EN
In December 2004 the Finish Academy of Sciences published within series Folklore Fellows Communications a new three volume catalogue of fairytale motifs and themes called The Types of International Folktales - A Classification and Bibliography. An older classification of themes introduced by Antti Aarne and developed by Stith Thompson became the bases of the new catalogue. Because of compatibility of individual fairytale types the catalogue uses the original numerical markings, but it represents a completely new work with a lot of changes and complements. The need to innovate the older catalogue stemmed from critical remarks by specialists dealing with historical and comparative research of folk prose. The article explains the basic standpoints and gives reasons for the need of innovation of the older catalogue. It represents a conception of processing individual fairytale types and the structure of individual entries as well as the whole catalogue. The study can help researchers in their work with the new catalogue which offers a well arranged manual for research of narrative texts.