The Ohio Theological Library Association records

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: ML-062

Staff Only

Abstract

This collection contains the records from the Ohio Theological Library Association (OTLA), which is a regional consortium of the American Theological Library Association (ATLA). The mission of the OTLA is to promote and facilitate cooperation between theological libraries in Ohio. The materials in this collection are dated from 1971 through 2016, but the bulk of the documents only go up to 2012. This collection contains documents on the history of the organization, when it began, who started it, membership lists, and directories. It also contains the administrative documents, the bulk of which are meeting minutes, agendas, and handouts from November 1971 up to Spring 2016. There is also information on smaller committees within OTLA, such as the Long-Range Planning Committee, Budget Committee, Proposals Committee, and Conference Planning Committee. Correspondence was divided into the folders most related to the subject of the letters, and miscellaneous correspondence was placed in its own folder. Most of the records are in a text format except for two VHS’s of a workshop hosted by OTLA and a floppy disc of meeting minutes from 2001 to 2005.

Dates

Creation: 1970 - 2016
Creation: Majority of material found within 1971 - 2012

Creator

Ohio Theological Library Association (Organization)

Access to Materials

This collection is open and available to the public for research in the Marian Library reading room. The materials are non-circulating.

Copyright Notice

The materials in this collection may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code). The materials are available for personal, educational, and scholarly use. It is the responsibility of the researcher to locate and obtain permission form the copyright owner or his or her heirs for any other use, such as reproduction and publication.

History

The Ohio Theological Association was founded in 1968 by presidents, deans, and librarians of theological schools in Ohio. It began as the Ohio Area Theological Librarians (OATL), but in 1977 it joined the American Theological Library Association as a regional consortium and became Ohio Theological Librarians (OTL). The name, OTLA, was adopted in 1988. Over the years, some of the groups largest projects have been publishing multiple Union List of Serials for Ohio seminaries and OTLA institutions. OTLA has also published a union list of standing orders and a handbook to Ohio’s theological libraries. The association has hosted a number of workshops and training events. Some of the most notable are “Marketing for Theological Libraries” in 1994 and “Exploring Resources on Religion” in 1997. The association also became a member of the Ohio Council of Library and Information Services (OCLIS) in 1990 to keep in contact with the wider library community of Ohio. In 2019, the organization included the following institutions: Ashland Theological Seminary, Athenaeum of Ohio/Mt. St. Seminary of the West, Bluffton University, Cincinnati Christian University, Malone University, Methodist Theological School in Ohio, Ohio Dominican University, Payne Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Pontifical College Josephinum, Saint Mary Seminary, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, United Theological Seminary, University of Dayton, and Winebrenner Theological Seminary.