Accessing the New Open Access Versions of Theology Cataloging Bulletin and the ATLA Summary of Proceedings

As we announced last month, Theology Cataloging Bulletin (TCB) and the ATLA Summary of Proceedings will be moving to open access.

TCB – Publication Schedule Shifts, Member Notifications of New Issues

During the next several months, we will develop a site for TCB on ATLA’s instance of Open Journal Systems (OJS), the same publishing platform used for Theological Librarianship. Beginning in January 2019, TCB will be openly available to all readers through the OJS site under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license (CC-BY-NC). Back issues of TCB will eventually be moved from the members-only Community area on the ATLA website to the new OJS site. 

Further, TCB will continue as a quarterly publication but will shift to a new publication schedule in January 2019. The August 2018 issue will be the last issue of the current volume. The next volume, volume 27, will start with the January 2019 issue and will be followed by issues in April, August, and October. This shift in publication schedule will allow TCB to more closely align with the releases from the Library of Congress, which are a vital component of TCB’s content.

After TCB shifts to open access, members who have previously indicated they want to be notified when a new issue is published will receive an email alert whenever new TCB content is available with a link to the new TCB site. Members may choose to opt in or out of these notifications at any time. Readers will be free to access the new TCB site to read the current or archived issues.

Proceedings – Updated Presenter Agreement and Instructions, Print Editions

The ATLA Summary of Proceedings will also be published through OJS under a CC-BY-NC license beginning with the 2018 Proceedings. Presenters at the 2018 and future ATLA Annual Conferences will receive an updated presenter agreement, which references the CC-BY-NC license as well as the open access availability of the published Proceedings. Presenters will also receive updated instructions for submitting their papers and other written content utilizing the OJS system.

All members and 2018 Annual Conference registrants will receive notification of when the digital edition of the 2018 Proceedings is available. Print editions of the 2018 Proceedings will be mailed to all members who did not opt out of receiving the print edition during the membership join or renewal process or of receiving mail from ATLA. Registrants of the 2018 Annual Conference who are not members will also receive a print edition of the 2018 Proceedings unless they opt out during the conference registration process.

Beginning with the 2019 Proceedings, Institutional and Affiliate members will continue to receive a print edition of Proceedings for their collections by default; however, they may choose to opt out and only access the digital edition. Individual, Student, Retired, and Emeritus members will need to indicate when joining or renewing that they wish to receive a print edition in addition to being able to access the digital edition. Members and conference registrants will continue to receive notifications when the Proceedings is published.

ATLA firmly believes that these changes reflect its core value of offering the widest possible access to relevant information and ideas and ensuring greater access to and discoverability of our members’ knowledge and expertise. If you have any questions about these forthcoming changes, please feel free to contact ATLA Member Programs at memberrep@atla.com.