Maintaining a Working Bibliography
A working bibliography is a list of all the sources you consult as you work on a
research project. You may not need to include every one of these sources in your
project, but keep a list of every work you’ve consulted so that your records are
complete. This helps avoid the problem of wondering, "Where did I see that?" and
not being able to find it. It also may come in handy for future research projects.
Don’t discard your working bibliography after completing your research; instead,
keep it on file so that you can consult it again if you need to.
Your working bibliography should include complete information for each source, so
that you can write your citations easily. This information includes the author’s name,
the title of the work, the title of the book or periodical it comes from (if applicable),
the volume or issue number, the place of publication, the publishing company, the
date of publication, and inclusive page numbers. Note any other information that
pertains to the work’s publication, such as whether it’s a volume in a series, an
edition other than the first, or a translation. Write down the information for each
source as you begin using it. You can also keep your working bibliography on a
computer file, which makes it easy to transfer into your final draft later on. In
addition, it’s very helpful to keep printouts or photocopies of all your sources; this
will allow you to check quotations, paraphrases, and bibliographic information later
on.
Keeping Track of Source Materials: The Research Portfolio
As an ethical researcher, you should establish good research habits and stick to
them. A research project, even a relatively small one involving only a few sources,
quickly accumulates materials. There is no cut-and-dried rule for how to keep these
materials organized, but keeping some form of research portfolio is important. This
portfolio should include:
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photocopies or electronic copies of your source information
your notes
your annotated bibliography
drafts of the paper or project you’re working on
any feedback you’ve received
Organize your portfolio so that it is both comprehensive (containing all your
materials) and manageable (designed for easy retrieval of information). As you
become more experienced at research, you will develop a type of research portfolio
that works for you. However, there are some basic principles that are important to
keep in mind as you collect data. These not only help keep you organized, but also
help you avoid inadvertent plagiarism because they are aimed at recording what you
find through research both precisely and accurately. This lessens the chances that
you will unintentionally express someone else’s idea and claim it as your own. (For
more information on this, see the section "Taking Notes.")
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Create a structure for your portfolio. One example is the folder system.
Hanging file folders represent large categories, such as "Female
singer/songwriters," and can be subdivided using manila folders, which
represent smaller categories, such as "Dar Williams," "Ani DiFranco," and
"Patty Griffin." As you discover more information through your research, you’ll
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add more folders, or perhaps revise the categories altogether. Your working
bibliography is kept in a separate folder. With each source, you’ll also keep
your notes and annotations on that source. Another example of a research
portfolio type is the notebook system. In this system, materials are kept in a
three-ring binder, with dividers separating the categories. The system you
use will be governed by how much material you accumulate as well as what
your organizational preferences are.
Keep backup materials. Your portfolio should include backup copies of
everything, to guard against loss or computer failure. If a lot of your
information resides on a computer, keep hard copies of everything and at
least one floppy-disk backup.
Make a hard copy of each source for your own use. Articles downloaded from
an online periodical database should be printed out. Articles or chapters of
books should be photocopied. Web sites should be printed out. (Most
printouts of Web sites will note the URL and date of access automatically. If
this doesn’t occur, note these two pieces of information yourself.) This is
important so that not only do you have backup material, but you also have all
your research data at your fingertips while you are writing.
Take notes on every source you collect. The importance of this step cannot be
overemphasized. If you simply read a source over and then later attempt to
include some of its information in the draft of your paper, your chances of
plagiarizing are much greater. You simply don’t have enough opportunity to
digest a source’s information unless you take notes on what you read. Even if
you don’t plagiarize, your inclusion of the source’s words is likely to sound
choppy, with inadequate connectors between your ideas and the source’s.
How to take these notes is covered in more detail in the next section.