FUNCTIONS

In the last two decades there have been tremendous developments in production of documents. The volume of published literature has enormously increased. Bibliography or rather bibliographic control is a direct consequence of enormous growth in published literature.

The chief function of a bibliography is to help the users in locating the required information source in the fastest possible manner. Some of the functions of a bibliography are listed below:

1. It is a systematic guide to the literature of the subject; 
2. It locates a title on a given subject and identifies the bibliographical details on it (author, publisher, date and place of publication, etc.);
3. It provides a selection tool in acquiring materials for the library;
4. It helps in obtaining information on complete works, and about an individual author; 
5. It prevents time and efforts of researchers as it helps in selecting relevant and specific documents from the large universe of documents; 
6. It gives direction to researcher by indicating the areas where total research in a subject areas stands and its progress; 
7. It is useful for carrying out retrospective search for the purposes of research; 
8. It enhances application of existing knowledge and activates the creation of new knowledge; and 
9. It assists a librarian to be selective, in case the budget is rather limited.