Atla Annual 2024: Full Schedule

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10:00am PDT

How Doomed Are We?: A Philosophical/Theological Consideration of AI/ChatGPT in Relation to Theological Libraries and Theological Education

How should theological librarians think about and respond to the advent of AI in theological education? What role(s) might theological librarians have in this brave new world? How is AI similar to, and different from, other information technology revolutions (writing, printing, the internet)? Should institutions of theological education consider pursing a kind of new monasticism, leaving the decadent dystopia into which we seem to be heading for the purity of quill and parchment? While we may be unable to provide definite answers, this session will at least offer a forum for raising, considering, and discussing these and related questions.

Speakers

David Schmersal

Access and Instruction Librarian, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary - Stitt Library

Brady Beard

Reference and Instruction Librarian, Pitts Theology Library, Emory University

I am the Reference and Instruction Librarian at Pitts Theology Library. My interests intersect at information literacy, artificial intelligence, tech ethics, theological librarianship, and biblical studies.

Emily Peterson

Director of Public Services, Columbia Theological Seminary

I am a theology and word nerd, an avid walker, a decidedly mediocre amateur musician, a food enthusiast, an aspiring gardener, and a newcomer to theological librarianship who is passionate about information literacy and the power of good questions. I began my current position in May... Read More →

Allison Graham

Reference and Research Librarian, Princeton Theological Seminary

Thursday June 20, 2024 10:00am - 11:15am PDT
International Ballroom 1

Identity, Panel Presentation

4:00pm PDT

Knowledge Injustice in the Theological Library

Since I began working in theological libraries in 1993, I have repeatedly grappled with the work and purpose of the theological library. I often wondered if I am making a difference in how students are being prepared for ministry. Now as a library director, even though students tell me they are satisfied with the library, is there more the library can do?

This paper is based on my D.Min. thesis completed in May 2023 in which I grappled with these ideas. I focused my research on the Bechtold Library at Catholic Theological Union where I am the library director, to explore the extent to which aspects of decoloniality affect the practices of a theological library and its diverse student body, and student research needs.

Keeping, producing, and providing knowledge were the three essential roles I devised for librarians, but each comes with cultural assumptions about what should be kept in a library, the types of knowledge the library should help produce and services the library should provide. My research included a survey of CTU students on their use of the library as well as a survey of Atla library directors to get a different perspective on theological libraries. I will include my research in the presentation.

Finally, as a member of Western society, I am keenly aware the CTU library carries a legacy of colonial thought which has shaped the existing library collection and influences the knowledge produced by library users. I used the work of Kwok Pui-Lan and others to look through decolonial and postcolonial lenses to reveal injustices in the way the CTU library keeps, produces, and provides knowledge to inform possible interventions a library could take within these three essential roles.

Speakers