Rigorous Systematic Bibliography.
Marcia J. Bates · 1976
Systematic bibliography, or enumerative bibliography, as it is sometimes known, has long been viewed as a poor relation to descriptive/analytic bibliography. The practice of making bibliographies to be used in literature searches has been seen to be a much humbler activity than that of creating exquisitely detailed descriptions of the physical and textual aspects of books. Debates have raged through decades over the primacy of the two branches within bibliography, but even the champions of systematic bibliography usually concede that the prize of technical complexity goes to descriptive/analytic; any primacy due to systematic bibliography arises out of its practical utility, not out of the subtlety or skill needed by the bibliographer. It is the purpose of this paper to provide a first foundation for a technically subtle systematic bibliography, in which the immense practical utility of resource bibliographies is matched by the skill in information seeking, selection, and organization required of the bibliographer. The bibliographies so created will make possible a more truly rational search strategy for users, and will contribute to bibliographic control in a way current bibliographies do not. Building on current approaches, and drawing particularly on the ideas of Patrick Wilson, I will endeavor to demonstrate that systematic bibliography has earned disdain only because it has been woefully underdeveloped, not because it is intrinsically a trivial activity. We will begin, in this introduction, by defining some basic terms and detailing the objectives of this paper. In the second section we will consider what the requirements are for a good systematic bibliography. Requirements will be examined first from the user’s standpoint, then from the bibliographic control standpoint. The case is made for two basic requirements, the first of which is generally met by current resources and the second of which is not. Therefore, in succeeding sections we develop the second requirement, that bibliographies state their own specifications, in considerable detail. Six types of specification are described and explained in the third section. Selection principles (one of the specification types) to be used in creating selective bibliographies are developed in the fourth. The paper concludes with a summary and specifications model. There is a long history of controversy in the field over the definition and purpose of bibliography. Thus, the moment we attempt even to define the terms being used here, we are trouble by variations in authority. As the purpose here is not to enter yet another set of definitions into the fray, but rather to put forth the beginnings of a framework for doing systematic bibliography better, these arguments will not be recapitulated. The reader who is interested is advised to consult the works of Greg, Schneider, Stokes, Hibberd, and Robinson that are listed in this paper’s references, for an understanding of at least some [PAGE 8] of the points of view in this debate. A clear and relatively neutral consensus definition of the two main branches of bibliography is provided by Verner Clapp. Regarding systematic bibliography, he says: