Dictionnaire de Spiritualité Ascétique et Mystique (DSAM)

 The Australia and New Zealand Theological Library Association conducts a Virtual Conference in September 2020. In keeping with convention, there is a Pre-Conference Cataloguing Workshop. The Workshop runs uninterrupted for a fortnight on the Association’s e-list, from Thursday the 27^th of August to the first morning of the ANZTLA Virtual Conference on Thursday the 10^th of September. Day One of the Cataloguing Workshop includes an invitation to share favourite cataloguing reference works. My contribution, as Facilitator, is this posting on the ‘Dictionnaire de Spiritualité Ascétique et Mystique’ (DSAM). 

When specialisation in the subjects of Christian spirituality and mysticism are the main focus of the collection, then changes need to be made in classification to accommodate this vast literature. When the Carmelite Library went in that direction it meant that certain numbers in the Dewey 240s were converted into blocks of major writers by time period. This was necessary where the publication of major spiritual writers in different languages continues at a pace. Only question is, how does the cataloguer decide amongst all of those writers which ones are major?

 We all have in our cataloguing certain reference books that are indispensable, indeed integral, to our daily work. In the Carmelite Library where I work pride of place in this respect goes to the French seventeen-volume work called the ‘Dictionnaire de Spiritualité Ascétique et Mystique’, published by Beauchesne of Paris between 1937 and 1995. One rule of thumb is that if a work arrives by an author who is new to me and who looks significant, possibly major, I check for their entry in the Dictionnaire, always keeping in mind that the entry will be under the French spelling of their name. If the person is there in bold letters, then I must devise a new author call number in the special period section (247.9) of the collection. I like reading the print version because it’s quicker and more expansive, but there is also an online presence: http://www.dictionnairedespiritualite.com/

 This is an example of a cataloguing tool that meets the specific needs of an individual library. You may have similar works that assist directly with the cataloguing and classification of your collection. If so, you are invited to talk about these works here in the Workshop. You have a fortnight in which to show-and-tell your favourite support literature.

 Philip Harvey

Workshop Facilitator