AJ - Guides to Bibliographical Standards

1999

AJ -- Guides to Bibliographical Standards

ACOLIT [Autori cattolici e opere liturgiche--Catholic Authors and Liturgical Works]. Ed. Mauro Guerrini for the Associazione Bibliotecari Ecclesiastici Italiani. Milano: Editrice Bibliografica. 25 cm. [99-1/4-027]

Vol. 1. Bibbia, Chiesa cattolica, Curia romana, Stato pontifico, Vaticano, papi e antipapi [The Bible, Catholic Church, Roman Curia, Pontifical State, Popes and Anti-Popes]. 1998. lxi, 385 p. ISBN 88-7075-498-7: Lit.100,000

Based on numerous reference works, catalogs, and cataloging rules, this work seeks to establish a practical alphabetical cataloging order and conclusive system of references for biblical writings, for Roman Catholic institutions, and for popes and anti-popes. A detailed foreword (in Italian and English) explains the procedures that were chosen.

Italian is the main language of the work. For example, all the books of the Bible are referred to the main entry Bibbia, under which are found subdivisions by contents and languages with see- and see-from references for each respective entry. In all, one finds a conclusive and easily surveyable ordering, superior to that of an earlier publication, Bibbia: catalogo di edizioni a stampa 1501-1957 [Bible: Catalog of Printed Editions 1501-1957], which follows the traditional sequence of books within the Bible.

The for outsiders well-nigh impenetrable thicket of curial officials and associations close to the papacy--whether spiritual or secular in nature--is somewhat demystified and made more meaningful under a system of a few superordinate entries (p. 129-184). Under "Chiesa cattolica" one finds the curial congregations, commissions and secretariats with jurisdiction over institutions in the City of Rome or, as is more often the case, over the entire Church. "Stato pontifico" covers essentially the institutions of the former Papal States, while "Vaticano" covers the officials of today's Vatican City.

There is a personal-name index for the popes and anti-popes, with the Italian form of their names constituting the main entry and with references from all other languages' variants of the office and from their Christian names.

This work came into being under the aegis of the Associazione Bibliotecari Ecclesiastici Italiani. Even though there may be problems with transferring their suggested scheme into classification systems in other languages, we can be thankful that the editors have combined the hard-to-classify areas of the Bible and the Roman Catholic Church into one common alphabetical index. In preparation is volume 2, which will cover religious orders. [ch/ga]

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