Bibliography  
The term bibliography designates both a kind of document and a field of study. As a kind of document a bibliography is characterized by containing references to other documents. The study of bibliography includes the study of bibliographical databases, of bibliometrics (formerly termed "statistical bibliography") as well as issues related to scholarly and scientific communication. The term bibliography is also used in other senses which are related to the history of the book (cf., the journal "Text").
 

A: Bibliography as a kind of document

Bibliographies may be classified in the following main groups (cf., Madsen, 1993). 

1) Universal bibliography. Originally an attempt (or perhaps an utopian dream) of creating a complete world bibliography. This project was initiated by the International Office of Bibliography in Belgium, but was later given up and it was decided to concentrate on building a system of national bibliographies. Today the term universal bibliographies is used for multidisciplinary and international bibliographies, which supplements the disciplinary and the national bibliographies. Dissertations Abstracts International, Inside Conferences, Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory and World Translation Index are examples.

2) Author bibliography (or biobibliography) and biobibliographical dictionary covers literature of or about an individual (e.g. Søren Kierkegaard) respective works of or about a collection of individuals.

3) National bibliography. For example, Danish National Bibliography, Books, Danish bibliography of serials etc.

4) Subject bibliography. Examples: Dansk Juridisk Bibliografi [Danish legal bibliography]; Chemical Abstracts; Medline and  Social Sciences Citation Index.

5) Catalog. A catalog is a registration of documents in a particular library or collection, for example, the Catalog of Library of Congress. Catalogs covering more than one library are termed union catalogs.

All kinds of bibliographies may be published in printed forms, as on-line databases (cf., OPAC) or on CD-ROM.

Sometimes are national bibliographies considered the backbone in the bibliographical system. They are often termed "general" bibliographies as opposed to "special" (subject) bibliographies. (cf., Munch-Petersen, 1980). From the point of view of scientific communication are subject bibliographies however generally much more important and rather independent of national bibliographies. From this point of view are national bibliographies multidisciplinary bibliographies which may supplement the disciplinary databases. (See also. UNISIST model of information dissemination).

B: Bibliography as a field of study

John Feather suggests the following definition:

”Bibliography [is] the systematic listing and analytical study of books, manuscripts and other documents . . . Bibliography is also the study of books” (Feather, 2003, p. 37-8)

The concept of bibliography is related to the core of Library and Information Science (LIS) even if the term is no longer common as a designation of departments and journals. It is related to, for example information retrieval and knowledge organization and to bibliometrics (originally termed statistical bibliography). It was the foundation of Institut International de Bibliographie 1895 which started the documentation movement.

Bottle (2003, p. 296) wrote:

"Probably the first distinct information science literature type was the literature guide. An early example was W. Ostwald's Die chemische Literatur und Die Organisation der Wissenschaft (Leipzig, 1919)".

Joacim Hansson emphasizes the close relationship between bibliography and information science in the following quotation:

”If we want to search for the roots of the central problems of information science we have to go much further back in time. In 1545 Konrad Gesner identified a need to catalog the existing literature contained in European monasteries in a comprehensive bibliography. He undertook this task in his Bibliotheca Universalis in a manner that revolutionized the use of systematic bibliographic control” (Hansson, 2004, p. 55).

Bibliographies are important in Library and Information Science (LIS). One may even speak of a bibliographic paradigm within the field.

On the status of bibliography as theoretical and disciplinary concept in Eastern Europe write Elena Macevičiūtė and Osvalda Janonis (2004):

”The word ’bibliography’ is usually associated with the rather tedious job of creating bibliographical citations, cataloguing, building national bibliographical databases or, in the case of historical bibliography, working with dusty volumes. Very few in the West will relate to bibliography as an intellectual challenging, advanced and modern discipline with a high theoretical level that brings revolutionary change (a paradigmatic shift) to a whole range of information-related disciplines. However, this is how bibliography, or rather the theory of bibliography, has been perceived by many researchers and professionals in Eastern Europe since the middle of the 1970s. It still holds this image in Russia and neighbouring countries, although it is relatively unknown outside the region.” (Macevičiūtė & Janonis, 2004, s 30).

On the theoretical potentials even for Western studies writes Paling (2004):

 “Bibliography provides a compelling vantage from which to study the interconnection of classification, rhetoric, and the making of knowledge. Bibliography, and the related activities of classification and retrieval, bears a direct relationship to textual studies and rhetoric. The paper examines this relationship by briefly tracing the development of bibliography forward into issues concomitant with the emergence of classification for retrieval. A striking similarity to problems raised in rhetoric and which spring from common concerns and intellectual sources is demonstrated around Gadamer's notion of intellectual horizon. Classification takes place within a horizon of material conditions and social constraints that are best viewed through a hermeneutic or deconstructive lens, termed the "classificatory horizon."”. (Paling, 2004).

It is interesting to notice that McKenzie (1999) suggests that bibliography is a discipline that studies the sociology of texts:

”. . . bibliography is the discipline that studies texts as recorded forms, and the processes of their transmission, including their production and reception . . . I define ‘text’ to include verbal, visual, oral, and numeric data . . .” . (McKenzie, 1999, s. 12).

This definition emphasis the connection between bibliography and bibliometrics which may contribute to the knowledge of the reception of works and further establish a connection to scientific communication and other sociological issues in LIS. 

Concerning bibliography as a designation of a field can be said, for example, that Paul Otlet (1903) used the concept ”Science of Bibliography” and Alan Pollard with S. C. Bradford created the British Society for International Bibliography in 1927, that Department of Bibliography was founded in 1944 at Tartu University in Estonia (in which a general course in bibliography was mandatory for all students in history and philology). This institution later changed its name to Department of Librarianship and in 1993 to Department of Information Studies at the faculty for social science at the Educational University of Tallinn. A similar development took place in South Africa where Department of Librarianship and Bibliography changed to Department of Library Science (cf., Dick, 2002). Bibliography as field of study is also termed historical bibliography, analytical bibliography, descriptive bibliography and critical bibliography (cf., Stokes 1969/2003). It is related to research in textual criticism (cf., Dahlström, 2004) and is sometimes regarded as the study of the history of the book. A recent example of research in bibliography is Svend Bruhns (2004) work about the history of bibliography in Denmark in the 1700s and 1800s (in Danish).  

Literature:

Balsamo, L. (1990).  Bibliography: History of a Tradition. Translated from the Italian. Berkeley, CA: Bernard M. Rosentahl. 
 

Bates, M. (1992). Rigorous systematic bibliography. IN: For Information Specialists. Interpretations of Reference and Bibliographic Work. By Howard D. White; Marcia J. Bates & Patrick Wilson. Norwood, NJ: Ablex (Pp. 117-130).

Bottle, R. T. (2003). Information Science. IN: International Encyclopedia of Information and Library Science. 2^nd. ed. Ed. by John Feather & Paul Sturges. London: Routledge (pp. 295-297).
 

Bruhns, S. (2004). Bibliografiens historie i Danmark, 1700- og 1800-tallet. Aalborg: Ålborg Universitetsforlag.

Dahlström, M. (2004). How reproductive is a scholarly edition? Literary and linguistic computing, 19(1), s. 17-33.

Dick, A. L. (2002). Scholarship, identity and lies: the political life of H. J. de Vleeschauwer, 1940-1955. Kleio: Journal of the Department of History, University of South Africa, 34,  s.5-27.  http://www.unisa.ac.za/contents/publications/docs/KLEIO34.pdf

Feather, J. (2003). Bibliography. IN: International Encyclopedia of Information and Library Science. 2^nd. ed. Ed. by John Feather & Paul Sturges. London: Routledge (s. 37-38).

Greg, W. (1945). Bibliography. A Retrospect. London: The Bibliographic Society. (The Bibliographic Society 1892-1942: Studies in Retrospect).

Hansson, J. (2004). The Social Legitimacy of Library and Information Studies: Reconsidering the Institutional paradigm. IN: Aware and responsible. Edited by Boyd Rayward, Joacim Hansson & Vesa Suominen. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. (S. 49-69).
 

Hjørland, B. (Ed.). (1997). Faglitteraturens dokumenttyper i kommunikations- og videnskabsteoretisk belysning. Kategorier, medier, former, genrer, niveauer & kvaliteter. Bind 1-2. Copenhagen: The Royal School of Library and Information Science. 6. foreløbige udgave. http://www.db.dk/bh/Core%20Concepts%20in%20LIS/Dokumenttypologi/Dokumenttypologi.htm

Hjørland, Birger: Emnerepræsentation og informationssøgning. Bidrag til en teori på kundskabsteoretisk grundlag. Göteborg: Valfrid, 1993. (Disputats).
 

Informationsordbogen. Ordbog for informationshåndtering, bog og bibliotek. 2. udg. Udarbejdet af J.B.Friis-Hansen, Torben Høst, Poul Steen Larsen & Henning Spang-Hanssen. [Hellerup]: Dansk Stardiseringsråd, 1991. (DS/INF 27).
 

La Fontaine, H. & Otlet, P. (1895): Creation of a universal bibliography. Translated and reprinted in W. B. Rayward (Translated and edited, 1990): The international organization and dissemination of knowledge: Selected essays on Paul Otlet. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Macevičiūtė, E. & Janonis, O. (2004). Conceptions of bibliography in the Russian Federation: The Russian phenomenon of bibliographic theory. Libri, 54(1), 30-42.

Madsen, M. (1993). Dokumentsøgning. Et udvalg af bibliografier og kataloger. København: Danmarks Biblioteksskoler.
 

Madsen, M. (2000). The national Bibliography in the Future: New Recommendations. Alexandria: The Journal of National and International Library and Information Issues. 12(1), s. 45-50.

McKenzie, D. F. (1999). Bibliography and sociology of texts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Munch-Petersen, E. (1980). Bibliografiens teori. En introduktion. København: Danmarks Bibliotesskole (I kommission hos G. E. C. Gads Forlag).  (Danmarks Biblioteksskoles Skrifter Nr. 14).

Ostwald, W. (1919). Die chemische Literatur und die Organisation der Wissenschaft. Leipzig.
 

Otlet, P. (1892). Something about bibliography. 

Otlet, P. (1903). "The Science of Bibliography and Documentation." In Rayward, W. Boyd (trans and ed.) (1990). The International Organization and Dissemination of Knowledge: Selected Essays of Paul Otlet. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Otlet, P. (1918). Transformations in the bibliographical apparatus of the sciences. 

Otlet, P. & Vanderveld, E. (1906). "The reform of national bibliographies" all translated and reprinted in W. B. Rayward (Translated and edited, 1990): The international organization and dissemination of knowledge: Selected essays on Paul Otlet. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Paling, S. (2004). Classification, Rhetoric, and the Classificatory Horizon. Library Trends, 52(3), 588-603.
 

Shera, J. H. & Egan, M. E. (1952). Foundation of a Theory of Bibliography. Library Quarterly, 22, 125-137.
 

Stokes, R. (1969). Bibliography. IN: Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science. Vol. 2. Ed. by Allen Kent & Harold Lancour. New York & London: Marcel Dekker, pp. 407-419.
 

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.(2005). Bibliography. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliography

Woledge, G. (1983). Bibliography and Documentation - Words and Ideas. Journal of Documentation, 39(4), 266-279.
 

Journals:
Text. Svensk tidskrift för Bibliografi. Swedish Journal of Bibliography. Uppsala, Sweden: Center for Bibliographical Studies, Vol. 1, no. 1: 1974- 
 

Zeitschrift für Bibliothekswesen und Bibliographie. Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann, Jahrgang 1-, 1953- .

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The centre for the history of the book,  the University of Edinburgh:

http://www.hss.ed.ac.uk/chb/
 

Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia (founded 1947): http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/bsuva/

Martin and Bernard Breslauer Professorship in Bibliography:  http://is.gseis.ucla.edu/jobs/breslauer_announcement.pdf 

See also: Bibliographic control; Bibliographic guide; Bibliographic paradigm; Essay (Bibliographic essay); Metabibliography; National bibliography

Birger Hjørland

Last edited: 02-03-2007

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