How to do a Bibliography

This page is from the Yorba Linda Public Library web site: http://www.ylpl.lib.ca.us/kids/biblio2.htm

A Bibliography is a list of books or articles about a subject. A bibliography refers a person to other resources for more information on the subject. It is listed in alphabetical order by Author's last name.

To write a bibliography, we need to know:

Author's name
Title of the book
Where it was Published (City)
Name of the Publishing Company
Copyright date (Year it was Published)

This information can be found on the "title page," and on the back of the title page, called the "verso.". The "title page" is found in the beginning of a book, but sometimes it is on the last page of a book.

Sample Title Page

Sample Verso (back side of Title Page)

You Try It!

	Author's last name	Author's first name
	Title	Publisher
	City, State	Copyright Date
Check your answers below!

Bibliography example for this book:

Answers:

Frahm, Randy. The Humpback Whale.
(Author's last name, first name. Title in italics or underlined.)
Mankato, Minnesota: Capstone Press, 1998.
(City published in: Publishing Company, Copyright date.)

Only the first line is even with your margin! If the information takes more than 2 lines, indent each line after the first line 5 spaces (this is an automatic tab on your computer). All bibliography entries must be listed in alphabetical order by author's last name. Watch your punctuation!

Books by TWO authors:

Berenstain, Stan and Jan Berenstain. The Berenstain Bear
	Scouts and the Really Big Disaster. New York: Scholastic, 1998.

Books that are EDITED:

Toucanner, Pete, ed. Rain Forest Animals of the World.
	New York: ABC Publishing, 1998.

Online Sources or CD-ROMs

Internet Source:

Berry, Razz. "Native American Foods." Home Page for Native Foods.
1998. http: www.berries/good.com (Retrieved 2 Oct. 1998).

CD-ROM Source:

There are many different ways to write a bibliography for a CD-ROM. Here are two examples. Ask your teacher which way he or she prefers it written.

US CD-ROM Encyclopedia, 1997, "Argentina."
Or
"Argentina." US CD-ROM Encyclopedia. Version 1.0.
CD-ROM. London:Microsoft,1999.

Periodicals

Newspapers:

Miner, Goldie. "How to Strike It Rich in California Gold
Mines." Yorba Linda News 9 Sept. 1998: B7.

Magazines:

Smitherson, Sam. " Silly Spotted Snake Seen Slithering Sideways."
Smile Magazine of Sensational Animals Nov. 1997: 43-51.

Encyclopedias

Encyclopedia Article including Author:

World Book Encyclopedia, 1998, vol. 13, "Mississippi River," by John Edwin Coffman.

Encyclopedia Article without an Author:

Compton's Encyclopedia, 1997, vol. 4, "Carnival."

For more information on how to write a bibliography, check out Painless Research Projects by Rebecca S. Elliott and James Elliot. How to Write a Term Paper by Nancy Everhart is a great book to guide you through the whole process of research and writing.

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