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4 Steps to Using IATG with the SBL Handbook of Style

In the second edition of the SBL Handbook of Style (SBLHS2), chapter 8 is entirely dedicated to abbreviations. According to the Handbook, “abbreviations for works not listed below should follow Siegfried M. Schwertner, Internationales Abkürzungsverzeichnis für Theologie und Grenzgebiete, 3rd ed. (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2014 [=IATG3]).” Here are four steps to make this process as seamless as possible.

AltBook, sheet, leaf and turn by Anastasia Zhenina

1. Get IATG3 in Paperback

As of this writing, the hardcover printing of IATG3 currently sells for just over $280 on Amazon, although you can find it a bit cheaper by shopping around.

But, thankfully, de Gruyter has also released IATG3 in paperback. As of this writing, you can find this paperback printing on Amazon for under $60 and just over $50 elsewhere.

IATG3 isn’t an inexpensive text in either case. But, there is definitely enough in it that’s not also in SBLHS2 to make it something useful to have on hand. And the pricing for the paperback copy makes it much more feasible to have your own copy on hand if your library doesn’t have it, or if you just want to keep from having to jockey with others over who’s using the library copy.

2. Consult SBLHS2

Next, check SBLHS2 §8.4 for a corresponding abbreviation. This section has two abbreviation lists. The first is sorted by the name of the source (§8.4.1). According to this list, “Journal of Biblical Literature” becomes simply “JBL” (194).

The second abbreviation list sorts the same works and periodicals as in the first, except that the sort is done by alphabetical order of the abbreviation (§8.4.2). Generally, the order of this section follows closely the order of the first. But, there are exceptions.

So, for instance, in the first list “Journal of Biblical Literature” appears between “Journal of Bible and Religion” and “Journal of Christian Theological Research” (194). But, in the second list “Journal of Biblical Literature” appears between “Jerome Bible Commentary” and “Jewish Biblical Quarterly” since all three abbreviations begin with “JB” (238).

You will probably find the first list more useful when composing a citation or a bibliography entry and the second more useful if you come across a citation with an abbreviation and need to try to expand that abbreviation into the source it represents. But, the second list is also incredibly helpful in connection with step 4 below, and it’s practically necessary if you’re working with a print version of SBLHS2.

In any case, the main point to remember in this step is not to confuse the two lists. You don’t want to accidentally look at the second list (sorted by abbreviation) and miss something because that list isn’t alphabetized by source.

3. Consult IATG3

Like SBLHS2, IATG3 has two main abbreviation lists. The first is sorted alphabetically by abbreviation (3–191). The second is sorted alphabetically by the name of the source (195–726).

So, for instance, if you needed to cite an article from Scriptura, you would find that SBLHS2 doesn’t have a corresponding abbreviation (step 2).

On finding this, you’d then consult the second list in IATG3 (sorted by source name) and find four different sources with this name (632). If you were looking for the Scriptura produced in South Africa, you’d then find the corresponding abbreviation to be Scr.(S).

4. Double check SBLHS2 doesn’t already assign the abbreviation you found in IATG3 to some different source

For example, if you’re citing something from the “Herders biblische Studien” series, you’ll see that SBLHS2 doesn’t include an abbreviation for this source (step 2). You’d then consult IATG3 and find the abbreviation “HBS” (step 3; 424).

If you go back to SBLHS2 and look up this abbreviation, however, you find that it’s assigned to “History of Biblical Studies” (235).

What do you do in this case? If you’re writing strictly according to SBLHS2, then its abbreviations take precedence over those in IATG3 (SBLHS2 §8.4). So, “HBS” would mean “History of Biblical Studies” and not “Herders biblische Studien.”

In this case, you have basically two options. First, if you’re writing a longer-format piece (e.g., a thesis or dissertation) and can create your own abbreviation list, you can adopt your own custom abbreviations for each of these two sources. Or, if you only use one of the sources, you could define “HBS” explicitly as the source you use.

Failing this, second, your best option is not to abbreviate “Herders biblische Studien” and simply write it out in full in order to avoid ambiguity and confusion.

Conclusion

At first blush, the hundreds of pages of abbreviations in IATG3 can be a bit intimidating. But, by following these steps, it doesn’t take much to become accustomed to using IATG3 alongside SBLHS2 as you’re doing research and composing citations.

What other tips do you have for using IATG3 with SBLHS2?

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3 Ways to Increase Your Zotero Cloud Storage

The Zotero “personal research assistant” now comes with 300 MB of cloud storage free for attachments in each account. This is a good amount, but it can go quickly, especially if you start storing larger PDFs in your Zotero library.

AltYellow Photo by Darwin Vegher

For instance, the Bavarian State Library has made available PDF scans of Gabriel Vasquez’s entire 4-volume Commentariorum ac disputationum in primam partem Sancti Tomæ. But, if you download volume 4, the smallest, and want to store it in your Zotero library, you’ll need 372 MB of storage space.

So, what happens when you use all your Zotero cloud storage but still want to synchronize attachments between multiple computers or just back them up to the cloud? Here are three options.

1. Subscribe to a paid Zotero storage plan.

For users who require additional cloud storage, Zotero offers three paid plans, ranging from 2 GB for $20 per year to unlimited for $120 per year.1 This option is probably the most straightforward. It may also make it easier for you to access your stored attachments via some mobile applications like PaperShip. But, this solution requires paying for an additional cloud storage service.

2. Use your own WebDav service.

In addition to synchronizing attachment files to Zotero storage, Zotero also supports using the WebDav protocol.2 The Zotero documentation provides a list of providers whose WebDav service is known to work with Zotero.

Each of these WebDav providers makes available 2–15 GB of free storage. But, some also have lower limitations for individual attachment file sizes.

Certainly the most generous of these options is 4shared. 4shared’s maximum WebDav file size is 2 GB for their free plan. This is large enough to accommodate pretty well all the files I currently have stored in Zotero.

But, of course, larger attachments will eat away at 4shared’s 15 GB free allotment comparatively more quickly. At that point, a 4shared “premium” subscription would be necessary at $77.95 per year in order to allow up to 100 GB of attachments to be stored with no lower limitation imposed on the size of individual files.

So, synchronizing attachments via an alternative WebDav service may be more economical than doing so via Zotero storage. But, unless you already use 4shared or a comparable provider, it would still require an using additional cloud storage service.

3. Change where Zotero saves your attachments.

In this option, you can use cloud storage you already have to store Zotero attachments. When doing so, it’s important to note that you should not allow a generic cloud storage service like Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive to touch your Zotero database.

From the “Files and Folders” tab of the Zotero Preferences dialog box,3 you can change the directory where Zotero saves all its files, including its main database. For a while, I changed this directory so that it would synchronize via Dropbox. But, as the Zotero documentation warns, I ended up corrupting my database and having to restore an earlier copy repeatedly.

Instead, a better method of implementing this option is to go ahead and synchronize your Zotero database via Zotero’s own protocol. This will help keep it from being corrupted. But, you can then move where Zotero stores the attachments.

For Windows users, this can be accomplished via a “symbolic link.” This isn’t the same as a “shortcut.” Instead, a “symbolic link” allows access to a file or folder via two different paths. To use a symbolic link to change the location of your Zotero storage directory, take the following steps.

a. Open your Zotero directory.

By default in Windows 10, Zotero saves all its files under C:\Users\{username}\Zotero. Before proceeding to the other steps, you may want to back up this directory to a safe place, just in case something goes amiss.

b. Move the “storage” folder.

Inside the Zotero directory, you should find a folder named “storage.” Make sure Zotero is closed, and move this folder to the cloud storage folder of your choice. You can also rename the folder if you’d like for ease of reference.

So, for instance, I have a directory D:\OneDrive\Research\Zotero. This directory contains all the sub-folders and files Zotero looks for in “storage.”

c. Create the symbolic link to your new Zotero storage location.

To create the symbolic link:

  1. Open the Windows menu.
  2. Search for “cmd” or “Command Prompt.”
  3. Right-click this program, and choose “Run as administrator.”
  4. If you are asked whether you want to allow this app to make changes to your device, choose “Yes.”
  5. Enter cd C:\Users\{username}\Zotero. You’ll need to replace {username} with your username as it appears in the file path under step (a) above.
  6. Type mklink /d “storage” {file path where you moved the Zotero “storage” folder}. You’ll need to replace {file path where you moved the Zotero “storage” folder} with the actual file path. This would be D:\OneDrive\Research\Zotero in my example above.
  7. Press Enter.

You should now be able to go back to C:\Users\{username}\Zotero (or wherever your main Zotero folder is) and find there a symbolic link named “storage.” If you click this link, it should take you to the directory where you moved your Zotero storage folder.

Next, reopen Zotero, and test opening a few attachments. If they open properly, everything went well. If the attachments don’t open, delete the “storage” symbolic link, and try creating it again via the steps indicated here.

Storing with or without Stores

Whether you use one of the paid or one of the free options, these steps should give you some additional options to manage your Zotero storage. In the end, of course, what matters is having the space you need to save your research and avoid needing to _re-_search for what you’ve previously found.

In what other ways have you increased your Zotero cloud storage? Linux- and Mac-using friends, what processes do you go through that correspond to (3) above?

  1. Zotero also offers special storage plans for laboratory and institution-wide deployments. ↩
  2. According to Microsoft, “Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) is an extension to Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) that defines how basic file functions such as copy, move, delete, and create are performed by using HTTP.” ↩
  3. To access this tab, open Zotero, and click Edit > Advanced > Files and Folders. ↩