Page 98 - DLIS006_INFORMATION SOURCES AND SERVICES

Unit 5: Alerting and Bibliographic Services

5.3 Bibliographic Services Notes

Bibliography is a list of citations or references to books or periodical articles on a particular
topic. Bibliographies can appear at the end of a book, journal, or encyclopaedia article, or in a
separate publication. As a discipline, it is traditionally the academic study of books as physical,
cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology. Carter and Barker (2010) describe
bibliography as a twofold scholarly discipline—the organized listing of books (enumerative
bibliography) and the systematic, description of books as physical objects (descriptive
bibliography).

5.3.1 Aims and Functions of Bibliography

Librarianship is a profession in which what is recorded by what so ever of librarianship is
bibliographies. Bibliography generally serves the following functions:

(a) It is a Guide to the Literature of a Subject: bibliography is actually an index compiled
systematically on a subject, so it serves as a guide to the literature of the subject.
(b) Finding the Existence: A bibliography enables one to find out what has already been
written on his subject and allows him to keep himself well informed and up to date. This
avoids duplication in research, saving him both time and money.
(c) Verification of Bibliographic Detail: Whenever we are to verify a title or collect information
on any subject we are to consult a bibliography (subject bibliography). It also helps us to
ascertain bibliographical data about an author thus helping in the identification of a
document.
(d) Location of Material: A bibliography helps in locating the material or book in terms of
place of publication, location in the library on point of purchase.
(e) Book Selection: A bibliography by adding a note to each document being listed, indicate
the value of the document to a given type of user. So it helps in books selection i. e. which
book should be consulted for a given purpose.
(f) It Preserves Documents: Bibliography by listing of documents preserve all books, good,
bad and indifferent from oblivion.
(g) It Provides List of Prior Records of Civilization: Bibliography provide information about
the prior records of communication. Thus it is a vital aid to the study of history.

5.3.2 Types of Bibliography

Bibliographies are of the following types:
(a) Analytical Bibliography: According to Roy B Stokes on analytical bibliography involves
“investigation of the physical nature of the book which can be and frequently is sufficiently
exhaustive to enable all the circumstances of the book manufacture and history to be
revealed”. Analytical or critical bibliography therefore rests to a large extent upon
imperfection in the production process and as such it has been defined as the physical
examination of books. There would have been virtually no need of analytical bibliography
if every step in the production process was perfectly accomplished and a perfect book
produced in every care. But unfortunately such perfection has been a rare thing in the
history of book production or has at latest happened in exceptional case.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 93