Bibliographic Entities and their Uses

My topic is “Bibliographic entities and their uses.” I assume the reason this topic was given keynote status is that at this Seminar we want to take a fundamental look at bibliographic records with a view to possible cost savings in their construction. What then are bibliographic records? What bibliographic records are is a function of two things: (1) what they describe, and (2) how they are used. Thus, the first part of my article will concern itself with what bibliographic records describe, that is, bibliographic entities; the second part will discuss how and by whom bibliographic records are used. By way of introduction and example, I’d like to describe briefly two user studies. The first, anecdotal, was documented by Panizzi in his letter to Lord Ellesmere. Panizzi was seeking a known item, an edition of Abelard’s works which had prefixed to it an apology of his doctrine by Andr e Duchesne. In one catalog he found the laconic entry “Abelard’s Works.” In another, he found an edition of Abelard’s works to which Duchesne’s name had been attached, but on examination, it appeared that Duchesne had only edited the edition; he had not written the apology. On the basis of this and similar case studies, Panizzi argued the need for a full and accurate catalog.