Towards a Rutland bibliography: a study of the concept, practice and purpose of county bibliographies with specific reference to research for a Rutland bibliography

The thesis has grown out of an extensive survey of the literature pertaining to the county of Rutland. The survey was an original idea to produce a county bibliography which had both a short-title catalogue of conventional references and full physical descriptions of the books of the county. Two types of bibliography, analytical and systematic, are combined in one survey. The thesis is an account of this project together with a rigorous review of the theoretical background against which it was conducted. The practice of bibliography, and specifically of bibliographies of counties, is reviewed. A new definition of county bibliography is offered, together with its appropriate objects of study (book, pamphlet, leaflet, ephemera and publication are some of the specific concepts defined here). The research methods employed for the Rutland project are described and a plan outlined showing how a comprehensive survey of any English county's literature could be achieved. Especially important here are the lessons learned from on-line searching. There is a detailed discussion of inclusion and exclusion policies appropriate for a county bibliography, and an account of how this material should be presented and described. A new classification system for a county bibliography is outlined, and older solutions to the classification problem reviewed. The lessons of the Rutland project are discussed, including presentation of a statistical breakdown of the Rutland material, and whether the way in which the Rutland project was conducted could be copied for other counties. The Rutland statistics are contrasted with those for other counties. Several appendices present bibliographical information, lists of categories of literature encountered and samples from the Rutland survey.