Bibliography vs. Index — What's the Difference?

A list of the books referred to in a scholarly work.

An alphabetical list of names, subjects, etc., with references to the places where they occur, typically found at the end of a book.

The branch of library science dealing with the history, physical description, comparison, and classification of books and other works.

A statistical measure or indicator.

The history or systematic description of books, their authorship, printing, publication, editions, etc.

A pointer or indicator in a database or information retrieval system.

A list of the books of a specific author or publisher, or on a specific subject.

A systematic list of items, such as a bibliographical and analytical record.

A list of sources used for preparing a document.

A directory or listing.

Bibliography (from Ancient Greek: βιβλίον, romanized: biblion, lit. 'book' and -γραφία, -graphía, 'writing'), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from Ancient Greek: -λογία, romanized: -logía). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes bibliography as a word having two senses: one, a list of books for further study or of works consulted by an author (or enumerative bibliography); the other one, applicable for collectors, is "the study of books as physical objects" and "the systematic description of books as objects" (or descriptive bibliography).

An alphabetized list of names, places, and subjects treated in a printed work, giving the page or pages on which each item is mentioned.

A list of the works of a specific author or publisher.

A thumb index.

A list of writings relating to a given subject

A table, file, or catalog.

A list of writings used or considered by an author in preparing a particular work.

(Computers) A list of keywords associated with a record or document, used especially as an aid in searching for information.

The description and identification of the editions, dates of issue, authorship, and typography of books or other written material.

Something that reveals or indicates; a sign

A compilation of such information.

A character (☞) used in printing to call attention to a particular paragraph or section. Also called hand.

A section of a written work containing citations, not quotations, to all the books referred to in the work.

An indicator or pointer, as on a scientific instrument.

A list of books or documents relevant to a particular subject or author.

(Mathematics) A number or symbol, often written as a subscript or superscript to a mathematical expression, that indicates an operation to be performed, an ordering relation, or a use of the associated expression.

The study of the history of books in terms of their classification, printing and publication.

A number derived from a formula, used to characterize a set of data.

A history or description of books and manuscripts, with notices of the different editions, the times when they were printed, etc.

A statistical value that represents the price or value of an aggregate of goods, services, wages, or other measurable quantities in comparison with a reference number for a previous period of time.

A list of books or other printed works having some common theme, such as topic, period, author, or publisher.

A number that represents the change in price or value of stocks or other securities in a particular market, sector, or asset class.

A list of the published (and sometimes unpublished) sources of information referred to in a scholarly discourse or other text, or used as reference materials for its preparation.

The stocks or other securities represented by an index.

The branch of library science dealing with the history and classification of books and other published materials.

Index Roman Catholic Church A list formerly published by Church authority, restricting or forbidding the reading of certain books.

A list of writings with time and place of publication (such as the writings of a single author or the works referred to in preparing a document etc.)

To furnish with an index

To enter in an index.

To indicate or signal.

To adjust through indexation.

An alphabetical listing of items and their location.

The index finger; the forefinger.

A movable finger on a gauge, scale, etc.

(typography) A symbol resembling a pointing hand, used to direct particular attention to a note or paragraph.

That which points out; that which shows, indicates, manifests, or discloses.

A sign; an indication; a token.

(linguistics) A type of noun where the meaning of the form changes with respect to the context; e.g., 'Today's newspaper' is an indexical form since its referent will differ depending on the context. See also icon and symbol.

(economics) A single number calculated from an array of prices or of quantities.

(science) A number representing a property or ratio; a coefficient.

(mathematics) A raised suffix indicating a power.

An integer or other key indicating the location of data, e.g. within an array, vector, database table, associative array, or hash table.

A data structure that improves the performance of operations on a table.

(obsolete) A prologue indicating what follows.

(transitive) To arrange an index for something, especially a long text.

To inventory; to take stock.

To normalise in order to account for inflation; to correct for inflation by linking to a price index in order to maintain real levels.

To measure by an associated value.

To be indexical for (some situation or state of affairs); to indicate.

(computing) To access a value in a data container by an index.

That which points out; that which shows, indicates, manifests, or discloses; as, the increasing unemployment rate is an index of how much the economy has slowed.

That which guides, points out, informs, or directs; a pointer or a hand that directs to anything, as the hand of a watch, a movable finger or other form of pointer on a gauge, scale, or other graduated instrument.

A table for facilitating reference to topics, names, and the like, in a book, usually giving the page on which a particular word or topic may be found; - usually alphabetical in arrangement, and printed at the end of the volume. Typically found only in non-fiction books.

A prologue indicating what follows.

The second finger, that next to the pollex (thumb), in the manus, or hand; the forefinger; index finger.

The figure or letter which shows the power or root of a quantity; the exponent.

The ratio, or formula expressing the ratio, of one dimension of a thing to another dimension; as, the vertical index of the cranium.

A number providing a measure of some quantity derived by a formula, usually a form of averaging, from multiple quantities; - used mostly in economics; as, the index of leading indicators; the index of industrial production; the consumer price index. See, for example, the consumer price index.

A file containing a table with the addresses of data items, arranged for rapid and convenient search for the addresses.

A number which serves as a label for a data item and also represents the address of a data item within a table or array.

The Index prohibitorius, a catalogue of books which are forbidden by the church to be read; also called Index of forbidden books and Index Librorum Prohibitorum.

To provide with an index or table of references; to put into an index; as, to index a book, or its contents.

To adjust (wages, prices, taxes, etc.) automatically so as to compensate for changes in prices, usually as measured by the consumer price index or other economic measure. Its purpose is usually to copensate for inflation.

To insert (a word, name, file folder, etc.) into an index or into an indexed arrangement; as, to index a contract under its date of signing.

A numerical scale used to compare variables with one another or with some reference number

A number or ratio (a value on a scale of measurement) derived from a series of observed facts; can reveal relative changes as a function of time

A mathematical notation indicating the number of times a quantity is multiplied by itself

An alphabetical listing of names and topics along with page numbers where they are discussed

The finger next to the thumb

List in an index

Provide with an index;

Adjust through indexation;

An index is an alphabetical listing of key terms, names, and subjects in a document, with page numbers where they are discussed.

A bibliography is usually found at the end of a document.

An index is organized alphabetically, and it may include subentries for detailed organization.

Yes, many academic and non-fiction books include both a bibliography and an index.

A bibliography is a list of all the sources used or considered in the preparation of a document.

A bibliography is important for acknowledging sources and supporting the credibility of the work.

An index includes names, subjects, key terms, and places mentioned in the document.

Yes, bibliographies should follow a specific citation style, such as APA, MLA, or Chicago.

Yes, indexes include page numbers to direct readers to the exact location of the information.

A bibliography can guide readers to additional sources of information on a topic.

A bibliography includes all sources consulted, while a reference list includes only those sources cited within the work.

Not all books have an index; it is more common in non-fiction and reference works.

An index lists key terms and subjects alphabetically with page numbers, while a table of contents lists the chapters or sections of a document in order.

The main purpose of an index is to help readers locate specific information quickly.

Yes, compiling a bibliography is a crucial part of the academic research process.