In The Antediluvian Librarians’ Secrets to Success, the authors draw on their combined experience and unique perspective as librarians to address the most common concerns they hear students express. Their light-hearted approach, combined with eye-catching illustrations, makes for a friendly work students can read from beginning to end or refer to as they move through their first anxious weeks of seminary.

In easy-to-digest segments, the book reveals the kind of strategies for being a graduate student that are seldom revealed in the classroom. Consisting of seven sections, The Antediluvian Librarians’ Secrets to Success offers guidance on such varied topics as reading strategically, asking questions, managing time, practicing self-care, staying organized, and tackling that first paper. It also offers lists for further reading and thoughtful pieces of advice. Although the authors are theological librarians, the recommendations they offer are just as practical for students beginning any graduate program in the humanities.

Deeply useful for anyone entering seminary or theology school both now and in the future, The Antediluvian Librarians’ Secrets to Success is the first work released from the new Bridwell Press. 
 

Jane Lenz Elder is the Head of the Reference, Research, and Theological Writing Center at Bridwell Library, Perkins School of Theology, in Dallas, Texas. She holds graduate degrees in Theology, History, and Library Science, and has published several works on the history of the Southwestern United States and the American film industry. In private life, she and her husband are doting grandparents, and they revel in their pack of dogs, which includes Arthur, the Irish Wolfhound.

Now retired, Duane Harbin served at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Texas for more than 25 years, ending as Assistant Dean for Technology, Planning and Compliance. He holds degrees in Linguistics, Divinity, and Library Science and has been an active member of Atla since 1982 (when it was known as the American Theological Library Association). Duane devotes his spare time to his Pembroke Welsh Corgi, his nearly-classic Thunderbird, and the Episcopal Church (not necessarily in that order). In his non-spare time, he studies the art of the “whodunit” and toys with idea of writing one.

David Schmersal is an Access and Instruction Librarian at Stitt Library, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, Texas. He holds master’s degrees in theology and library science. When not in the library, he may be found engaging in a Sisyphean effort to whittle down his ever-growing list of books to read, desperately trying to prevent even more of the Greek and Hebrew he learned in seminary from falling out of his head, stinging from the latest epic defeat his teenage son inflicted on him in Risk, enjoying the natural beauty of central Texas with his family, or cooking or cleaning something. 

Rebecca Howdeshell has been an artist for over twenty years, a passion that has contributed to her love of artists’ and other rare books. She has held the position of Digital Projects Librarian at Bridwell Library for twelve years, and is passionate about featuring the extraordinary collection of rare books, manuscripts, prints, and broadsides at Bridwell Library Special Collections online and through illustration. Rebecca lives in Dallas with her menagerie of pets and enjoys exploring exhibited art at museums and galleries, trying restaurants with friends and family, and finding every park in the Dallas area with her dog, Dinah.