Bibliography

Bibliographies at the University Library of Graz

Bibliography^[1] (from Greek: βιβλιογραφία, bibliographia; lit. book writing) in its most general sense is the study and description of books. It can be divided into enumerative bibliography (also called compilative, reference or systematic), which results in an overview of publications in a particular category, and analytical, or critical, bibliography, which studies the production of books.^[2]^[3] Bibliographical works are almost always considered to be tertiary sources.

Types

Enumerative bibliography

A bibliography is a list, either indicative or comprehensive, of writings sharing a common factor: this may be a topic, a language, a period, or some other theme. One particular instance of this is the list of sources used or considered in preparing a work, sometimes called a reference list.

Citation formats vary, but an entry for a book in a bibliography usually contains the following information:

author(s)
title
publisher
date of publication

An entry for a journal or periodical article usually contains:

author(s)
article title
journal title
volume
pages
date of publication

A bibliography may be arranged by author, topic, or some other scheme. Annotated bibliographies give descriptions about how each source is useful to an author in constructing a paper or argument. These descriptions, usually a few sentences long, provide a summary of the source and describe its relevance.

Bibliographies differ from library catalogs by including all relevant items rather than all items present in a particular library. However, the catalogs of some national libraries effectively serve as national bibliographies, as the national libraries own almost all their countries' publications.

Analytical bibliography

The critical study of bibliography can be subdivided into descriptive (or physical), historical, and textual bibliography. Descriptive bibliography is the close examination of a book as a physical object, recording its size, format, binding, and so on, while historical bibliography takes a broader view of the context in which a book is produced, in particular, printing, publishing and bookselling. Textual bibliography is another name for textual criticism.

Related terms in other media

A number of related terms have developed for listings of other media and artistic expression:

Films - filmography
Recorded music - discography
Websites - webliography (the first use recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary is June 1995)

External links

How to write a Bibliography
Bibliography Formatting Tool
A bibliography of bibliographies
Bibliography on the Web (The Bibliographical Society of America)

References

^ Florida State University Libraries. Library terms.
^ Belanger, Terry Bibliography defined Bibliographical Society of America, 2003.
^ Harris, Neil. Analytical bibliography: an alternative prospectus. Chapter 1. Definitions of bibliography, and in particular of the variety called analytical. Institut d'histoire du livre, 2004.

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[1] Florida State University Libraries. Library terms.

[2] Belanger, Terry Bibliography defined Bibliographical Society of America, 2003.

[3] Harris, Neil. Analytical bibliography: an alternative prospectus. Chapter 1. Definitions of bibliography, and in particular of the variety called analytical. Institut d'histoire du livre, 2004.

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