Bibliography - Avatar Meher Baba Trust

citations when a commercial publisher could not be readily determined; instead providing a
reference for the reader to various collections, online and elsewhere. Home movies have similarly
been omitted.
Among trends noted was a shift within the subject area akin to the transition from the Gospels to
the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament. This shift is exemplified in the genre of the
bibliography. Most of the material in this compilation are considered biographies, even when self
authored, because they tend to revolve around a selective set of life events involving or related to
Meher Baba. And Baba Himself said something to the effect, "My greatness will be seen in the
lives of my lovers." In the event of an autobiography where Meher Baba is not the central figure,
eg. Mercedes de' Acosta's "Here Lies the Heart" such have been treated as analytical entries citing
chapter and verse of relevant passages. Excluded from this update are a number of tributes to
Meher Baba's mandali and close associates since they are obviously biographies and a step further
removed from personal narratives, even when they may detail that individual's relationship with
Baba in an historical manner.
Arrangement.
Minor changes have been made in arrangement : calendars which had been listed by title in the
monograph section were moved to serial section and combined. Under this scheme there were
fewer items cited as monographs; but an increased need to search in the serials section as well if an
item could not be found. Diaries were retained in monograph section.
Sort order follows the conventions set out in the first edition, though not strictly a letter by letter
sort. Titles beginning with numerals follow a logical mathematical progression, and this also
extends to numeration when spelled out. The bibliographical elements / and : act as end of file
markers, with the former given precedence. Items with exactly the same title are listed in an
ascending sequence of the editions, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. The ampersand reads as if spelled 'and'.
Format
The modified ISBD format of the first edition is retained. Capitalization and punctuation vary
slightly from the MARC formats. A number of prospective changes to international cataloging
standards are set to occur this year with a greater emphasis on functionality within networked
environments. It is hoped that this compilation reflects in a slight way some of the anticipated
changes, and that the reader will become familiar and comfortable with it as the new code becomes
more widely adopted.
Sections
We sought to avoid adding separate categories for new electronic formats which have come into
creation since the publication of the original bibliography. To an extent this was successful, but
with two exceptions. The first is a Videorecording section discussed in the following paragraphs.
The second, placed at the end of the document as an Appendix, was devised to credit and cite any
prior reference resources: such as previous bibliographies, directories, shelflists, card catalogs, or
indexes of any date. A few area specific Internet portals have been included in it and readers are