Bibliography and the Beginning Bibliographer

Abstract

This essay is offered as advice to those who contemplate becoming or have recently become bibliographers. I begin with the admonition that neither users' studies, statistical analyses, nor approval plans compensate for a lack of knowledge of disciplinary research interests and bibliographic structure. In the final analysis, the best bibliographers are scholars. They keep current with a discipline's investigations and monitor its evolution. Even if they are unable to engage in detailed discourse on the more esoteric subjects its practitioners study, they understand its topography. That is, they possess a “feel” for what students in a given field find interesting, they understand its epistemology, know its publication trends and favored formats, and have a fine reference librarian's ability to use its bibliographic apparatus.

Citation

D'Aniello, C. (1984), "Bibliography and the Beginning Bibliographer", Collection Building, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 11-19. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb023146