This bibliography has been designed as a tool for use by those engaged in research, study, or teaching in the field of linguistics. In preparing it, we have tried to make it the sort of book that linguists will keep close to their typewriters, not the sort of book that one blows dust off in the furthest corner of the reference section in the library. We have been guided in matters of editorial policy by questions such as "Just how useful would that be, and to whom?" rather than by questions such as "Are we being wholly complete and consistent?" Because of this, our personal experience and opinions loom large among the factors that have determined the design and content of this book. In this introduction, we aim to explain what we have done, and what we have not done, so that the user of this book can form a clear idea of how to use it. Provided that the nature and scope of the work is understood, we believe it will be a significant aid, and perhaps even a godsend, to the average working linguist.