J. Kelly Robison
Bibliographies document the works used in writing the essay. Their purpose is to give the reader a quicke reference to the works that were used in writing the essay. They fall at the very end of the paper, after conclusions and after the endnotes, if endnotes are used. The works are listed in alphabetical order by author's last name. Sometimes the works are divided into categories, such as primary sources and secondary sources or books, articles and other material. For shorter papers, dividing the bibliographies is usually not necessary.
The form used to write the bibliographic entry is similar to that of a citation. However, the author's last name comes first, followed by the first name. The title comes next, followed by the place of publication, publisher, and date. For journal articles, the pages on which the article is found is the last item.
The following is a sample bibliography with book, journal article and newspaper article samples.
Adams, Eleanor. "Fray Silvestre and the Obstinate Hopi." New Mexico Historical Review 38 (Apr. 1963): 217-238.
Bolton, Herbert Eugene. Spanish Exploration in the Southwest. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1916.
Camilla, Andre. "Deciding Who Gets Dibs on Health-Care Dollars." Wall Street Journal 27 March 1984: 30(W) and 34(E).
This is a very brief guide to bibliographies. Kate Turabian's A Manual For Writers is a standard reference work for bibs. The Chicago Manual of Style is a more complete guide, though both use the same format.