Library Review – In the Face of Mystery: Faith and
Reason in the Search for God (TRS 127)
2014
Introduction
After reviewing the proposed syllabus for this course in light of the library resources available
for its implementation, I think it would be best practice to review the entire collection
(especially those materials available through interlibrary loan) in all its various formats to see if
the breadth and depth of those materials available for research in this subject.
This review is best performed by investigating the Library of Congress Subject Headings which
would best describe this course and making judgments concerning the quality and quantity of
each document type; in the following narrative, each unique document type will be covered
and a conclusion presented at the end of this report.
Monographs: Stacks & Reference
There are a number of Library of Congress Subject Headings which describe the many facets of
research covered by this topic. I have chosen the most prominent nine (9) subject headings to
give an idea of the breadth and depth of available materials. The library collection currently
contains approximately 430 titles in these subject areas. While the union catalog Link+ (the
union catalog of over 120 libraries in California and Nevada of which Saint Mary’s College is a
member), contains over 5,800 monographic titles in these subject areas, it is important to
remember that a library resources review of this type should only be concerned with those
materials currently held by Saint Mary’s College. A breakdown of the library’s collection is
given below:
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SUBJECT HEADING
Faith
Reason
Faith and Reason
Revelation
Agnosticism
Deism
Pantheism
Positivism
Rationalism
TOTAL
Monographs in
ALBERT
137
95
44
48
15
3
2
27
60
431
There are also a number of excellent reference titles in this subject area which are available to
students in the Saint Albert Hall Library; these titles are listed below:
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Library Review – In the Face of Mystery: Faith and
Reason in the Search for God (TRS 127)
2014
282.03.
New Catholic encyclopedia [electronic resource]
Detroit: Gale; Washington, D.C.: In association with the Catholic University of America, c2003.
REF 230.203 B396.
Handbook of Catholic theology / edited by Wolfgang Beinert, Francis Schüssler Fiorenza.
New York: Crossroad, 1995.
REF 230.03 B996.
Companion encyclopedia of theology / edited by Peter Byrne and Leslie Houlden.
London; New York: Routledge, 1995.
REF 230.03 F753.
Ford, John T.
Saint Mary's Press glossary of theological terms / John T. Ford.
Winona, MN: Saint Mary's Press, c2006.
REF 230.03 H251.
The dictionary of historical theology / general editor, Trevor A. Hart; consulting editors, Richard
Bauckham ... [et al.]
Carlisle, Cumbria, UK ; Waynesboro, GA : Paternoster Press ; Grand Rapids, Mich. : W.B.
Eerdmans Pub., 2000.
REF 230.03 H279.
The Oxford companion to Christian thought / edited by Adrian Hastings, Alistair Mason and
Hugh Pyper.
Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2000.
REF 282.03 M122.
The HarperCollins encyclopedia of Catholicism / general editor,
Richard P. McBrien ; associate editors, Harold W. Attridge ... [et al.]
New York : HarperCollins, c1995.
REF 282.03 N420.
New Catholic encyclopedia.
Detroit : Gale ; Washington, D.C. : In association with the
America, c2003.
REF 282.03 Od5.
O'Donnell, Christopher.
Ecclesia : a theological encyclopedia of the Church / Christopher
Collegeville, Minn. : Liturgical Press, 1996.
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Catholic University of
O'Donnell.
Library Review – In the Face of Mystery: Faith and
Reason in the Search for God (TRS 127)
2014
Audiovisual Materials
There are also a number of excellent audiovisual titles in this subject area which are available to
students in the Saint Albert Hall Library; these titles are listed below:
DVD S492.
Bill Moyers on faith & reason [videorecording] / a production of Public Affairs Television ; a
presentation of Thirteen/WNET New York ; series producer, Sally Roy ; director, Mark
Ganguzza.
Princeton, N.J. : Films for the Humanities & Sciences : FMG Home Video, [2006]
DVD S689.
Listening for God [videorecording] : contemporary literature and the life of faith / the Luce
Program and Literary Arts, Boston University.
Minneapolis : Augsburg Fortress, c2003.
Online Video.
The Ground of being [electronic resource (video)] : approaches to conceptualizing god / KTWUTV (Television station : Topeka, Kan.)
New York, N.Y. : Films Media Group, [2008], c2007.
Online Video.
A Personal philosophy [electronic resource (video)] / Public Affairs Television (Firm)
New York, N.Y. : Films Media Group, [2007], c1996.
Online Video.
The Quest for God [electronic resource (video)] / Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen.
New York, N.Y. : Films Media Group, [2006], c2000.
Online Video.
The Question of God. Program 1, Sigmund Freud and C. S. Lewis, with Dr. Armand Nicholi
[electronic resource (video)] / Public Broadcasting Service (U.S.)
New York, N.Y. : Films Media Group, [2012], c2004.
Databases:
The two major journal databases in the field of theology are Philosopher’s Index and CPLI (the
Catholic Periodical and Literature Index). Saint Mary’s College subscribes to both of these
databases and they provide the chief resource for journal articles in this particular subject area.
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Library Review – In the Face of Mystery: Faith and
Reason in the Search for God (TRS 127)
2014
Using the subject headings previously investigated for monographic works, we can see the
following results for a search of the journal literature:
SUBJECT HEADING
Faith
Reason
Faith AND Reason
Revelation
Agnosticism
Deism
Pantheism
Positivism
Rationalism
TOTAL
Articles in
Philosopher’s
Index
3,406
7,934
762
233
801
129
236
1,439
1,504
16,444
Articles in CPLI
1,336
140
19
22
253
8
9
21
49
1,857
Conclusion and Recommendation:
Students doing research in this course will find generally more than adequate journal literature
to use, measured both in quantity and quality. However, there are areas which are in serious
need of strengthening, should this course be offered. There is an extremely small number of
reference and audiovisual titles available for students in the Saint Albert Library, a fact which
calls for further expenditures in both areas to fortify both collection formats. Probably most
serious is the monograph collection, for which there are only about 431 titles available in the
Saint Albert Library. While interlibrary loan can support this collection, it may not be adequate
in and of itself to bring the circulating collection to the point of supporting this course. Also, it
must be remembered that materials obtainable through interlibrary loan are not always
available in a timely manner. Certainly, extra collection funds will have to be expended to
support this area of the collection, should this course be approved.
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