A bibliography “en pleine mutation”: Marcelle Beaudiquez’s Guide de bibliographie générale

Abstract

The paper examines the current relevance and future prospects of enumerative bibliography through a fresh analysis of Marcelle Beaudiquez’s Guide de bibliographie générale (1989), situating the work within the broader twentieth-century and contemporary debate on the nature and functions of the discipline. After reconstructing the tensions that emerged in the Anglo-American context between analytical and enumerative bibliography, the paper explores the recent renewal of international interest in repertory-based bibliographies approaches, also in light of contributions from information science and knowledge organization. Within this framework, Beaudiquez’s work is interpreted not merely as a methodological handbook intended for library training, but as a text that anticipated several transformations brought about by digital technologies. The Guide advances a conception of bibliography as a critical method for researching, selecting, and organizing information—
one that transcends the printed medium and is fully adaptable to digital environments. In a context marked by information overload and processes of disintermediation, bibliography emerges as a genuine knowledge infrastructure, offering strategic competencies that enable users to identify, access, and reliably assess data and information resources. The analysis highlights the continuity between methodological tradition and technological innovation, suggesting that the future of the discipline does not lie in abandoning its identity, but in redefining its theoretical foundations within the digital ecosystem.