science

Metabibliography

Metabibliography is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Metabibliography rather than just read about it. In short: A metabibliography (or biblio-bibliography) is a bibliography of bibliographies. While bibliographies serve the finding of relevant documents, metabibliographies serve the finding of the relevant bibliographies in which the relevant documents may be found.

Key takeaways

Metabibliography belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Metabibliography to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Metabibliography from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A metabibliography (or biblio-bibliography) is a bibliography of bibliographies. While bibliographies serve the finding of relevant documents, metabibliographies serve the finding of the relevant bibliographies in which the relevant documents may be found. One might quote Patrick Wilson: "For if knowledge is power, power over knowledge is power to increase one's power; and if the stock of writings is thought of mainly as it represents a stock of knowledge, it is natural to propose treating it as a "resource" to be subjected to rational control, management and utilization.". Metabibliographies are valuable for building reference collections, but usually of less interest to the average user, who rely on bibliographies selected by others.

Examples Balay, R. (Ed.). (1996). Guide to reference books. 11th ed. Chicago: American Library Association. Now as an online service: Guide to reference (2008–). Besterman, T. A. (1965–1966). A world bibliography of bibliographies and of bibliographical catalogues, calendars, abstracts, digests, indexes and the like. 4. Ed. Vol. 1–5. Totowa. Bibliographic index. A cumulative bibliography of bibliographies. New York : Wilson, 1938–2011. Vol. 1–. (terminated). Retrieved from: http://www.hwwilson.com/Databases/biblio.htm Carroll, B. A.; Fink, C. F. & Mohraz, J. E. (Eds.). (1983). Peace and war. A guide to bibliographies. Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-Clio. (War/peace bibliography series. #16 ). "Dialindex" (File 411). Dialog. (See Dialog blue sheet: http://library.dialog.com/bluesheets/html/bl0411.html Archived 2008-10-15 at the Wayback Machine). Gale Directory of online, portable, and internet databases. (See: Dialog blue sheet: dialog.com/bluesheets/html/bl0230.html). Lester, R. (Ed.). (2005–). The New Walford Guide to reference resources. Vol. 1–3. (Vol. 1, 2005: Science, Technology and Medicine. Vol. 2, 2007: The Social Sciences; Vol. 3, 2013: The Arts: Visual Arts, Music, Language and Literature. (1st edition published 1959). Malcles, Louise Noelle (1950). Les sources du travail bibliographique. Geneva: E. Droz. 3 vols. in 4: tome 1. Bibliographies generales; tome 2. Bibliographies specialisees; sciences humaines (2 vols.); tome 3. Bibliographies specialisees; sciences exactes et techniques. Totok, W. & Weitzel, R. (Eds.). (1984–1985). Handbuch der bibliographischen Nachschlagewerke. Hrsg. v. Hans-Jürgen und Dagmar Kernchen. 6., erw., völlig neu bearb. Aufl. Frankfurt a.M. : Klostermann. (2 Vols). Webb, W. H. et al. (Ed.). (1986). Sources of information in the social sciences. A Guide to the literature. 3. ed. Chicago : American Library Association.

See also Bibliographic control Guide to information sources (or: Bibliographic guide, literature guide, guide to reference materials subject gateway). Wikipedia:List of bibliographies List of lists of lists

Further reading Taylor, Archer (1955). A History of Bibliographies of Bibliographies. New Brunswick: The Scarecrow Press.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Metabibliography

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Metabibliography claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Metabibliography before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Metabibliography ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Metabibliography

In research: Metabibliography appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Metabibliography in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Metabibliography is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bibliography, Information science, Reference works, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Metabibliography outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Metabibliography in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Metabibliography means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Metabibliography out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Metabibliography in simple terms?

Why does Metabibliography matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Metabibliography?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Metabibliography.