Preparing Bibliography Cards

(or “How Properly Citing My Sources Saved My Paper and My Life”)

Compiled from Writing Research Papers: 2001 Edition

Bibliography Cards - What’s the Point?

Bibliography cards serve three purposes:

1. Well written bibliography cards allow you to find your source information quickly.

2. They allow you to prepare documentation for your paper.

3. Bibliography cards also allow you to prepare the Works Cited list that appears at the end of your paper.

Bibliography Cards (cont.)

• Documentation is material included in a research paper to identify the sources from which information was taken.

• The Works Cited list is a complete record of the sources referred to in the paper.

How to Create a Bibliography Card

Steinbeck’s Literary Dimension: A Guide to Comparative Studies. Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1973.

1. A bibliographic entry gives essential information about a source, such as its author, title, place and/or date of publication, and the pages (if applicable) on which it was found. The first line begins in the upper left-hand corner of the card. Subsequent lines are indented a few spaces.

Hayashi, Tetsumaro.

How to Create a Bibliography Card

Hayashi, Tetsumaro. Steinbeck’s Literary Dimension: A Guide to Comparative Studies. Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1973.

2. A source note tells where you found the source. The source listed on the card below was found at the Lucius Beebe Memorial Library. The source note will help you find the source again if you need to do so.

Lucius Beebe Memorial Library

How to Create a Bibliography Card

Hayashi, Tetsumaro. Steinbeck’s Literary Dimension: A Guide to Comparative Studies. Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1973.

3. A source number is written in the upper right-hand corner of the card and circled. Assign a unique number to each source you find. You will use this number to refer to the source on note cards containing material from that source.

Lucius Beebe Memorial Library

1

How to Create a Bibliography Card

Hayashi, Tetsumaro. Steinbeck’s Literary Dimension: A Guide to Comparative Studies. Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1973.

4. A card catalogue number, if appropriate, should be included. If your source comes from a library and has a catalogue number, you should write that number in the lower right-hand corner. The catalogue number will help you find the source again if you need to do so.

Lucius Beebe Memorial Library

1

813.08

Bibliography Card Recap

• Locate information on your sources.• Make a bibliography card for it, using a 4” x 6” index

card.• Find the appropriate bibliography form in Writing

Research Papers, Appendix C on pages 82-91 (or search MLA Citations or MLA Works Cited Documentation ).

• In the top right-hand corner of the card, record a source number and circle it.

Bibliography Card Recap

• At the bottom of the card, record the place where you found the source.

• If the source has a catalog number, record that number as well (in the lower right-hand corner).

• Stack the card with the rest of the cards that make up your working bibliography.

The EndThe End…or is it?

Be sure to tune in next week to “Thesis - Or What the Heck am I Trying to Prove?”