How to Write a Preliminary Bibliography

Writing a bibliography is part of writing any research paper. A preliminary bibliography comes first, before you have done all the actual research. Many teachers require that you write a preliminary bibliography to make sure that there are plenty of sources from which to obtain information. These are the sources you plan to use when researching information for your paper, but may not actually use all of them. Writing a preliminary bibliography is not any harder than writing a finished bibliography for the completed research paper.

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• Printer
• Library access

Instructions

Prepare

1. Look for several resources. Choose more than necessary since you probably will not cite them all in your paper.

2. Use a variety of sources such as books and magazine articles as well as Internet sources.

3. Create a bibliographic page on your computer that will be ongoing as you find additional, possible sources. Save the page.

Internet Sources

1. Search the Internet for online sources. Print out the pages from the computer when you find them so you will not have to repeat this phase of research.

2. Copy and paste the URL address directly from the window of each source you find to the bibliographic page you've saved to your computer. Do not rely on writing them out, as some URL addresses are confusing.

3. Copy all the bibliographic information from the websites you reviewed to your saved bibliographic page. Include all the necessary information in this order: author's full name (if given), title of document in quotation marks, title of larger online work, document date (if given), Internet address enclosed in brackets and the date you accessed the document enclosed in parentheses.

Magazine and Newspaper Sources

1. Go to the library and look up magazines that contain articles pertinent to your research idea.

2. Sign out several different magazines as sources for your paper.

3. Create an entry on your saved bibliographic page for each magazine and article reference. Include the following information: author's full name with the last name first, title of article in quotation marks, title of magazine or newspaper underlined, date of publication and page numbers of the article.

Books

1. Do not read the entire book just to write your preliminary bibliography. Choose a book that may have information for your paper, but all you need right now is the source information.

2. Choose several books for your preliminary bibliography even if you do not use them all as references in your paper.

3. Enter your book information to your ongoing bibliographic page in this manner: author's full name with last name first, underlined title, editor (if any), city of publication, name of publisher and year of publication.

Tips & Warnings

• Here is a sample of an Internet source: "Austen, Jane." Encyclopedia Britannica Online., http://search.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=11433&sctn=1> (Accessed November, 7, 2001).

• Here is a sample of a book source: Wilks, Brian. The Life and Times of Jane Austen. London: Chancellor Press, 1997.

• Here is a sample of a magazine or newspaper source: Moore, Honor. "A Heart Not Mended." New Leader. February 9, 1998, 18-19.

References

• Grammar and Composition, James A. Chapman, 2002

Resources

• Teachervision.fen.com: Research Paper: How to Write a Bibliography