Bibliographies: Almost Better for an Historian than an Index

I have come to appreciate bibliographies throughout my research time at the Newberry. I find them to be more helpful than an index in the back of a book when it comes to doing research. When I was looking for cookbooks for my research for the undergraduate seminar I relied heavily on two bibliographies that cataloged cookbooks from the Early Modern Period. I was surprised to find that the University of Chicago actually has an extensive collection of British Cookbooks, ones that you can often times only find elsewhere at the British Library.
By learning how vital bibliographies can be to research, it has made me very particular about how I have constructed the bibliography for the Culinary Historians of Chicago. I want the annotated addition of the book to be simple and to the point, not wanting to go on and on about what is inside because I think that a researcher should get the enjoyment of discovering what lies inside on their own. I want them to feel the same excitement I do every time I open a new book and look to see what is inside. And besides, as Dr. Bucholz once taught me on his 300 level Early Modern England class, you should look at every source that relates to your topic and then decide whether or not you should use it. It's a lesson that I have taken with me wherever I go now, especially when it comes to compiling a bibliography.