BDC — Bibliography of Chartography

The Bibliographic Database of Chart Monographs,
Serials, and Periodicals.

Edited and compiled by Dipl.-Bibl.(FH) Tobias Zywietz

I provide two separate versions of BDC on this website:

  • Special Release 0.97.1 (25.09.1995), compiled from the main section's data as of September 25th, 1995, listing chart books for Britain, the US and other countries.
  • British Chart Books Classified BDC 2004 Draft Version 16.12.2004, an updated bibliography listing only books concering the British charts.

Introduction

The BDC database was first set up in 1993 with the purpose of collecting all available bibliographic information concerning all aspects of Chartography. The main aim is to enable any interested person to access the available sources and subsequently experience the entire world of Chartography and its related areas.

Sources

The main sources are the 'official' National Bibliographies and equivalent bibliographical sources. Secondly the general bibliographical refence tools, such as Walford or Ulrich's; thirdly the specialist music refence works and equivalent bibliographies in monographs and periodicals (e.g. Iwaschkin). Further information is collected from specialist mail order catalogues (A&R ), catalogues by the publishers themselves and music periodicals (e.g. Record Collector). Last but not least by autopsy, i.e. from the books themselves—this overules any other source.
Although I've got a considerable library of music books myself, those relevant to this bibliography amount only to a small share of all entries. German libraries hold only a very poor selection of (popular) music publications; and even the central deposit library for music books in Germany (my 'home' library, the Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart) doesn't hold any Guinness or Whitburn titles!
If I've got something wrong or you can add information on books you own, please help me correcting mistakes and improving BDC.
A brief list of sources and abbreviations is given in the appendices.

Bibliographic Description

The entries are prepared according to the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR2) and its German equivalent Regeln für die alphabetische Katalogisierung (RAK), but with many exceptions!
Please note that many sources (especially earlier and secondary ones) don't comply with AACR2 or equivalent rules.
In all sections of an entry the general orthographic rules of the English language apply, except for direct quotes and foreign language publications. Entries are sorted (within Country) in alphabetic sequence by Format (Album, Singles, Combined) and then by Head, Title, Sub-title, Volume, Edition, Year.

Sequence of Sections:    Explanations en (1K), Erläuterungen de (1K)

Header:  Title : Sub-title ; add. / Description of Authorship ; add. — Volume. — Edition. — Place(s) : Publisher(s), Year. — Pagination : Illustration ; Height (binding)
      ISBN: Price
      [Classification].
      Original Source(s): Classification of orig. source
      (Serial Title)
Note1: Disc. Bibl. Index. — Note2. — Note3. — Note4. — Note5.
   [Internal ID#]
    Annotations.
The charts represent a facet of economic life but one that differs in its implications as between producer and consumer. The producer lives and dies by the charts, whilst the consumer can enjoy a form of bounded recreation. The charts are a game that we can envolve ourselves in for a while if we get pleasure out of doing so. Like the football league tables, they invite us to look and to judge, to become commentators and even participants in a small way. Not only can we know who had their first three hits at number one, but we can volunteer an opinion on them too. [...], pop gives us power.

(Martin Parker: Reading the charts - making sense with the hit parade.
In: Popular Music; Cambridge : C.U.P.; 10. 1991, 2, p214)

BDC 0.97.1 (1995)

BDC 2004

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[Created 25.09.1995, last revised 23.05.2005]