Creating a Working Bibliography

WHAT IS A WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY?

            It is a listing (usually on 3x5 cards) of possible sources (books, articles, pamphlets, etc.) that you might use for gathering information and writing your research paper.  It will be a longer bibliography than the one in your final paper.

            The working bibliography will evolve and change as you gather new sources and eliminate those that are less useful.  Some of the sources may be too technical; some sources may be too general, or unduly biased, inaccurate, or out of date.  These are areas where your critical judgment must come into play.
 

HOW DO I ACCUMULATE REFERENCES?

1.         The first step is to use the finding tools described in this manual, specifically, the web catalog, periodical indexes, encyclopedias, etc.  When you use the web catalog or indexes, you will usually find all the bibliographic information you need for your bibliography card.  However, the bibliography at the end of an encyclopedia article is usually incomplete.

2.         Another step in developing a working bibliography is to look at the books and articles you locate.  Is there a bibliography at the end of the books or chapters or articles you are using?  If your book or article is a particularly useful one (up to date, packed with solid information, focused on your particular area of research interest), the bibliography in it will probably lead to other sources for your paper.

3.         Make bibliography cards for sources that seem to have the greatest potential usefulness to you.  Remember that your working bibliography will change as you come across new sources, as you discard others, and as your research is shaped by your reading.

TO SUMMARIZE:  You can save time in your research if you find a basic,  up-to-date book or article on your topic, or an aspect of your topic, which leads you by its bibliography to other key books or articles.                                                               

WHAT INFORMATION SHOULD I COPY FOR MY WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY?

1.         FOR BOOKS:

                        The author(s)  (or editor or compiler); sometimes this will be an organization

                        The title (and subtitle if there is one, usually separated by a colon)

                        The volume editor, translator, compiler (when applicable)

                        The edition if it is not the first edition

                        The place of publication

                        The publisher

                        The year of publication

                        The call number  (this is for your convenience; it will not appear in your final bibliography)

2.         FOR ARTICLES:

                        The author(s) of the article

                        The title of the article

                        The title of the periodical

                        The volume and issue number of the periodical

                        The date of the issue

                        The page numbers of the article

IMPORTANT NOTE:

            Some researchers add to the bibliography card a notation of the finding tool in which the book or article was cited.  If you have ever gone back to a library to find an article in a journal and discovered that you copied the information incorrectly, you can understand why it is a time saver to know where you found the citation.

            It is easier to copy too much bibliographic information than to find a missing piece when you are typing your paper.