Uncataloged and Partially Cataloged Collections

At the School of Theology Library, we often measure the size of a collection in standard library shelves or boxes.  A typical shelf contains 35-50 volumes, though the numbers vary greatly depending on size.  Boxes vary in size, and typically contain enough volumes to fill slightly less than one shelf.  Below is our running backlog of both uncataloged collections and donations (donations become part of the Research Collection, the circulating collection, or are not retained by the Library); we are currently exploring possibilities to make these available to the public.  Some volumes in every collection or donation require original cataloging (no existing records), which takes an hour or longer, partly increased by non-English language material.  Other volumes can be cataloged in a shorter amount of time by adjusting records which already exist.

In addition to the collections listed below, we also have 33 shelves and 17 boxes of miscellaneous materials and 15 boxes of periodicals that have been partially mis-cataloged and/or incorrectly bound.

Rev. William Heidt Collection

3 shelves and c. 400 pamphlets.  See Worship Collections for description.

Massachusetts Bible Society Collection

4500 volumes; more than 50% remain uncataloged.  See Biblical Collections for description.

Nutter-Metcalf Hymnal Collection

4 shelves.  See Hymnological Collections for description.

James Russell Houghton Collection

8 shelves.  See Hymnological Collections for description.

Crocker Durkee Collection

1/2 shelf.  See Hymnological Collections for description.

Lester Hostetler Hymnal Collection

1 shelf.

Lila Hill Hymnbook Collection

1 shelf.

Bangor Theological Seminary Collection

33 shelves.  See Missions Collections for description.

Dorothy S. Packer Collection

1/2 shelf.  See Theology and Philosophy Collections for description.

Pamphlets Collections

The Library owns around 4000 pamphlets.  We have cataloged 2849 of them; roughly 1100 remain uncataloged at the time of writing, and these require original cataloging.  Around 800 were donated to the Library by the New England United Methodist Historical Society, and the rest are German biblical studies pamphlets.  The cataloged pamphlets were used in the Polity and United Methodist History classes taught by Dr. Glen Messer.  The remaining uncataloged pamphlets will be used for teaching in future classes.  They are unique items which are not found in other libraries.

Janice Woods Hymnological Donation

7 shelves.  These hymnals were given to the Library in 2008 by Janice Woods, a Methodist layperson in upstate New York and member of the Hymn Society.

Museum Collection

102 shelves; a significant number of oversize objects.  An eclectic group of materials including books published before the 20th century, antique objects and paintings, Biblical archaeology books written by the BU faculty in the 1920s and 1930s, and a few rare books.  The collection formerly resided in the Museum Room, which was dismantled and moved to the Research Collections when the library was renovated in 1999.

Tripp Donation

12 shelves.  This collection was donated to the Library by Professor Karen Westerfield-Tucker who acquired them from the estate of David Tripp.

Pepper Donation

3 shelves. This collection was donated to the Library by Stephen Pepper, a 1987 School of Theology graduate in the MDiv program.  The collection contains several series, including Ancient Christian Commentaries, as well as some standard theological works.

Christal Whelan Collection

1 shelf.  Mission-related Japanese language materials.

Keazirian Collection

1/2 shelf.  Primarily nineteenth-century bibles.

The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada Collection

24 shelves. This hymnal collection, from the 18th century through the early 20th century, is owned by the Hymn Society and was originally deposited at Union Theological Seminary in New York.  The collection was moved to the Library in 2005 when Union dropped their MSM degree.

Hymn Society Donation

3 shelves.  This donation to the Library contains miscellaneous hymnals and hymnal supplements, primarily from the late 19th through the 20th century.  All these materials fill gaps in current cataloged holdings.

Miscellaneous 20th c. Korean and Japanese Language Materials

1 1/2 shelves.

Parker Collections

5 1/2 shelves. Dr. Simon Parker was the Harrell F. Beck Scholar of Hebrew Scripture at the BU School of Theology.

Stephen E. Ayers Collection

10 shelves.  Rev. Stephen E. Ayers received a MRE from the BU School of Religious Education in 1932.  The collection includes hymnals and hymn-related material from the late 1830′s to the early 1950′s, including published hymnals and notebook collections of hymnals compiled in preparation for publication.  This collection fills a significant gap in our hymnological collections between the earlier Nutter-Metcalf and later Rogers material.

Barbara Owen Collection

1 shelf.  Barbara Owen is a distinguished organ scholar and Director of the American Guild of Organists Library on the lower level of the STH building.  The collection, primarily from 19th-century New England, is particularly strong in oblong tunebooks.