Too many books at the Library 📚 Vegas to Wittenberg - Episode 9

A trip to the Kristine Kay Hasse Memorial Library (Big thanks to all the librarians at ‪@ConcordiaSeminary‬)
I had a few books to return to the Concordia Seminary Library, so during my last visit, I stopped by to drop them off. But I realized I had a golden opportunity to “meet’ some of the presenters at the Wittenberg Center this summer. So, a few nights before my library visit, I began searching for published works by some of the Teaching Fellows for this summer’s Wittenberg Center.
From their Website:
Teaching Fellows will be Dr. Paul Avis (Durham University), Dr. Matthias Deuschle (University of Tübingen), Prof. Robert Kolb (Concordia Seminary), Prof. Jennifer Powell McNutt (Wheaton College), Prof. Martin Ohst (University of Wuppertal), and Prof. Dorothea Wendebourg (Humboldt University). Prof. Thomas Kaufmann (University of Göttingen) and Prof. Alec Ryrie (Durham University) will co-teach a study day on religion and rebellion in Germany and England in the 16th century.
I’ve already purchased a few books from Prof. Jennifer Powell McNutt and Prof. Alec Ryrie and downloaded Scholarly Articles written by the Teaching Fellows in the last few years, but I thought it would be handy to actually flip through some physical sources before I leave for Germany.
Before I knew it, I had requested 47 books! I emailed the library to save time during my short visit. I would only check out a handful, but I didn’t have time to gather them together. It’s so important to be kind and thankful for librarians. They make research possible.
When I arrived at the library, all my books were on a cart. I was very embarrassed to be so demanding, but the librarians had worked with me before and were happy to help someone so enthusiastic about books.
But to me, these books are people I am going to meet and learn from in less than a month!!
So I dug in. I had my son and my mother-in-law with me. I promised I wouldn’t be more than an hour. I organized all the books by author, and I examined each book one by one. I looked for three things.
Book sleeves or summaries. These can be very useful, and you don’t always find them in academic sources, but many times, they will communicate the main parts of the book and help you figure out the argument.
Dedications. I wanted to see who helped each author with their research. Now that I’m traveling to Germany, seeing where academics find their sources is really interesting. It often has big libraries, but sometimes, it has State Archives. I wanted to see if I Could discover any patterns. I also was looking for names that I recognized. Many people thank my Dr. Kolb for the dedications, and I could see after reading all 47 book dedications that there were many linking relationships between them.
Indexes. I always search for mentions of Thomas Cranmer, Justus Jonas, and Andreas Osiander. A few had sections that seemed important. I was also looking for any Nuremberg people.
It was not enough time to explore the sources fully, but I do have a better sense of what each author is deeply knowledgeable about.
As I get closer to the Wittenberg Center, I feel more and more excited and overwhelmed. But I’m confident it will be a wonderful experience!!
Music by Naomi - Aurora - thmatc.co/?l=59C4A704

[@quarantina3999]

47 sources!! Wow. How did you keep track of the pertinent info since you didn't have a lot of time? Photos as your notes? Also, great new hair. 👍

[@SarahCrowder]

I honestly wasn't able to keep track; I was mostly looking for trends connecting all the sources and trying to notice the expertise of each author. I have a notion page set up for the Wittenberg Center, and each presenter has their own page where I am putting links to their podcasts, RUclips videos, articles, and books. I can listen to podcasts, watch videos, and read articles, and I've handled the books. That's ok for now! I wanted to spend the most time with Dr. Kirby's sources because he would be with us the entire time, and I didn't realize until I saw the stack I had already checked out and skimmed through one of his books on Vermigli. Justus Jonas' son traveled with Vermigli to England!! So, I'm excited to learn more from him. But Articles are where I spend most of my time. Downloading them and listening via Speechify.

[@quarantina3999]

@@SarahCrowder sounds like you've got a good system going. Keep it up!