References___Terminology
There are basically three ways to insert references into a scholarly text: These are footnotes, endnotes, and the enumerative bibliography; this last one being the list of full references with requisite fields (such as dates, names, publisher info, page numbers etc) that go at the end of the text.
Although there are many different ways of using notes, my advice is to use them either for explanations or descriptions that digress from the body of your text; or for material that is actually a reference but that you cannot cite in the proper manner since some of the information that you need for a full bibliographical reference is missing. This is particularly valid in our field where many artworks will inevitably be exemplified, but where publication data that is needed for a full reference is not available unless there is an exhibition catalog that you can quote from. (Such as for example, page numbers).
Notes are strings of text placed at the bottom of a page (footnote) in a book or document or at the end of a text (endnote). Notes provide an author's comments on the main text or citations of a reference work in support of the text, or both. A note is normally flagged by a superscripted number immediately following that portion of the text that the note is in reference to, although sometimes a number between brackets or parentheses is used instead, like so: [1].
Footnotes are notes at the foot of the page while endnotes are collected under a separate heading at the end of a chapter in a book or a document. Unlike footnotes, endnotes have the advantage of not affecting the image of the main text, but may cause inconvenience to readers who have to move back and forth between the main text and the endnotes. Notes are most often used as an alternative to long explanatory notes that can be distracting to readers. Most literary style guidelines recommend limited use of foot and endnotes. However, publishers often encourage note references in lieu of parenthetical references.
Aside from their usage as bibliographic elements, notes are most commonly used for additional information or extended explanations that might be too digressive for the main text. Thus the reasons for using notes (be they footnotes or endnotes) can be summarized in the following way:
- As signposts to direct the reader to information the author has provided or where further useful information is pertaining to the subject in the main text.
- To attribute to a quote or viewpoint.
- As an alternative to parenthetical references; it is a simpler way to acknowledge information gained from another source.
- To escape the limitations imposed on the word count of various academic and legal texts which do not take into account notes. Aggressive use of this strategy can lead the text to be seen as affected by what some people call "foot and note disease."
Enumerative Bibliographies: These are systematic lists of books and other works such as journal articles that are placed as a list at the end of scholarly texts. Bibliographies range from "works cited" lists at the end of books and articles to complete, independent publications. Enumerative bibliographies are based on a unifying principle such as creator, subject, date, topic or other characteristic.
An entry in an enumerative bibliography provides the core elements of a text resource including a title, the creator(s), publication date and place of publication. This makes them distinct from other bibliographic forms such as descriptive bibliographies, analytical bibliographies or textual bibliographies in that their function is to record and list, rather than describe a source in detail or with any reference to the source's physical nature, materiality or textual transmission.
Added should also be that there are some publications that combine notes with an enumerative bibliography, through the usage of endnotes in which both explanatory additions as well as bibliographical references are listed in sequence through a numerical system. A good example to these can be found in the Leonardo Electronic Almanac volumes, in which the Chicago referencing style is being used to such a purpose. How you structure your notes and bibliography will therefore depend upon the publication that you are making your submission to.
An entry in an enumerative bibliography provides the core elements of a text resource including a title, the creator(s), publication date and place of publication. This makes them distinct from other bibliographic forms such as descriptive bibliographies, analytical bibliographies or textual bibliographies in that their function is to record and list, rather than describe a source in detail or with any reference to the source's physical nature, materiality or textual transmission.
Added should also be that there are some publications that combine notes with an enumerative bibliography, through the usage of endnotes in which both explanatory additions as well as bibliographical references are listed in sequence through a numerical system. A good example to these can be found in the Leonardo Electronic Almanac volumes, in which the Chicago referencing style is being used to such a purpose. How you structure your notes and bibliography will therefore depend upon the publication that you are making your submission to.