Bhutan’s National Bibliography
Bhutan’s National Bibliography – compiled by Dorji Penjore
Bhutan’s National Bibliography is a simple compilation of information based on the Harvard System or author date system, where author’s name (surname) is written first, followed by year of publication, title of book, place of publication, and publisher’s name. The entries are listed in alphabetical index of author’s surname.
Divided into four parts, the first part lists all books on Bhutan. For instance, there is an entry,
Aris, Michael
1994
The Raven Crown: The Origins of Buddhist Monarchy in Bhutan London:
Serindia Publications.
This entry should be read as, Michael Aris is the author of The Raven Crown: The Origins of Buddhist Monarchy in Bhutan, published in 1994 by Serindia Publications in London.
The second part lists books where a half or a part of it is about Bhutan. Some books also have a chapter or parts of contents about Bhutan.
Rustomji, Nari K.
1971
Enchanted Frontiers: Sikkim, Bhutan and India’s North-Eastern Borderlands
Delhi:
Oxford University Press
means that the author of Enchanted Frontiers: Sikkim, Bhutan and India’s North-Eastern Borderlands is Nari K. Rustomji. It was published in 1971 by Oxford University Press in Delhi. The book contains information on Bhutan, including Sikkim and northeast Indian states. The abbreviation ‘N.A.’ stands for ‘Not Available’. It was inserted where information on author, publication year, title, place and name of publisher are not available.
Part three contains some selected research articles and papers published in some important journals and magazines. Similarly the entry,
Haas, Ernest
1974
The coronation of a young King reflects the colorful history of Bhutan in ancient days
In “Smithsonian”, Vol.V, No.6, pp.53-63 should be understood as, the article The coronation of a young King reflects the colorful history of Bhutan in ancient days appears in page 53- 63, Volume V, No. 6 issue of ‘Smithsonian’ magazine published in 1974. This section provides some additional information like volume, issue and page numbers of a journal wherein a paper or article can be found.
The publications of Education Department constitute the last part. The books are mostly textbooks, and some teaching manuals written by Curriculum and Professional Support Division (CAPSD) and Non-Formal Education Division (NFED). In fact, CAPSD has been the largest publisher in the country, followed by Dzongkha Development Commission and the Centre for Bhutan Studies. A few other publications of Education Department are also included in the first part.
Any bibliography would normally contain information on encyclopedia, books, journals, magazines articles, booklets, pamphlets, leaflets, maps, Internet references, CD-ROMs and other sources. But the present compilation is limited to books and journals. Except for some, all entries in Bhutan’s National Bibliography are of books written in English. But this does not indicate a lack of books in Dzongkha or Chökey. A whole corpus of national literature in Chökey and some in Dzongkha written in different genres such as namthar, debthar, gyalrab, lozey, tsangmo and other important scriptures authored by Bhutanese are not included. These very important works will be incorporated in the next edition.
This is the first step in process of compiling a comprehensive and authoritative national bibliography. The Centre is aware of its inadequacies and limitations. We hope that readers would contribute in our effort by informing us of books, articles and other publications on Bhutan missing in this edition of the national bibliography.