WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY
Thus far, the student has done some reading in general or
special reference sources to familiarise himself with his
subject. He has spent sufficient time familiaring himself
with the library resources so that from here on his
research will not be hampered by strange surroundings. It
is at this point that he is ready to begin making use of his
knowledge of the library and begin preparing his
bibliography.
REASONS FOR A WORKING BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Since research implies a thorough search of all available
sources on a given topic, it is imperative that the student
undertake a very careful and systematic search of the
available sources and keep an orderly record of his search.
This search cannot be a haphazard affair. The more
organised the researcher is from the start, the more time he
will save by avoiding unnecessary delay and repetition.
• The working bibliography is just what the name implies:
the bibliography that the researcher will be working with
until his final draft has been submitted and accepted. In a
sense, a working bibliography is never really completed,
since at any time during the general preparation and taking
of notes the student might discover additional sources
which he will then add to his bibliography file.
DEVELOPING A WORKING BIBLIGRAPHY
• Because the research paper is a major project involving
many papers and notes, organisation is crucial. That means
keeping a copy of every abstract, article, and downloaded
file with full publication information and the URLs of the
Internet materials. Your final manuscript will require a
bibliography page listing all your sources, so now is the
time to start accumulating the data.
• If you want to be fully arganised – and your instructor may
require this – write as an ongoing project a working
bibliography. This list of the sources may be kept on cards
or, more efficiently, on a computer file. Either way,
producing a set of bibliography entries has three purposes:
DEVELOPING A WORKING BIBLIGRAPHY (2)
• 1. It locates articles and books for notetaking purposes.
• 2. It provides information for the in-text citations, as in this
example in APA style:
The healing properties of certain foods have been noted by
Milner and Hasler (1995: 6-10).
. 3. It provides information for the final reference page . If
you keep entries current in a computer file, you can easily
insert them into your Woeks Cited page at the end of your
manuscript.
DEVELOPING A WORKING BIBLIGRAPHY (3)
• Whether you keyboard your sources or make handwritten
cards for easy shuffling, each working bibliography entry
should contain the following information – with variations,
of course, for books, periodicals, and government
documents:
• 1. Author’s name
• 2. Title of the work
• 3. Publication information
• 4. Library call number
• 5. (Optional) A personal note about the location or contents
of the source.
• 6. The URL for the Internet sources.