When writing a history paper, either for scholarly publication or a class assignment, you will need to compile a bibliography at the end of your paper. A bibliography provides a detailed list of the sources you used to write your paper. You need to give credit to the works from which you pulled your ideas, as well as to provide your readers with a way to authenticate your work and pursue more information on the topic if they wish to do so. By keeping detailed notes and consulting with the appropriate style guide, you can compile a thorough bibliography.

Format

Find out the type of style/formatting guide you need to use to compile your history bibliography. The style/formatting method determines the manner in which you should cite sources and other reference materials. Depending on your teacher's preferences or the type of writing and/or sources used, you can elect to use APA (social sciences, psychology, education), MLA (literature, humanities, arts), AMA (medical, health, biological sciences), Turabian (designed specifically for college students, all subjects) or Chicago Manual of Style (often used in history and humanities, magazines, newspapers and other non-scholarly publications). According to Diana Hacker, author of "Research and Documentation in the Electronic Age," many history instructors prefer that you cite your sources using the Chicago style.

Organization

Decide on the type of bibliography you want to include and how you will keep track of the items that need to go into the bibliography. You need to choose between a regular bibliography or an annotated one. An annotated bibliography includes a brief summary of each work used, in which you describe the contents of the work and offer insight into how it helped you write your article. Scholars commonly use annotated bibliographies to prepare their works, so if preparing a history paper for scholarly publication, you might consider their use. Ask your teacher for her preference before beginning your paper. Make note of any books, articles, or websites you use when preparing your article. You might want to buy a pack of note cards and jot down the basic information on your work. Include the author, title, place of publication, publisher, date of publication and page numbers (if using articles from magazines, encyclopedias, anthologies or other similar media) in your preferred bibliographic style. Assign a letter or number to the cards; if writing an annotated bibliography, you can jot down important notes on each work onto note cards and assign them the same letter as the source used to compile them. Arrange your bibliographical sources in alphabetical order, according to the first letter of the author's last name, at the end of your research paper. Organize sources without an author's last name (such as encyclopedias or movies) by title.

Source:

UNC: Annotated Bibliographies

Research and Documentation Online

Resource:

CSULB Library: Style Manuals and Citation Methods

Chicago Manual of Style Sample Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography Samples (MLA, APA, Chicago)