Creating a Working Bibliography
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A working bibliography is an ongoing record of the sources you discover as you research your subject. In your final project, you will probably not end up citing all the sources you list in your working bibliography, but recording the information you will need to cite a source—as you identify it—will save you time later. (Just be sure to double-check that your entries are accurate!)
Your working bibliography should include the following for each source:
- Author(s) name(s)
- Title and subtitle
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Publication information: A book’s edition number (for example, revised edition, 3rd ed.), the name and location of the book’s publisher, and the page numbers of the section you consulted; a periodical’s name, volume and issue number or date, and the article’s page numbers
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Access information: The call number of a book; the name of the database through which you accessed the source; the URL of the article (if available without a subscription), the URL of the source’s home page, or the DOI (digital object identifier—a permanent identifying code that won’t change over time or from database to database); the date you last accessed the source (for a Web page or Web site)
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Medium of publication: Print for printed books and articles, Web for online books and articles accessed through a database or found online, DVD for a film you watched at home, MP3 for a music file, and so on
You can store your working bibliography in a computer file, in specialized bibliography software, or even on note cards. Each method has its advantages:
- A computer file allows you to move citations into order and incorporate the bibliography into your research project easily using standard software (such as Word or Excel).
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Specialized bibliography software (such as RefWorks, Zotero, or the Bedford Bibliographer) designed for creating bibliographies helps you create the citation in the specific citation style (such as MLA or APA) required by your discipline. These software programs are not perfect, however; you still need to double-check your citations against the models in the style manual you are using or in Chapter 27 or 28 of this text.
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Index cards (one card per source) are easy to arrange and rearrange and allow you to include notes on the cards themselves.
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A notebook allows you to keep everything—working bibliography, annotations, notes, copies of chapters or articles—all in one place.
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Chapters 27 and 28 present two common documentation styles—one created by the Modern Language Association (MLA) and widely used in the humanities, and the other advocated by the American Psychological Association (APA) and used in the social sciences. Other disciplines have their own preferred styles of documentation. Confirm with your instructor which documentation style is required for your assignment so that you can follow that style for all the sources you put into your working bibliography.