Theology Cataloging Bulletin Section 3 
Vol. 19, No. 2—February 2011 
 

3-5 

LC Genre/Form Terms for Religious Material Project 
 
LC’s original timeline called for the Religion genre project to run from mid-2010 to mid-
2011. The end of April 2011 is the date for a first draft of proposed terms. There is still 
plenty of time to suggest new terms. There are currently, for example, people working on 
terms for Judaism, East Asian religions, and Eastern Orthodox Christianity. 
 
Recently, Cameron Campbell, Barbara Kemmis and I had a conference call with Janis Young 
from LC regarding the next steps for the Religion genre/form project .A review of the terms 
from the December 9, 2010 Project Update resulted in an agreement to set aside all terms 
that were not considered by the project participants to constitute an appropriate as a genre 
term. 
  
Janis also made the following suggestions: 

1) For now, go to the broader level for many terms. For example, propose the term 
“Prayers” with a scope note indicating the term is to be used for Bedtime prayers, 
Pastoral prayers, etc. If LC decides later that more specific genre terms are needed, 
they will ask us to develop them. An exception to this would be a term where 
specificity is necessary; see, for example, the comments under “Didactic poetry, 
Arabic” on the Project wiki.  

2) For now, cumulate but don’t develop suggestions for music terms. They can later be 
referred to the Music genre/form project. 

3) For now, cumulate but don’t develop suggestions for literary terms. They can later 
be referred to the Literature genre/form project. 

 
April is still the deadline for our first draft. Once that is circulated and we’ve accumulated 
comments, we will probably need a small group of volunteers to help develop subsequent 
drafts. Once we send LC a final draft, there will still be the need for further discussion. LC 
may have questions about some of the proposals or suggestions for revisions. The project 
may be completed by the end of 2011. 
  
We will try to add a short session on the Religion genre project to the program for ATLA’s 
annual conference which will be held in Chicago June 8-11, 2011. You may be aware of 
other venues at which you can distribute drafts and solicit comments. 
 
If you want access to the wiki but have forgotten your password or encounter difficulties 
accessing the website, please don’t hesitate to email me. Thank you for your participation in 
this important project.  
 
Submitted by Erica Treesh 
Database Manager for Authority Control, ATLA Religion Database 
American Theological Library Association 
 

Selected Articles from Current Library Journals 
 
Bright, Alice, et al. “Minding Our Ps and Qs: An Adventure in Reclassification.” Technical 
Services Quarterly 28, no. 1 (2011): 41-54.