General Reference Sources - Research Guide

Unlike most Special Bibliographies, which present reference sources appropriate to a certain academic discipline or subject area (e.g., American History or City Planning), this annotated list identifies the types of sources that provide bibliographic control in the broad range of areas we call the social sciences and humanities. Comprehensive inclusive sources, such as national bibliographies, national library catalogs, indexes and abstracts, bibliographies of bibliographies, and so on, are described and related to a system of bibliographic control. Normally, only English-language examples are listed, however similar sources are produced for most countries and languages.

Other Special Bibliographies complement and supplement this one; ask at the Reference Desk for a list of those available and for any information assistance you may need.

CONTENTS:

1.Guides to Reference Sources
2.Bibliographies
3.National Bibliographies and National Library Catalogs
4.Comprehensive Bibliographies

5.Serial Bibliographies, Indexes, and Abstracts

Finding Periodical Articles
Online Literature Searching

Sources marked with an asterisk (*) have corresponding searchable electronic databases covering the same material in
varying degrees of completeness

GUIDES TO REFERENCE SOURCES

Definition: Guides provide a systematic introduction to the literature of a field. They usually identify the basic reference
sources useful in a discipline, such as major bibliographies, indexes, handbooks, etc. Some guides include background or
state-of-the-art essays, detailed classification of the field, research methodology, and surveys of the major monographic and
article literature.

Balay, Robert, ed. GUIDE TO REFERENCE BOOKS. 11th ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 1996. 2020p.
The basic American guide to about 15,000 reference works in all subject areas. Classified arrangement, with author,
subject, and title index. Brief descriptive annotations with most entries and longer descriptions of major works.
[Ref Desk Z 1035.1 G89 1996]

Walford, A. J. WALFORD'S GUIDE TO REFERENCE MATERIAL. 8th ed. London: The Library Association, 1999- . 3 vol.
The British equivalent of Balay. More European materials are included, and annotations are frequently longer. Each
volume has authortitle and subject indexes. The 8th edition is in progress. Vol. 1, "Science and Technology"; Vol. 2,
"Social and Historical Sciences, Philosophy and Religion"; Vol. 3, "Generalities."
[Ref Desk Z 1035.1 W348 1999]

Webb, William H. et al. SOURCES OF INFORMATION IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES. 3rd ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 1986. 777p.
Divides the social sciences into eight categories: history, geography, economics and business administration,
sociology, anthropology, psychology, education, and political science. For each discipline an expert reviews the
literature and provides lists of selected monographs and journal articles, reference tools, journal titles, associations,
etc. Well indexed.
[Ref Desk H 61 S666 1986]

There are a number of one-volume guides to reference works aimed at the library school student, the college student, and
the layperson. Although these are necessarily highly selective, such guides do cover basic reference sources in some detail.
To find them, check the subject headings "Reference books" and "Reference books--Bibliography" in Franklin or in the
main or reference card catalogs. Two examples are:

Sader, Marion, ed. TOPICAL REFERENCE BOOKS. New Providence, NJ: Bowker, 1991.
[Ref Desk Z 1035.1 T66 1991]

Swidan, Eleanor A. REFERENCE SOURCES: A BRIEF GUIDE. 9th ed. Baltimore: Enoch Pratt Free Library, 1988.
175 pp.
[Ref Z 1035.1 E52]

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BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Definition: Bibliographies are organized lists of books, journal articles, etc., usually arranged by author or subject, which have something in common, such as: subject area (topical bibliographies), author, country of publication (national bibliographies), or physical location (library catalogs). In most cases, the criteria for selection are explained in the bibliography's preface or introduction along with other specifications such as chronological coverage. Full bibliographic information and, often, a descriptive or evaluative annotation is given for each cited work.

Besterman, Theodore. WORLD BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BIBLIOGRAPHIES. 4th ed. Lausanne: Societas Bibliographica, 1965-66. 5 vol.
International, classified listing of more than 117,000 separately published bibliographies. Index by author, title, libraries, etc.
[Ref Z 1002 B5685]

Toomey, Alice. A WORLD BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BIBLIOGRAPHIES, 1964-74. Totowa, NJ:Rowman & Littlefield, 1977. 2 vol.
Supplements Besterman, but lists only books.
[Ref Z 1002 T67]

BIBLIOGRAPHIC INDEX, 1937- . NY: Wilson, 1938- .
Index to bibliographies published in periodicals, books, and pamphlets. Arranged by subject. Cumulates annually.
[Ref Z 1002 B595]

---

NATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES AND LIBRARY CATALOGS

Nelson, Bonnie R. A GUIDE TO PUBLISHED LIBRARY CATALOGS. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1982.
Annotated bibliography of 429 catalogs of "significant" library collections which have been published in the last twenty years. Arranged into 33 subject categories for geographic areas (e.g., Middle East) or topics (e.g., women's studies). Lengthy annotations describe scope, arrangement, exclusions, etc. Index by library name and specific subject. Good introduction on the history of library catalogs.
[Ref Desk Z 710 N44]

United States

NATIONAL UNION CATALOG. Pre-1956 Imprints. London: Mansell, 1968-80. Supplement, 1981. 754 vol.
Major access tool for holdings of U.S. libraries. "A cumulative author list representing Library of Congress printed cards and titles reported by other American libraries." Replaces the Library of Congress Catalog of Books (1942) and all the published National Union Catalogs through 1958. Author/main entry access only. Gives locations in major libraries in U.S. and Canada.
[West end of Reference Room]

New York (City). Public Library. Research Libraries. DICTIONARY CATALOG OF THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY, 1911-1971. NY: The Library, printed and distributed by G. K. Hall, 1979. 800 vol.
Dictionary catalog of the Library's research collection of books and booklike materials through 1971. Materials in Roman alphabet languages only. Nine million cards for 4 million volumes in the humanities, performing arts, sciences, technology, social sciences as well as other general areas. Author, title and subject entries in single alphabetical sequence. Lists many essays in collections, articles in periodicals and other subvolume materials, as well as books. Subject headings and filing rules are unlike those used in Van Pelt; see Guide shelved with the catalog. Also listed in the guide are other catalogs from different divisons of NYPL.
[West end of Reference Room]
http://www.nypl.org/

ABPR: AMERICAN BOOK PUBLISHIGN RECORD. 1960-- . Monthly listing of new books published in the American book trade. Annual and quinquennial cumulations. (Z/1201/A52) Latest 5 years in reference.

RLIN and OCLC/WorldCat are two very large computerized bibliographic databases, each of which provides access to books, serials, documents, recordings, etc. in a number of U.S. and foreign libraries. Between the two databases over 30,000,000 titles are listed in more than 13,000 libraries in 43 countries. Although their search capabilities are not identical, both systems provide access points not available in printed sources and are therefore especially useful for verification and location. RLIN/Eureka also has an extensive manuscripts location file (AMC) with detailed descriptions of holdings. Both RLIN/Eureka and OCLC/WorldCat are readily available on the Library's Web.

Great Britain

British Museum. Department of Printed Books. GENERAL CATALOGUE OF PRINTED BOOKS. London: 1965-66.
Supplements, 1956-65, 1966-70, 1971-75, 1976-82, 1982-85.
Author catalog to holdings of BM. Many items not listed in NUC. Some quirks (e.g., periodicals listed together in v. 184-87 under place of publication).
[West end of Reference Room]

* BRITISH NATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY, 1950- . London: 1950- .
Weekly listing with quarterly, annual and 5-year cumulations. Arranged by Dewey classification. Full bibliographic information included. British imprints only. Author and title index in each issue.
[Ref Z 2001 B75]
http://www.bl.uk/

France

Paris. Bibliotheque Nationale. CATALOGUE GENERAL DES LIVRES IMPRIMES: AUTEURS. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1900-1981. 231 vol.
Alphabetical author catalog of France's national library, current up to date of publication of individual volumes (e.g., vol. 1 up to 1897) or up to 1959. A supplement on microfiche fills in the titles upto 1959. Excludes anonymous classics, periodicals, society transactions, government publications and works by corporate authors.
[Ref Z 927 P2]

Paris. Bibliotheque Nationale. CATALOGUE GENERAL DES LIVRES IMPRIMES: AUTEURS, COLLECTIVITES-AUTEURS, ANONYMES, 1960-69. Paris, 1972-78.
Same as basic catalog with addition of anonymous works and corporate authors. Series I lists Roman alphabet works; Series II lists non-Roman languages such as Russian, Arabic, Hebrew.
[Ref Z 927 P19572]
http://www.bnf.fr/

* BIBLIOGRAPHIE DE LA FRANCE. Paris: Cercle de la Librarie, 1811- .
Weekly listing of copyright material (books, pamphlets, etc.) received by the Bibliotheque Nationale. Arranged into subject group with annual author and title indexes. Various supplements cover theses, periodicals, maps, government publications, etc.
[Ref Z 2165 B58]

Germany

* DEUTSCHE BIBLIOGRAPHIE. Frankfurt am Main: BuchhandlerVereinigung, 1947- .
Aims to record all material published anywhere in German. These series are currently published: Reihe A (weekly) covers trade publications and is arranged into 25 subject categories with cumulative author and subject indexes appearing monthly and quarterly; Reihe B (monthly) covers nontrade publications; and Reihe C (published six times per year) lists maps. The Halbjahresverzeichnis, published twice a year, cumulates all parts of A and B. It has two alphabetical sequences, author and title (Alphabetische Verzeichnis) and keyword and subject (Schlagwort und Stichwortverzeichnis)
[Ref Z 2221 F73]
The five-year cumulations, Deutsche Bibliographie: Funfjahres Verzeichnis, cover material from all three series
and follow the same format as the half-year ones
[Ref Z 2221 D47].

GESAMTVERZEICHNIS DES DEUTSCHSPRACHIGEN SCHRIFTTUMS (GV): 1700-1910. M|nchen: K. G. Saur, 1979-1987. 160 vol.
[Ref Z 2221 G46]

GESAMTVERZEICHNIS DES DEUTSCHSPRACHIGEN SCHRIFTTUMS (GV): 1911-1975. M|nchen: K. G. Saur, 1976-81. 150 vol.
Cumulation and integration of main entries from some fifteen German-language national bibliographies and dissertation lists.
[Ref Z 2221 G47]
http://www.ddb.de/

Italy

BIBLIOGRAFIA NAZIONALE ITALIANA. Florence: Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, 1958 .
Monthly listing in Dewey order with author and anonymous title indexes. Annual cumulative volume arranged by author/main entry.
[Ref Z 2341 B5]

CATALOGO CUMULATIVO, 1886-1957. Florence: Biblioteca Nazionale, 1968-80.
Main-entry list of all items received through deposit system in Italy's national library.
[Ref Z 2345 F65]
http://www.bncf.firenze.sbn.it/

* CUMULATIVE BOOK INDEX. NY: Wilson, 1898- .
CBI, as it is commonly known, lists books published in English anywhere in the world. Appears monthly with yearly and greater cumulations. Arranged into single alphabetical listing of authors, subjects, and titles.
[Van Pelt/1219/M78]

* BOOKS IN PRINT. NY: Bowker, 1948- .
Annual listing by author, title, and subject of those books commercially available through American publishers.
FORTHCOMING BOOKS. NY: Bowker, 1966- .
Bowker publication that supplements and updates Books in Print. The former lists all books published since the last issue of BIP plus all books scheduled for publication in the next five months. Includes trade, text, paperback and reprints. Published six times a year and arranged in three sections, by author, subject and title.
[Ref/BIP/Z/1215/P97/Desk]

BOOKS IN SERIES IN THE UNITED STATES. 4th ed. NY: Bowker, 1980.
Lists books in series by series title, individual author, and individual title. Includes out-of-print items.
[Ref/Z/1033/S5/B66]

BRITISH BOOKS IN PRINT. London: Whitaker, 1965- .
[Ref/BIP/Z/2001/W44]

* United States. MONTHLY CATALOG OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS. Wasington, DC:
Government Printing Office, 1895- .
Monthly listing of publications from Congress and the executive branch. Comprehensive. Indexes by subject, title, personal author. Indexes cumulate annually.
[Ref Z 1223 A13: 1941- ]
http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017/6984

Dissertation Abstracts

http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017/6878

Indexing (since 1861) and abstracting (since 1980) for over 1.5 million doctoral-level dissertations completed at North American universities. Full-text is available in pdf format for the most recent Penn dissertations (since 1997).
Dissertations from selected European universities are also listed. Selected master's theses are included since 1988. One can search the database by: author, keyword in title and/or abstract, adviser (if indicated), university code, date, degree. Boolean operators allow for combinations of fields.

SERIAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES, INDEXES, AND ABSTRACTS

Definition: Serial bibliographies and indexes are regularly published, continuing bibliographies which offer subject and author access to periodical or newspaper articles, books, book parts, essays in collections, etc. As a rule, indexes cover periodical literature and provide only citations. Abstracts are similar reference sources which provide a brief summary of the article or book, in addition to a bibliographic citation. There are usually dozens of indexes which might be helpful in a particular field.
Ask at the Reference Desk for suggestions in addition to those listed below.

Finding Periodical Articles

When you have identified a valuable periodical article through the printed indexes or, more likely, online databases, record its full publishing information: author, article title, full periodical title, volume, date, and pages. Next consult Franklin for campus holdings. Ask for help at the Reference Desk. Periodicals not held in the Library system may be located in other area libraries, and photocopies of specific articles may be requested through Interlibrary Loan.

Major General Online Periodical Indexes

EBSCO MegaFILE

Periodicals Contents Index
PCI indexes journals in the humanities and social sciences in English as well as in many other Western languages. Journals are indexed from their initial volume - some as far back as 1770 - through 1995. PCI includes only citations to journal articles; there is no full text. Once you find articles relevant to your topic, search for the journal titles in Franklin, the Library Catalog.

Web of Science
The Web of Science indexes over 8,000 journals in the Sciences, Social Sciences, and Arts & Humanities. You can search by keyword, subject, author, journal title, or author address, as well as for articles that cite a known author or work. The index extends back to 1978 and is updated weekly. Once you find articles relevant to your topic, search for the journal titles in Franklin, the Library Catalog.

BRITISH HUMANITIES INDEX, 1962- . London: Library Association, 1963- .
Quarterly with annual cumulations. Subject index to 350 British periodicals.
[Ref/AI/3/B7]

INTERNATIONALE BIBLIOGRAPHIE DER ZEITSCHRIFTENLITERATUR. Osnabruck: Dietrich, 1897-1994.
Most extensive periodical index. IBZ selectively indexes about 8500 German and other periodicals.
[AI 9 I5]

ESSAY AND GENERAL LITERATURE INDEX. NY: Wilson, 1900- .
A unique publication which indexes essays published in collections. Access is by author, subject, and in some cases by title. Although essays in the humanities predominate, the social sciences are also included. Two issues per year and various cumulations.
[Ref/AI/3/E752]

PERIODICAL DIRECTORIES AND FINDING TOOLS
* ULRICH'S INTERNATIONAL PERIODICAL DIRECTORY. NY: Bowker, 1932- .
Biennial subject-classed listing with title index of periodicals published currently around the world. Supplemented by Irregular Serials and Annuals.
[Ref Desk]

UNION LIST OF SERIALS IN LIBRARIES IN THE U.S. AND CANADA. 3d ed. NY: Wilson, 1965.
Five-volume set listing serials in major U.S. and Canadian libraries. Often gives some indication of holdings. Supplemented by WorldCat and RLIN.
[Ref in Books in Print area]

Leistner, Otto. ITA: International Title Abbreviations of Periodicals, Newspapers, Important Handbooks, Dictionaries, Laws, Etc. 8th ed. Osnabruck: Biblio Verlag, 2000.
Comprehensive international list of periodical and serial title abbreviations, plus others.
[Ref Desk Z/6945/A2/L4/2000]

PERIODICAL TITLE ABBREVIATIONS. Detroit: Gale, 1969- .
Irregular. Provides access by abbreviation or by title.
[Ref Desk Z 6945 A2 W34]

BOOK REVIEW SOURCES
Definition: Book reviews offer critical reaction to a work within a year or two of publication. They vary in length and authority but can be long scholarly essays on a work, an author, or a subject.

It is often useful to check several book review indexes, so we have shelved many of them together in a stack section by the east windows. In addition to those listed below, the section includes: Current Book Review Citations, 1976-1982 , and Index to Book Reviews in Historical Periodicals, 1972-1977. See also the separate book review sections at the back of issues/volumes of Social Sciences Index, and Humanities Index. Both Social Science Citation Index and Arts &
Humanities Citation Index contain a high percentage (up to 40%) of book review citations.

A very useful guide for locating book review sources is Richard A. Gray's A Guide to Book Review Citations: A Bibliography of Sources (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1968), which describes over 500 sources. It is arranged by topic and includes subject and title indexes.
[Ref Desk Z 1035 A1 G7]

BOOK REVIEW DIGEST, 1905 . NY: Wilson, 1905 .
Reviews of English-language books published or distributed in the U.S. which appear in at least 2 (4 for fiction) of the 75 journals indexed are cited. Excerpts from reviews are frequently reprinted and the number of words in the full review is indicated. Published 10 times a year with annual cumulative volumes. Author arrangement with title and subject index.
[Ref Z/1219/C96]

NATIONAL LIBRARY SERVICE CUMULATIVE BOOK REVIEW INDEX, 1905-1974. Princeton, NJ: 1975.
Six-volume (3 alphabetically by author, 3 by title) cumulative index to reviews cited in Book Review Digest plus those published in Saturday Review (19241974), Library Journal (19071974), and Choice (1969-1974).
[Ref Z/1035/A1/N38]

* BOOK REVIEW INDEX, 1965- . Detroit: Gale, 1966- .
Indexes all reviews in about 215 English-language journals. Monthly with quarterly and annual cumulations.
[Ref/ Z/1035/A1/B6]

INDEX TO BOOK REVIEWS IN THE HUMANITIES, 1960- . Detroit: Philip Thomson, 1960- .
Quarterly with annual cumulations. Indexes 650 journals and newspapers. Covers all subjects in the humanities and includes fiction.
[Ref/Z/1035/A1/I63]

INTERNATIONALE BIBLIOGRAPHIE DER REZENSIONEN WISSENSCHAFTLICHER LITERATUR.
Osnabruck: Dietrich, 1971- .
Published in four sections: A/ Index of periodicals consulted (4000+); B/ Classified subject index (in German, with references from English and French equivalents) of book reviews; C/ Index of book reviews by reviewed authors; D/Index of book reviews by reviewer. International; major western language journals; all subjects, including scientific ones.
[Ref/Moelis CD area/AI/9/I4951] On cd from 1985 forward; earlier volumes in storage:

BIBLIOGRAPHIE DER REZENSIONEN. 177 Vols., 1900-1943. Leipzig: Dietrich, 1901-1944.

Index to reviews in 3000+ German-language serials from 1901 until 1911 and, from 1911 to 1943 (except 1916-1924), German and non-German serials. By 1943, 5000 German (including 50 newspapers) and 4000 other titles were indexed.
[AI 9 B6]

COMBINED RETROSPECTIVE INDEX TO BOOK REVIEWS IN SCHOLARLY JOURNALS, 1886-1974. Arlington, VA: Carrollton, 1979-82. 15 vol.
Index by author name to book reviews in 459 journals in sociology, history, and political science.
[Ref/Z1035/A1/C64]

COMBINED RETROSPECTIVE INDEX TO BOOK REVIEWS IN HUMANITIES JOURNALS, 1802-1974. Woodbridge, CT: Research Publications, 1982-84. 10 vol.
Index by author name to reviews from 157 journals.
[Ref/Z/1035/A1/C62/1982]

BOOK REVIEW INDEX TO SOCIAL SCIENCE PERIODICALS. Ed. Argold M. Rzepoecki. Ann Arbor, MI: Pierian Press, 1978-81.
Covers reviews of 1964-73 in 4 volumes. Complements Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities. Indexes all book reviews from approximately 250 journals.
[Ref/Z/7161/B7]

THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT INDEX, 1902-1939. 2 vol. Reading, Eng.: Newspaper Archives Development, Ltd., 1978., 1940-1980. 3 vol. Reading, Eng.: Research Publications, Ltd., 1982.
References to reviews, articles, letters, poems. Entries by personal name, title, and subject in one alphabet.
[Ref/AP/4/T45]