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This article proposes conventions for consistently marking up bibliographic entries using the <biblioentry> element.
DocBook 5: The Definitive Guide; The Official Documentation for DocBook(Walsh 2010) defines the schema for <biblioentry>, but does not provide further guidance on how to use this element consistently.
As a result, any attempt to generate output in any consistent style (Chicago, APA, MLA, etc.) is immediately hampered by a lack of information on how to interpret the contents of a <biblioentry>.
The conventions proposed here are designed to give guidance to authors who want to use <biblioentry> and stylesheet developers who want to develop stylesheet customizations for particular styles.
I use the following terms in this article:
A set of guidelines for how bibliographic information should be rendered. There are hundreds of such styles, including Chicago (aka CMOS), Modern Language Association (MLA), and many more.
The format used to encode bibliographic information. Examples include the DocBook <biblioentry> element, BiBTeX, OpenCitation, and many more.
A brief reference in the main text of a publication that points to an entry in a bibliography, which contains the full reference. For example, this inline reference, DocBook 5: The Definitive Guide; The Official Documentation for DocBook(Walsh 2010, 112), points to the full bibliographic entry in the section titled “Examples” and, the page reference is to the description of <biblioentry> element in that book.
A bibliographic entry within the text of a publication, often in a footnote. In this case, there is no need for a separate bibliography, though some styles allow for one in addition to the note. In some styles, for example CMOS, there is a first note, which is a full entry, followed by a short note for subsequent references. Some styles use a short note in the text plus a bibliography.
Also referred to as Works Cited (MLA) or Reference List (APA), this is a full bibliographic reference, typically placed in a separate back-of-the-book section.
The publication that a <biblioentry> describes.