A bibliographer compiles exhaustive lists of publications on a specific subject, including books, articles, journals, manuscripts, and artwork. They require a degree in library science and subject expertise, and may work for libraries or private collectors. The job involves categorizing and synthesizing information, and may require multilingual skills.
A bibliographer is someone with extensive knowledge of publications on a specific subject. Bibliographers compile lists of books related to the subjects they study, help libraries with collections, and may also work for private collectors. A career in bibliography usually requires a degree in library science and a degree in the subject the bibliographer is interested in, plus active training in libraries, auction houses, and so on to learn the rules of the trade.
Many people are familiar with the concept of a bibliography thanks to assignments with bibliographies in school. The work of a bibliographer is related, though somewhat different. Rather than compiling a list of sources used for an article, a bibliographer attempts to exhaustively list resources related to a subject. For example, someone specializing in the French Revolution would include a wide range of texts, from personal diaries written by people who were there to the latest scholarly works on the subject.
Biblographers can track and include books, articles, journals, poems, unpublished manuscripts, and even works of art in the bibliographies they generate. It can take years to complete a successful bibliography on a specific subject. During the process, the bibliographer identifies, categorizes, and learns about a wide variety of texts. Work may include meeting with other bibliographers and book professionals to gather information, as well as visiting archival facilities to identify new work that may be relevant.
For a library, a bibliographer can be a very valuable member of staff. A library wishing to assemble an authoritative collection on a specific subject would hire bibliographers to help with the task of creating and maintaining the collection. A Renaissance studies library, for example, would have a bibliographer trained in the period. The bibliographer may also be involved in rare book loan or exchange arrangements, which can be used to improve the quality of the library’s collections.
Working in this field requires many different skills and interests. People must be interested in books and have a specific interest in a specific subject or family of related subjects, ranging from flowers to art to medical history, and they must be adept at discovering and synthesizing information. A bibliographer is also very good at categorizing and describing, and it helps immensely to be multilingual in having access to texts that may not be widely available in the bibliographer’s native language.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
