Nadezhda K. Kurbatova, chairwoman of the Biblio-Scientific Department of the S. Beisembaev Scientific Library at S. Toraigyrov Pavlodar State University.
Aigul K. Boranalinova, higher-class bibliographer of the Biblio-Scientific Department of the S. Beisembaev Scientific Library at S. Toraigyrov Pavlodar State University.

Research work involves the study of a document flow and array, and the quality of research depends on the way the information-retrieval process. This is why, in the early stages of the information-retrieval process, it is crucial to define not just the types of the primary documents used in research, but also the array of secondary information sources. One of the main secondary information sources is the bibliographic manual because it possesses the primary qualities: authenticity and comprehensiveness.
Authenticity of a bibliographic manual lies in the fact that the documents found therein are regarded de visu, therefore they exist.

Comprehensiveness is a document property which defines the amount of information required for making a decision regarding the document’s significance in research. It involves full bibliographic description, as well as such important elements as the abstract or summary.
Moreover, bibliographic manual accumulates bibliographic data on a given issue (topic) that is spread over various documental sources – both primary and secondary.

Within the bibliographic theory, regarding the bibliographic manuals, there are two classification categories – form and type. Scholars differentiate the following main forms of bibliographic manuals:

-    bibliographic publications (printed);

-    handwritten;

-    machine-readable;

-    electronic;

Current article deals with the bibliographic publications – one of the forms of bibliographic manuals.
In order for the information retrieval process to be effective at work with the bibliographic manuals, it’s important to differentiate between the main types of said manuals. Bibliographic manuals are classified based on a number of properties, of which the most prominent are: purpose, chronological scope, objects of bibliographic representation.