The editor of the Devon bibliography welcomes the submission of documents old and new which they may have missed. These new records can highlight the work of communities, organisations and individuals across the county and assist researchers into all aspects of Devon wherever in the world they may be.
While information in any form is welcome, it would be helpful, both to the editors and to the individuals submitting the information, if the information were presented as closely as possible in the format used by the Devon bibliography.
A. How to contribute records
Each record for a book, pamphlet, periodical article etc in the Devon bibliography is made up of 32 sections (also known as fields in databases or columns in spreadsheets). Each section is separated by a tab. Of these sections 13 are required for submitting data but not all sections have to contain data, for example an item may not form part of a series. The key sections which must contain data are marked with an asterisk:
| 1. | AU - | Author. In inverted form. Organisations are also considered as corporate authors. |
| *2. | TI - | Title. In format: title : subtitle / statement of responsibility, normally as given on the title page. |
| 3. | ED - | Edition. Can be Second, New, Revised, Reprinted etc. Often on verso of title. |
| 4. | CY - | Place of publication. Usually town, but county or country also possible. If not known: [Place unascertained]. |
| *5. | PU - | Publisher. If not known: [Publisher unascertained]. Also used for periodical title for articles. |
| *6. | PY - | Publication year. If not known use format: [1920?]. |
| 7. | PD - | Physical description. Number of pages : illustrations etc ; height in cm. |
| *8. | IS - | ISBN or ISSN. As given in book, omitting any spaces or hyphens. If not located confirm: ISBN [none ascertained]. |
| 9. | UR - | URL, internet link. Include month and year when accessed. |
| 10. | SE - | Series. If possible give volume number. |
| 11. | NT - | Notes. Can relate to author, contents, circumstances of publication. |
| *12. | HL - | Holding location. Where a copy can be consulted or acquired, including, if appropriate, a note: WSL: copy passed for stock. |
| 13. | KW - | Keywords for subject content. If possible should include: Place. Subject. Name of subject. How subject is treated. Period covered by item. |
Some examples may make this clearer. They can be copied and pasted into a text file to use as a template and then overwritten. The three records used as examples have each section of the record separated by a vertical line known as a pipe (|) as HTML cannot handle tabs easily. The editors can easily convert this to tabs to paste the records into the spreadsheets.
The record format with the contents of each section.
Main author. |Title : subtitle / statement of authorship. - |Edition. - |Place of publication : |Publisher, |Publication year. - |Physical description. - |ISBN ISSN BNB. - |URL web link with month and year accessed. -|Series ; vol. no. - |Notes. - |Copies: |Keywords: place subject, name, aspect, dates.
1. Publication by Local History Group which does not have ISBN.
Wakefield, Chris. |Ottery St Mary in 1382 / Chris Wakefield. - |[First edition - not normally noted]. - | Ottery Saint Mary : |Ottery St Mary Heritage Society, |2013. - |iv, 35 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm. - | ISBN [none]|[No URL]|People and places in Ottery St Mary. - |Translation with commentary and indexes of BL Add. Mss. 28838. -||Copies: Ottery St Mary Heritage Society. - |Subjects: Ottery Saint Mary. Rentals. Transcripts. 1382. -
2. Publication by institution which has an older style short ISBN.
Brockett, Alan.|The Devon union list (D.U.L.) : a collection of written material relating to the county of Devon / gathered and arranged by Allan Brockett. -|[No edition statement]|Exeter :|University Library,| 1977. -|iii, 571 pages ; 21 cm. -|ISBN 0902746065. -|[no URL]|[Not in a series]|Lists 8,300 items with location in six libraries. -|Copies: WSL: 016/DEV/BRO. -|Subjects: Devon. Bibliographies. -
3. Periodical article with link to digital copy.
Neville, Julia.|News from the Devon in the 1920s research project : launch deferred but not discarded / Julia Neville, project manager. -|[No edition statement]|In :|Devon history news, special edition, April| 2020. -|Pages 12-17 : illustrations ; PDF document. -|[ISSN unascertained]|<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_vc5CaxhkDvLC4tg_jpWQV1icHog8ac4/view">Accessed May 2020</a>. -|[Not in a series]|Includes the four introductory panels produced for the 30 March launch event, cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. -|Copies: DHC. -|Subjects: Devon. Social conditions. Research projects. 1920-1929. -
If submitting a large number of records it may be easier to highlight the table below and paste it into an Excel spreadsheet or Word file to use as a template to add further records. Once it is imported the layout can be adjusted to make it more friendly on the eye. For word processing software it is best to set the page layout to landscape.
| AU | TI | ED | CY | PU | PY | PD | IS | UR | SE | NT | HL | KW |
| Main author | Title : subtitle / statement of authorship | Edition | Place of publication | Publisher | Publication year | Physical description | ISBN ISSN BNB | URL web link | Series | Notes | Copies | Keywords: place subject, name, aspect, dates |
| Publication by Local History Group which does not have ISBN | ||||||||||||
| Wakefield, Chris. | Ottery St Mary in 1382 / Chris Wakefield. - | First edition. - | Ottery Saint Mary : | Ottery St Mary Heritage Society, | 2013. - | iv, 35 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm. - | ISBN [none] | [No URL] | People and places in Ottery St Mary. - | Translation with commentary and indexes of BL Add. Mss. 28838. - | Copies: Ottery St Mary Heritage Society. - | Subjects: Ottery Saint Mary. Rentals. Transcripts. 1382. - |
| Publication by institution which has older short ISBN | ||||||||||||
| Brockett, Alan. | The Devon union list (D.U.L.) : a collection of written material relating to the county of Devon / gathered and arranged by Allan Brockett. - | Exeter : | University Library, | 1977. - | iii, 571 pages ; 21 cm. - | ISBN 0902746065. - | [no URL] | [Not in series] | Lists 8,300 items with location in six libraries. - | Copies: WSL: 016/DEV/BRO. - | Subjects: Devon. Bibliographies. - | |
| Periodical article with link to digital copy. | ||||||||||||
| Neville, Julia. | News from the Devon in the 1920s research project : launch deferred but not discarded / Julia Neville, project manager. - | In : | Devon history news, special edition, April | 2020. - | Pages 12-17 : illustrations ; PDF document. - | <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_vc5CaxhkDvLC4tg_jpWQV1icHog8ac4/view">Accessed May 2020</a>. - | [Not in series] | Includes the four introductory panels produced for the 30 March launch event, cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. - | Copies: DHC. - | Subjects: Devon. Social conditions. Research projects. 1920-1929. - | ||
B. Some background to the project
Since 2011 the Westcountry Studies Library has not had the resources to maintain bibliographical control over the ever increasing mass of documentation relating to our county or the means to acquire a representative sample for researchers today and in the future. The project seeks to enlist a team of volunteers from communities across the county to record printed and digital publications relating to Devon. Much of this material is available free of charge from tourist information centres, local authorities, museums, libraries, local history groups, charities and a wide range of other sources. In the first phase emphasis would be on current or recently published items, but if funding can be found, it is hoped to extend coverage to earlier periods. The project has been set up in consultation with the Devon Heritage Centre, the Friends of Devon's Archives, the Devon History Society and the Devonshire Association. If you are interested in working with this project, please contact the editor, currently Ian Maxted, by email at ianmaxted@hotmail.co.uk.
C. What does the Devon Bibliography cover?
The scope of the bibliography
1. Works with Devon subject content.
2. Works about Devonians (by birth or adoption).
3. Works by Devon authors.
4. Works printed or published in Devon.
Devon should include all parishes which are now within, or have at one time formed part of, the historic county of Devon:.
1. Parishes now in neighbouring counties: e. g. Thorncombe, Churchstanton, North Petherwin, Werrington, Maker.
2. Areas now separately administered: Plymouth, Torbay.
3. Works relating to the Westcountry as a whole should be included where Devon figures significantly in the contents.
Coverage of the on-line Devon bibliography
1. Core categories
B: Books, pamphlets, ephemera.
P: Periodicals.
N: Newspapers.
W: Digital and electronic data (websites, e-Books, digital documents e. g. PDF files).
2. Secondary categories
M: Maps.
I: Illustrations (especially published items, such as topographical prints).
T: Theses (non-Devon research the responsibility of the universities to list).
A: Articles in periodicals and essay collections (e. g. Festschrifte).
C: Collections (e. g. printed ephemera produced by an organisation, cutting files).
S: Manuscripts and typescripts (non-archival).
3. Other categories
R: Archives (the responsibility of record offices).
V: Sound and video recordings (responsibility of the Sound and Television Archive).
Z: Inscribed artefacts (monuments, coins and tokens etc, the responsibility of museums).
D. How are records archived?
The bibliography is currently presented online as a series of web pages derived from Excel spreadsheets.
They are held as ASCI tab delimited text files marked up with basic HTML tags. It is hoped that it will be
possible to merge these files into a single searchable database which can provide customised listings to
researchers.
Content of individual files
Individual records are grouped into files of a manageable size for ease of working on and adding to
data:
B: Books & pamphlets: by year/decade/century.
A: Periodical articles: by year.
P: Periodical titles: alphabetically by title.
N: Newspapers: by place of publication and date.
W: Digital data: by place and subject.
S: Manuscripts and typescripts: by compiler/title.
M: Maps: by place and date.
I: Illustrations: by place and subject.
E. What is the format of records?
In contrast to the shortened format for contributors given above this gives details of the full record
structure. It is intended as guidance for those who may be working with spreadsheets supplied by the editor
which contain the full record format with all 32 fields. A full record in the Devon Bibliography
appears as follows on the internet:
Gray, Todd. Exeter engraved. Volume 1 : the secular city / by Todd Gray. - Exeter : Mint Press, 2000. -
xx,208 pages : chiefly illustrations ; 24x24 cm. - Devon engraved series. - ISBN 1903356040. -
Copies: WSL : sB/EXE/1700/GRA ; BAR: BX:EXE/0002/GRA. -
Subjects: Devon. Exeter. Illustrations. 1700-1900. - <HR /> [horizontal rule]
Here is the same record as it appears on the spreadsheet, separated into its constituent parts by the pipe
symbol (|) which may make for easier editing.
<!B-2000>||Gray, Todd. ||Exeter engraved. Volume 1 : |the secular city / |by Todd Gray. - ||Exeter :
|Mint Press , |2000. - |xx,208p : chiefly ill ; 24x24cm. - |ISBN 1903356040. - ||Devon engraved series. -
|<BR />Copies: |WSL : sB/EXE/1700/GRA ; BAR: BX:EXE/0002/GRA. - |<BR />Subjects: | Devon. |
Exeter. |Illustrations. |||1700-1900. - |||<HR />|G-20EXE|T-017|2020-05-13|IM
Not all fields necessarily contain data, (|| or ||| indicates that one or two successive fields have no
data) nor are all fields displayed on the internet. Fuller information on the fields in each full record is
given below. As can be seen only 13 of the 32 fields are required for submission of records by
volunteers.
| Col. | Column name | Punct. | Notes |
| A. | DEVBIB | <!B-2000>relates to filing order in archived files. The first letter is the type of document (B=Books) and is normally followed by the year of publication. | |
| B. | TYPE | The type of creator. At present only used for <!TI, for works not filed under author. | |
| C. | CREATOR | . | The author: personal (name inverted), corporate body, or the first title word followed by > for anonymous works. |
| D. | NONFILING | Used for characters to be ignored for filing by title, normally The, A or An, followed by a space or characters such as [ or ". | |
| E. | TITLE | : | As given on title page where possible. |
| F. | SUBTITLE | / | Use sparingly, best reserved for sectional title of multi-part works. |
| G. | RESPONSIBILITY | . - | As given on title page where possible. Includes author's name, editors, other collaborators. |
| H. | EDITION | . - | As given on title page or title verso where possible. Also includes information on version e.g. Draft. |
| I. | PUBLICATION_ PLACE | : | As given on title page where possible, otherwise from title verso, colophon. |
| J. | PUBLISHER | , | As given on title page where possible, otherwise from title verso or colophon. |
| K. | PUBLICATION_ YEAR | . - | As given on title page where possible, otherwise from title verso, or colophon. Dates in roman numerals are converted to Arabic e.g MMXVI – 2016. - |
| L. | FORMAT | . - | Pagination : embellishments (maps, illustrations) ; height in cm (plus width if landscape format), for maps scale - use ratio Scale 1 : 50,000 or Scale bar 1 mile = 34mm. |
| M. | CONTROL_NO | . - | This can be ISBN BNB or references to standard bibliographies e. g. ESTC, DUL. For items in print the ISBN can be followed by the price. |
| N. | LINKS | . - | Given in form <A HREF="URL">Accessed Month Year</A>. Can be to image, e-version, PDF file or web page. |
| O. | SERIES | . - | Give series name and number if available. Most items are not in series. |
| P. | ITEM_NOTES | . - | On publishing history, local nature of contents, authorship, other collaborators etc. |
| Q. | COPIES | A formatting field, contents: <BR />Copies: | |
| R. | LIBRARY | . - | Only give shelf reference for WSL or BAR, if known. Separate locations by semi-colon. Note any location where new records have been seen or the fact that a copy is being passed to WSL. |
| S. | SUBJECTS | A formatting field, contents: <BR />Subjects: | |
| T. | REGION | . | Devon or Westcountry. |
| U. | PLACE | . | Town, parish or wider geographical area (e.g. Dartmoor, South Hams, North Devon), also rivers. |
| V. | SUBJECT | . | Prefer concrete term e.g. Mines rather than Mining. |
| W. | NAME | . | Relates to subject e.g. Devon Great Consoles. |
| X. | ASPECT | . | How the subject is handled: part (Mines. Adits.) action (Mines. Flooding.) form of presentation (Mines. Gazetteers.) etc |
| Y. | DATESPAN | . | Period covered e.g.: 1485-1603. 1914-1918, 2017- 2023 |
| Z. | ROLE | A formatting field contents: <BR />Editor: , <BR />Artist: , <BR />Publisher: etc. | |
| AA. | COLLABORATOR | Inverted name of joint author, editor, artist, illustrator etc. Not yet widely used. | |
| AB. | END | <HR /> This separates off the next entry. Fields after this do not appear on the internet. | |
| AC. | GAZETTEER | Place code to sort records into regional listings. Not yet widely used. | |
| AD. | CLASS | Thesaurus code to sort records into thematic listings. Not yet widely used. | |
| AE. | LAST_UPDATED | Date last revised in format: YYYY/MM/DD. | |
| AF. | BY | Initials of reviser |
F. What about duplicate records?
As information has been obtained from several sources it may become evident that there are duplicate records in the bibliography. Copy both records unamended to a text file and flag them for the editor for a final decision by preceding each entry with **.
G. And amended records?
Many existing records have been produced from limited information and you may be able to provide details of
edition, publisher, pagination etc. In addition you may find a copy in a previously unrecorded collection.
Where such records are identified, copy the record to a text file and add the new location at the end of
the LIBRARY field, flagging the record by preceding each entry with *.
H. What happens next?
1. Gather the records into a text file, making sure that each record starts a new line. The file should be
a plain text file (.txt) delimited by tabs or other distinctive characters such a a pipe(|) but not by
commas or other characters that may appear within the records. Text files can be generated from a range of
other programmes - e.g. Word or Excel - and Excel files are also acceptable.
2. Send the file as an attachment to the database editor (currently Ian Maxted at ianmaxted@hotmail.co.uk).
3. The editorial team will match the records you supply, edit them, and add them to the master Excel
spreadsheets which currently hold the Devon bibliography. The spreadsheets will be used to update
the bibliography website.
4. As already indicated, it would also be helpful if a copy of items discovered could be deposited in the
Devon Heritage Centre with the Westcountry Studies Library, as many local publications are not deposited
with the British Library and so risk being lost to posterity. Many items, such as tourist guides are
available free of charge from local information centres.
This page last updated 13 May 2020
