Step 4: Create a Working Bibliography
A working bibliography is an organized set of bibliographic information about resources found during your research that might be helpful as you write your report. You might choose to create an index card for each resource or you can store the information in a computer file. In essence, however, you want to record information that will help you do three things:
- Keep track of resources that you have identified as being potentially relevant to your topic.
- Create a tool that you can use to help you locate the resource in the physical library or electronically through the Internet.
- Organize information that you will need when it comes time to create your bibliography. Because you will want to use the working bibliography to create the final bibliography included in your report, be certain to record the information you will need to correctly cite that reference. Refer to the appropriate writers' handbooks to ascertain what bibliographic information you need to record. For example, if you are expected to cite references using the guidelines prescribed by the American Psychological Association (APA), you will want to refer to that association's publication guide to know what information is needed (see the tutorial on Source Evaluation and Search Strategies for more help with finding and citing credible resources).
Generally speaking, record the following for books, periodicals, and online resources:
|
For Books |
For Periodicals |
For Online References |
|---|---|---|
|
library call number (for personal refernence) |
library call number (for personal refernence) |
bookmark the site, or use software such as EndNote or Mendeley to record it |
|
names of authors, editors |
names of authors |
names of authors, editors |
|
titles and subtitle of book |
title and subtitle of article |
title and subtitle of article |
|
editions or volume number |
title of periodical |
web address (URL) |
|
publisher's name |
volume and issue |
publisher of the web site (if known) |
|
place of publication |
date of issue |
date of publication (if listed) |
|
date of publication |
page number |
date you accessed the web page/site |
Also consider writing notes to yourself about each reference, so that the reason you identified it as relevant remains meaningful to you. If the reference is a book, consider jotting down chapter titles; if it is a periodical, jot down ideas from the abstract that precedes the article which may be useful.
