	1	Medical geography. Pathology.
RC435	2	Psychiatry.
RC443	1	Medicine.
RZ400	2	Mental healing.
S	1	Agriculture.
T	1	Technology.
U	1	Military science.
UH20	4	Chaplains.
UH30	1	Military science.
V	1	Naval science.
Z	2	Books. Book making. Writing.
Z662	2	Libraries.
Z998	3	Booksellers’ catalogs. Bibliographies.

Appendix D:

Collection Access

Access to the Library Collection is determined by the person’s relationship to the Seminary: including, but not limited to, circulating physical collections, online databases, and eBooks.

Asbury Theological Seminary Students, Staff, and Faculty (includes ATS Board Members and all temporary access groups such as Fisher Research Scholars)
Asbury University Faculty
Community Borrowers (includes guests from reciprocal institutions and Family members of ATS S,S,&F)
ATS Alumni

Circulating Collection Access:

	Loan periods	Check out limits
Students and Staff of Asbury Theological Seminary	Bi-annual February/August	100 items
Advanced Research Students and all Faculty of Asbury Theological Seminary	Bi-annual February/August	150 items
Faculty of Asbury University	Bi-annual February/August	100 Items
Local Resident Scholars (Community Borrowers, including Alumni and Asbury University Students)	28 days	100 items
ATS Alumni	28 days	100 items
Overdue Fine Schedule: Reference/Reserve books: $ 1.00 per hour Recalled books: $ 5.00 per day All other books: $ 0.25 per day Replacement charges: $75.00 per item minimum up to cost of item or replacement copy and $10.00 processing fee

Online Resource Access (not open-access):

Access if provided via a centralized authentication system for all ATS students, staff, faculty, and alumni for appropriate resources according to licensing.

Group	Access
Students, Staff, Faculty of Asbury Theological Seminary	All online resources and InterLibrary Loan
Faculty of Asbury University	ATS-OnCampus access to all online resources
Local Resident Scholars (Community Borrowers, including Alumni and Asbury University Students)	ATS-OnCampus access to all online resources
ATS Alumni	Online Access to select resources (ATLA Religion Database and JSTOR as well as Library Loan from ATS only)

Periodicals and Reference

Reference materials and periodicals are used in the library building only.

Archives and Special Collections

Archives and Special Collections are available through appointment only.

Renewal Services

You may renew eligible materials on or before the due date, if no one else has requested these items, and there are no outstanding issues with your account. Eligible items may be renewed twice by phone, in person, or through the online catalog.

Library Loan Services

Books from Asbury Theological Seminary’s library collection can be requested by students off campus through the Library Loan link found on the Library webpage and by other schools through normal interlibrary loan processes. Books owned by other institutions can also be requested by students, staff and faculty through the Library Loan system. Please allow 7-10 days for processing and mailing. Books generally will not be mailed overseas due to the time needed for mailing.

Every effort will be made to obtain materials requested for free. If a cost is involved, determined by the lending institution, the requestor will be notified of the cost prior to a final request being made. Scans of articles or allowable sections of materials, determined by copyright guidelines, can also be requested from the seminary library or other institutions through the Library Loan interface. Materials in storage, archives or currently checked out can also be requested through Library Loan. Some items can only be used in-house.

The requestor is responsible for material requested from the time it leaves the library until it is safely returned. Changes of address should be made prior to any requests. (Please note, changing your address in the Asbury Information System does not update the Library Loan request form.) Fines starting at $10.00/book are posted to student accounts for late material from other schools and also subject to further fees set by the lending institution. Renewals may or may not be granted based on the lending institutions policies. Contact the Library Loan staff with requests for renewals on books from other institutions.

Please do not request materials to be pulled from the shelves or scanned from the seminary library collection if you are within 50 miles of campus.

Notification Services

The Library assumes that you are responsible for materials you have borrowed and that you will return them on time or before the due date. However, notices will be sent to you for items that are coming due, overdue and long overdue, or for items that are urgently needed by another borrower. We will also make every effort to notify you when the book you requested is ready for pickup.

You may also keep track of your personal circulation records at any time, through the online catalog. You may monitor the books you have checked out, their due dates, the status of your requests, and initiate renewals online through the library catalog by logging in under your username and password. (See Answers for initial standard password.)

Equipment Policy

Library equipment such as cameras, laptops, eReaders, tablets, etc., are available on a first come, first served basis. Borrower assumes responsibility for replacement or damage.

Study Rooms

Study rooms are available for group collaboration. Reservations are available for up to two weeks for groups of two or more. Stop by the front desk, email or call.

Copying/Printing

Students, Faculty, Staff, Alumni, Auditors, and Community Borrowers may receive an ID card from the Library. Patrons must have money posted to their Library printing accounts before they are able to copy or print on the Kentucky Campus. This account is separate from other billing accounts a student may possess, such as money for Dining Services. Money placed on a Library printing account cannot be refunded. Patrons can transfer funds from their account to another user’s account.

Food and Drink

Please be careful and respectful of others, furniture and library materials. Lids are highly recommended.

Appendix E:

eBook Publisher Chart

Cost: The average cost for a title, single user license.

$ = 0-30,
$$ = 30-60
$$$ = 60-100
$$$$ = 100+

Rating: Likelihood that the Publisher’s titles will be ones that we want to add to our collection, based on Collection Development Policies.

***** = Beginning 1/1/2022, treated as a Blanket order. All academic books purchased at the highest license level
**** = Very likely
*** = Likely
** = Somewhat likely
* = Occasionally

ACL% 30: Publishers who participate with the Association of Christian Librarians 30% semi annual discount sale

License: The highest license level a publisher makes available

Cost	Rating	ACL%	License	eBook Publishers
$$$	*	30	Unlimited	ABC-CLIO (Praeger, Greenwood, Libraries unlimited)
$	*	0	1 user	Abilene Christian University
$$	****	0	1 user	Abingdon
$	**	0	1 user	Augsburg (Fortress)
$	***	30	Unlimited	Authentic Media (Paternoster)
$$	***	30	Unlimited	B & H Publishing
$$	*****	30	1 user	Baker Books
$$	*	30	Unlimited	Barbour Books
$$$	***	30	Unlimited	Baylor University Press
$$$$	*	30	Unlimited	Berghahn Books
$$$$	***	30	Unlimited	Bloomsbury Publishing
$	*	30	Unlimited	BMH (Baker & Taylor)
$$$$	***	30	Unlimited	Brill
$$$$	*	30	Unlimited	Cambria Press
$$$$	*	30	Unlimited	Cambridge Scholars Publishing
$$$$	***	0	Concurrent	Cambridge University Press
$$	***	0	Unlimited	Cascade
$$$	*	30	Unlimited	Catholic University of America Press
$	**	0	Unlimited	Chalice Press
$$	**	0	1 user	Charisma House
$$	**	0	Concurrent	Church House
$	**	0	Unlimited	Church Publishing (Morehouse)
$	**	30	Unlimited	CLC Publications
$	****	0	1 user	Cokesbury (United Methodist Publishing House)
$$$$	**	30	Unlimited	Continuum (Bloomsbury)
$	**	0	1 user	Creation House
$	***	30	Unlimited	Crossway
$	*	0	Unlimited	Darton, Longman and Todd
$	**	30	Unlimited	David C. Cook
$$$$	***	30	Unlimited	De Gruyter (Gorgias Press)
$	**	30	Unlimited	Destiny Image
$	****	0	1 user	Discipleship Resources
$	***	0	Unlimited	Editorial CLIE
$$$$	**	30	Unlimited	Edwin Mellen Press
$$	*****	0	1 user	Eerdmans
$$$$	***	0	Unlimited	Eisenbrauns (Pennsylvania State University Press)
$$$$	****	0	Unlimited	Fortress Academic (Rowman & Littlefield)
$$	****	0	1 user	Fortress Press
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Appendix F:

Statement on Potentially Harmful Language in Library

Subject Headings and Description Data

We, Library, Information, and Technology Services (LITS), are aware that item description is not neutral, nor are those who engage in item description. Descriptors are developed in socio-cultural contexts and are meant to describe as accurately as possible the subject of the material being described. We acknowledge that there are biases and prejudices inherent in historical periods when these terms were developed and used.

It is not uncommon for Library of Congress subject headings to reveal the Western bias present in its creation and application, producing more detailed descriptions of American locations than Asian or African locations. It is also common to find gender bias and sexual bias displayed in headings related to professions that have historically been dominated by a particular gender (for example: “pastors” and “female pastors”). Culture produces these biases over time, and these biases can shift over time as well.

Current subject headings from the Library of Congress contain language that has become offensive to members of the population. One example is the term “illegal aliens,” which many people feel should be replaced with “illegal immigrants.” However, changing LoC subject headings requires approval from the U.S. House of Representatives; thus far, the House has voted not to change the subject heading because it would be out of step with existing legal documents (Peet, 2016) (Behre, 2020).

We at LITS recognize that history contains pain and records of harm. We do not seek to sanitize history or the descriptors of history. Theological research and education often requires exploration of painful historical events and controversial ideas in order to understand the present moment and future possibilities. Item description and subject headings are non-theological in force; they are informational in force. They are not meant to display or support any specific religious tradition or non-religious tradition. They are meant to describe as faithfully as possible the content of the item and the author’s produced information. It is therefore possible to have offensive language and/or topics in the library at Asbury Seminary, not because we endorse those views, but because it is necessary to the work of theological research and education.

We are also aware, however, that language has power — power to heal and power to harm, and we acknowledge our responsibility to be mindful of this power. Certain language has been used in cataloging that time and context have rendered at least potentially harmful. In an effort to balance these different perspectives, we propose the following:

We will not change the established descriptors that come from the LoC Subject Headings. These headings have historical significance which should be preserved.
We will implement these LoC subject heading authority records in our public catalog, which include regularly updated language to help our patrons discover the most relevant sources for their topic.
We will work to add more appropriate descriptors and subject headings that address cultural changes in descriptive language and mitigate the deficit in meaning expressed by potentially harmful language.
We will actively engage in the community process of recommending and correcting LoC headings through the Subject Authority Cooperative (SACO) funnels available to us (https://www.loc.gov/aba/pcc/saco/funnels.html).

This will create a catalog system that increases discoverability through the additional updated subject terms, but preserves the “Authoritative” headings used by the LoC.

With regard to archival material, we must not change language that comes from the archival material. However, where potentially offensive descriptors have been added by previous archivists and which do not exist within the material itself, we will update the language to more modern topical terms where appropriate and needed to aid discoverability.

Other example statements: