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Bibliographies

What is a bibliography?
A bibliography is a list of sources of information that you have used in writing your essay or report.
Task: Find a bibliography in a book and make a list of all the different sorts of references. How many different kinds of reference are listed in the bibliography?
What is the purpose of a bibliography?
A bibliography allows the reader to find the sources that you used, and to check the accuracy of your information. Bibliographies also help give your ideas academic status.
Task: Why might one check the dates and names on the references before bothering to read a book or essay?
How many different kinds of material can appear in a bibliography?
In academic writing, by far the most common materials listed are books and journal articles. However, bibliographies can also list a wide variety of other source material, including the following: newspapers, magazines, films, documentaries, unpublished papers, encyclopedia entries, e-mail, personal communications, letters and government publications.
Task: Why should you be certain that personal communications only be from important people or authoritative sources?
What is the order in which entries are listed in a bibliography?
Entries are listed in alphabetical order by the last name of the author, or, if there is more than one author, by the last name of the first person.
Task: What happens if there are two or more publications by a single author. Look in a bibliography and find out.
How is bibliographic information included in an essay?
Generally, information is either quoted or paraphrased, but, in both cases, it’s necessary to give the author’s name(s), the date and the page or pages from which it was taken in this format: (Keobke, 1992, p.88) at the end of the sentence, before the period.
Task: When is it not necessary to give the page number?

 

Bibliographies