Bibliographical Databases

Bulletin d’information et de liaison - International Association of Patristic Studies

The Bulletin d’information et de liaison, published by the Association, lists recent and forthcoming publications of members of the Association by topic and by ancient author. It also provides information about current research projects, dissertations in progress, and national or international initiatives. For past issues, consult the section "Publications."

BIBP - Bibliographic Information Base in Patristics

The Bibliographic Information Base in Patristics (BIBP) offers a bibliographic tool specialized in patristics. Its documentary field ranges from the 1st century (with the exception of biblical texts) to the mid 9th century. Exceptionally, for Oriental and Slavonic Christianity the limit is the mid 11th century (1054), and for Syrian, Armenian, Georgian, Coptic, Ethiopian, Persian and Arab Christian literatures the limit is the 14th century.

At present, the BIBP has given priority to the indexation of articles in journals. It intends to undertake the indexation of books, beginning with collective multi-author works and editions of patristic texts. The BIBP will only undertake a retrospective indexation of books after having completed indexation of current works.

More than 48,500 studies, derived from 1025 periodicals, can be searched at present. Each year about 2,500 entries are added in two updates (February and July). A search in French provides access to all studies, regardless of the language of the study. Searches in other languages provide access to studies in those languages. BIBP aims to allow for direct searches in all languages, beginning with English.

The BIBP also publishes online many of its specialized indices of data entered (patristic works; patristic manuscripts; patristic papyri; technical terms; archaeological reports; iconography; epigraphy). Although these indices are meant to support the work of the BIBP, they can be useful to researchers in the various patristic disciplines. A complete list of indices, with hyperlinks to the documents, can be found on the site of the BIBP.

The BIBP is a free service provided by Université Laval under the auspices of IAPS. It is the result of a collaborative effort of patristic scholars and the editors of the database. Individuals and groups wishing to collaborate in indexing publications for inclusion in the database are invited to contact the director of the project at rene-michel.roberge@ftsr.ulaval.ca.

BIBLINDEX - Index of Biblical Quotations and Allusions in Early Christian Literature

BiblIndex is an index of biblical textual reuses found in early Christian literature. It currently covers the first three centuries, along with large parts of the following centuries, and includes both Western and Eastern texts. The eventual goal is to expand coverage to include the entire period of Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, thereby contributing to a renewed interpretation of biblical texts and their history.
Building upon the work of Biblia Patristica (a series of printed indexes of biblical quotations published in Strasbourg between 1965 and 2000), the project has been operational since 2008. At the beginning of 2026, it provides more than 650,000 biblical references distributed across approximately 4,500 works by around 800 patristic authors. Each website entry provides the book title, the chapter and verse of the biblical text, its location in the patristic writing and the corresponding page and line numbers in a given reference edition. The team is currently working on building links with textual databases to provide access to the quoting text.
In addition, a Bible parser (https://www.biblindex.org/en/bible-parser) enables users to browse thirteen biblical versions, including recent editions of ancient texts and modern translations in English and French. The correspondence parser (https://www.biblindex.org/en/bible-correspondence) displays passages from these Bibles in several parallel versions, taking into account the numbering differences specific to each Bible. 
The project is led by Sources Chrétiennes – HiSoMA in Lyon.

DONATISM - Online Dynamic Bibliography

DONATISM - Online Dynamic Bibliography is a collaborative group library of the Donatism, containing more than 5000 items relevant to specific aspects of the African schism occurred at Carthage between 312 and 411. It treats primary sources and secondary literature. The primary sources include Ancient Authors, Medieval Authors, Passions, Councils, Imperial Communications, Lost Works, instead the secondary literature includes Encyclopaedias, Prosopographies, Studies (articles and monographies), Translations, Bibliographies, Thesis and Book Reviews.  In this collaborative group library there are titles mostly in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish on topics such as Political History, Biblical Exegesis, Archaeological Studies, Church History and Theology.

RI-Opac - Literature Database for the Middle Ages

The RI-Opac is a freely accessible database, covering all disciplines of medieval sciences for the European language sphere. It is both an online bibliography of the literature quoted in RI publications and a freely accessible, comprehensive database for historical research.

SYRIAC CHRISTIANITY - Comprehensive Bibliography

The Comprehensive Bibliography on Syriac Christianity, supported by the Center for the Study of Christianity of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, includes more than 14,000 entries.