Accessing our shared religious heritage: information resource policy in Religious Studies at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF)

A study of information resource policy in the field of Religious Studies at the BnF raises the usual questions of range of coverage and universality, as well as highlighting the issue of the stance libraries should take towards religion. How should religious collections be handled in a country that prides itself on separating Church and State? How should libraries cater for a readership that is increasingly diverse in terms of faith, and which requires more than a unilaterally critical approach, given the influence of major world religions on literature, art, and politics? What goals should libraries set themselves in dealing with the spiritual challenges of the modern world?
Read