Details of Microsoft Office 2007 Bibliographic Format Compared to BibTex

I am trying to decipher the Microsoft Office 2007 Bibliographic format. As I mentioned in my previous post I am writing a Microsoft Office 2007 bibliographic import-export module for JabRef, a bibliographic manager. In this post I will try to find a link between BibTex citation elements and Microsoft Office 2007 Bibliographic elements, so that anyone can use it to create export-import modules. For the shake of discussion here, let me coin the term MSBib for Microsoft Office 2007 Bibliographic Format.

I created an XML ‘sources’ file with all possible entries or source types in Microsoft Office 2007. The file can be downloaded from here. The data used to create this XML are rather random garbage than anything useful. But you can refer to this and see what needs to go in where.

One important similarity I found between MSBib and BibTex is that they both ignore unknown entries. Thats a neat feature, because one can then utilize it to put in some information that is not representable by other, instead of scrapping it all together.

Except this similarity, both the formats are very different. MSBib is quite new and supports newer entry types like movies, case, patent etc. Another important difference is that MSBib has fields that are specific to some source or entry types, whereas BibTex has a common set of field types applicable to anything. Correct me if I am wrong about BibTex here.

Entry or Source Types

There are 17 types of sources in MSBib, whereas BibTex has 16 entry types. The table 1 below shows BibTex and MSBib as one by one mapping. Obvious enough that, there may not be one to one mapping for all of them. In such cases I will try to put them as misc entry or some other similar types. Remember this table as well as any other table in this document is subject to change, as I learn more.

Table 1: Entry or source types

MSBib	BibTex	Comment
Book	book
BookSection	inbook
BookSection, field BibTex_Entry=booklet	booklet	Not sure
BookSection, field BibTex_Entry=incollection	incollection	Not sure
JournalArticle	article
ArticleInAPeriodical	article, field msbib-source=ArticleInAPeriodical	Not sure
ConferenceProceedings	inproceedings
ConferenceProceedings, field BibTex_Entry=conference	conference
ConferenceProceedings, field BibTex_Entry=proceedings	proceedings	Not sure
ConferenceProceedings, field BibTex_Entry=collection	collection	Not sure
Report	techreport
Report, field BibTex_Entry=manual	manual
InternetSite	misc, field msbib-source=InternetSite
DocumentFromInternetSite	misc, field msbib-source=DocumentFromInternetSite
ElectronicSource	misc, field msbib-source=ElectronicSource
Art	misc, field msbib-source=Art
SoundRecording	misc, field msbib-source=SoundRecording
Performance	misc, field msbib-source=Performance
Film	misc, field msbib-source=Film
Interview	misc, field msbib-source=Interview
Patent	patent
Case	misc, field msbib-source=Case
Report, field BibTex_Entry=mastersthesis	mastersthesis
Report, field BibTex_Entry=phdthesis	phdthesis
Report, field BibTex_Entry=unpublished	unpublished
Misc	misc

As I mentioned earlier fields in MSBib are entry specific, whereas in BibTex they are common for all the entries. To compare, I will present MSBib fields in a linear list like BibTex. First I would like to show the details of MSBib fields starting with composite Author field and then discussing the rest of it. Later a comparison with BibTex will be presented.

Author Field
MSBib authors are composite structures. Author can be of following types:

1. Author
2. BookAuthor
3. Editor
4. Translator
5. ProducerName
6. Composer
7. Conductor
8. Performer
9. Writer
10. Director
11. Compiler
12. Interviewer
13. Interviewee
14. Inventor
15. Counsel

Each of the sub-types of Author contains a NameList containing one or more Person(s) or a field Corporate, comma separated list of corporate persons.

In MSBib each Person of NameList as well as in BibTex have three parts, First, Last and Middle. They are presented in MSBib as

<Person>
<Last>LastName</Last>
<First>FirstName</First>
<Middle>MiddleName</Middle>
</Person>

In BibTex names are represented,

LastName, FirsName MiddleName; LastName, FirsName MiddleName;

In MSBib Corporate field the names are represented as:

LastName, FirsName MiddleName; LastName, FirsName MiddleName;

Different Fields in MSBib
The common fields presented below is common for all source types. Special fields for each source types is presented after that. The fields with red star (*) is a recommended (by Microsoft Office 2007) field for that source.

Common fields present in all sources

• Tag: Identifier for the source. Same as BibTex key. Most probably this is created from first three letters of the first name of the first author combined with last two digits of the publishing year. Example: Mah07
• SourceType: One of the MSBib source types from Table 1.Example: Book
• GUID: Global ID. This enables Word to determine which source is most recent, based on the value of the GUID, and to prompt whether the user wants Word to update the outdated source to maintain continuity between the master list and the current list. Example: {F3BEFB3B-FC0D-47AB-970A-F4003FF99F9F} (more)
• LCID: Language ID. Use 0 for English. Example: 0
• Author: A composite containing different author subtypes. Sub types of Author are source specific.
• Title*: Title of the source. Example: Brief History of Time
• Year*:Publication year. Example: 2004
• ShortTitle: Short title of the source. Example: BHT
• Comments: Free form text as comment on the source. Example: Comment is helpful to annotate a source.

Additional fields in Book

• Composite Author:
  1. Author*: A NameList containing one or more author(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Mahbub; Zakir, Tanjia
  2. Editor: A NameList containing one or more editor(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  3. Translator: A NameList containing one or more translator(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Laura; Jones, Dave
• Pages: Page range referenced. Example: 23-45
• Volume: Volume of the book. Example: 2
• NumberVolumes: Total number of volumes the book has. Example: 5
• Edition: Edition of the book. Example: 2
• StandardNumber: ISBN/ISSN or some other standard number. Example: ISBN 226-392-34
• Publisher*: Name of the publisher Example: Spinger-Verlag
• City*: City published in. Example: San-Fransisco.
• StateProvince: State published in. Example: California
• CountryRegion:Country published in. Example: USA

Additional fields in BookSection

• Composite Author:
  1. Author*: A NameList containing one or more author(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Mahbub; Zakir, Tanjia
  2. BookAuthor*: A NameList containing one or more author(s) of this book. This is may not be same as Author. Example: Murshed, Mahbub; Zakir, Tanjia
  3. Editor: A NameList containing one or more editor(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
• BookTitle*: Title of the book, appears twice. Example: Brief History of Time
• Pages*: Page range referenced. Example: 23-45
• Volume: Volume of the book. Example: 2
• NumberVolumes: Total number of volumes the book has. Example: 5
• ChapterNumber: The chapter number of the book referenced. Example: 7
• Edition: Edition of the book. Example: 2
• StandardNumber: ISBN/ISSN or some other standard number. Example: ISBN 226-392-34
• Publisher*: Name of the publisher Example: Spinger-Verlag
• City*: City published in. Example: San-Fransisco.
• StateProvince: State published in. Example: California
• CountryRegion:Country published in. Example: USA

Additional fields in JournalArticle

• Composite Author:
  1. Author*: A NameList containing one or more author(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Mahbub; Zakir, Tanjia
  2. Editor: A NameList containing one or more editor(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
• JournalName*: Name of the journal this article appeared in. Example: Engineering Design
• Pages*: Page range referenced. Example: 23-45
• Volume: Volume of the journal. Example: 2
• Issue: Issue number of current volume in which the article published. Example: 4
• StandardNumber: DOI or some other standard number. Example: DOI 22639234
• Publisher: Name of the publisher Example: Spinger-Verlag
• City: City published in. Example: San-Fransisco.
• Month: Month published in. Example: February.
• Day: Day published in. Example: 19.

Additional fields in ArticleInAPeriodical

• Composite Author:
  1. Author*: A NameList containing one or more author(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Mahbub; Zakir, Tanjia
  2. Editor: A NameList containing one or more editor(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
• PeriodicalTitle*: Name of the periodical this article appeared in. Example: Mechanical Engineering
• Pages*: Page range referenced. Example: 23-45
• Edition: Edition of the book. Example: 2
• Volume: Volume of the journal. Example: 2
• Issue: Issue number of current volume in which the article published. Example: 4
• StandardNumber: DOI or some other standard number. Example: DOI 22639234
• Publisher: Name of the publisher Example: Spinger-Verlag
• City: City published in. Example: San-Fransisco.
• Month*: Month published in. Example: February.
• Day*: Day published in. Example: 19.

Additional fields in ConferenceProceedings

• Composite Author:
  1. Author*: A NameList containing one or more author(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Mahbub; Zakir, Tanjia
  2. Editor: A NameList containing one or more editor(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
• ConferenceName*: Name of the conference this article appeared in. Example: Mechanical Engineering
• Pages*: Page range referenced. Example: 23-45
• Volume: Volume of the journal. Example: 2
• StandardNumber: DOI or some other standard number. Example: DOI 22639234
• Publisher*: Name of the publisher Example: Spinger-Verlag
• City*: City published in. Example: San-Fransisco.

Additional fields in Report

• Composite Author:
  1. Author*: A NameList containing one or more author(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Mahbub; Zakir, Tanjia
• Department: Name of the department this report prepared for. Example: Mechanical Engineering Department
• Institution: Name of the institution this report prepared for. Example: Arizona State University
• ThesisType: Type of thesis. Example: phd, masters or technical
• Pages: Page range referenced. Example: 23-45
• StandardNumber: Some standard number. Example: ASU-PHD 22639234
• Publisher*: Name of the publisher Example: Arizona State University Press
• City*: City published in. Example: Tempe.

Additional fields in InternetSite and DocumentFromInternetSite

• Composite Author:
  1. Author*: A NameList containing one or more author(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Mahbub; Zakir, Tanjia
  2. Editor: A NameList containing one or more editor(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  3. ProducerName: A NameList containing one or more producer’s name(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
• InternetSiteTitle*: Title of the internet site, duplicate of the Title field appread in common section.Example: Beyond My Mind
• Month*: Month published in. Example: February.
• Day*: Day published in. Example: 19.
• YearAccessed*: Year in which the site was accessed for reference. Example: 2004
• MonthAccessed*: Month in which the site was accessed for reference. Example: February.
• DayAccessed*: Day in which the site was accessed for reference. Example: 19.
• URL*: The website URL. Example: https://mahbub.wordpress.com.
• ProductionCompany: The production company of the website. Example: wordpress.
• Version: Version number of the website. Example: 1.3.
• StandardNumber: Some standard number. Example: SITE-ID 22639234

Additional fields in ElectronicSource

• Composite Author:
  1. Author*: A NameList containing one or more author(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Mahbub; Zakir, Tanjia
  2. Editor: A NameList containing one or more editor(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  3. ProducerName: A NameList containing one or more producer’s name(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  4. Translator: A NameList containing one or more translator(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
• PublicationTitle: Title of the source, appears twice. Example: GNU C++ Source
• Volume: Volume of the source. Example: 2
• Medium: Medium of the source. Example: CD-ROM
• Edition: Edition of the source. Example: 2
• Month*: Month published in. Example: February.
• Day*: Day published in. Example: 19.
• ProductionCompany: Company published the code. Example: FSF
• Publisher: Publisher of the code. Example: GNU
• City*: City published in. Example: San-Fransisco.
• StateProvince*: State published in. Example: California
• CountryRegion*:Country published in. Example: USA
• StandardNumber: Some standard number. Example: SITE-ID 22639234

Additional fields in Art

• Composite Author:
  1. Artist*: A NameList containing one or more artist(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Mahbub; Zakir, Tanjia
• PublicationTitle*: Title of the art work, appears twice. Example: Monalisa
• Institution*: Institution the art work belongs to. Example: Arizona State University
• Publisher: Publisher of the art. Example: Art Publisher
• Pages: Pages of the art. In my opinion this is incorrect. Example: 23-34
• City*: City published in. Example: San-Fransisco.
• StateProvince: State published in. Example: California
• CountryRegion:Country published in. Example: USA

Additional fields in SoundRecording

• Composite Author:
  1. Artist: A NameList containing one or more artist(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Mahbub; Zakir, Tanjia
  2. Composer*: A NameList containing one or more composer(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  3. Conductor*: A NameList containing one or more conductor(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  4. Performer*: A NameList containing one or more performer(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  5. ProducerName: A NameList containing one or more producer’s name(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
• AlbumTitle: Title of the album, appears twice. Example: Best of Bob Dylan
• ProductionCompany: Company that produced the album. Example: Golden records
• City*: City published in. Example: San-Fransisco.
• StateProvince*: State published in. Example: California
• CountryRegion*:Country published in. Example: USA
• Medium: Medium of the album. Example: CD-ROM
• RecordingNumber: Some recording number. Example: 22639
• StandardNumber: Some standard number. Example: RECORD 22639

Additional fields in Performance

• Composite Author:
  1. Performer*: A NameList containing one or more performer(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Mahbub; Zakir, Tanjia
  2. Writer*: A NameList containing one or more writer(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  3. ProducerName: A NameList containing one or more producer’s name(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  4. Director: A NameList containing one or more director(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
• Theater*: Theater the performance was performed. Example: Arizona State University Central Theater
• ProductionCompany: Company that produced the performance. Example: Golden records
• City*: City performed in. Example: San-Fransisco.
• StateProvince*: State performed in. Example: California
• CountryRegion*:Country performed in. Example: USA
• Month*: Month performed in. Example: February.
• Day*: Day performed in. Example: 19.
• StandardNumber: Some standard number. Example: RECORD 22639

Additional fields in Film

• Composite Author:
  1. Writer: A NameList containing one or more writer(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  2. Performer: A NameList containing one or more performer(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Mahbub; Zakir, Tanjia
  3. Director*: A NameList containing one or more director(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  4. ProducerName: A NameList containing one or more producer’s name(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
• ProductionCompany: Company that produced the film. Example: Golden records
• Distributor: Company that distributed the film. Example: Golden distributor
• CountryRegion: Country performed in. Example: USA
• Medium: Medium the record published in. Example: CD-ROM
• StandardNumber: Some standard number. Example: RECORD 22639

Additional fields in Interview

• Composite Author:
  1. Interviewee*: A NameList containing one or more interviewee(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  2. Interviewer*: A NameList containing one or more interviewer(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  3. Editor: A NameList containing one or more editor(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Mahbub; Zakir, Tanjia
  4. Translator: A NameList containing one or more translator(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  5. Compiler: A NameList containing one or more compiler(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
• BroadcastTitle: Title of the interview, same as Title. Example: Interview of Dr. Knuth
• Publisher: Company that published the interview. Example: Adventure publisher
• Broadcaster: Company that broad casted the interview. Example: NBC
• Station: Station that broad casted the interview. Example: WNBC
• City: City performed in. Example: San-Fransisco.
• StateProvince: State performed in. Example: California
• CountryRegion: Country performed in. Example: USA
• Month*: Month published in. Example: February.
• Day*: Day published in. Example: 19.
• StandardNumber: Some standard number. Example: RECORD 22639

Additional fields in Patent

• Composite Author:
  1. Inventor*: A NameList containing one or more inventor(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  2. Editor: A NameList containing one or more editor(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  3. Translator: A NameList containing one or more translator(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Mahbub; Zakir, Tanjia
• Type: Patent type. Example: Software
• CountryRegion*:Country performed in. Example: USA
• Month: Month published in. Example: February.
• Day: Day published in. Example: 19.
• PatentNumber*: Some standard patent number. Example: PATENT 22639

Additional fields in Case

• Composite Author:
  1. Author: A NameList containing one or more author(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  2. Counsel: A NameList containing one or more counsel(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
• Court*: Court the case appeared in. Example: Supreme Court
• Reporter: Reporter reported on the case. Example: Big Reporter Agency
• Month*: Month appeared in. Example: February.
• Day*: Day appeared in. Example: 19.
• City: City appeared in. Example: San-Fransisco.
• CaseNumber*: Some standard case number. Example: CASE 22639
• AbbreviatedCaseNumber: Some standard abbreviated case number. Example: CASE 22639, for doing some illegal activity.

Additional fields in Misc

• Composite Author:
  1. Author*: A NameList containing one or more author(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  2. Editor: A NameList containing one or more editor(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Manjur; Ali, Liyakat
  3. Translator: A NameList containing one or more translator(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Mahbub; Zakir, Tanjia
  4. Compiler: A NameList containing one or more compiler(s) of this source. Example: Murshed, Mahbub; Zakir, Tanjia
• PublicationTitle*: Title of the publication. Example: The Big Bang Theory
• Publisher*: Name of the publisher Example: Spinger-Verlag
• Pages: Page range referenced. Example: 23-45
• Volume: Volume of the publication. Example: 2
• Edition: Edition of the publication. Example: 2
• Issue: Issue of the publication. Example: 2
• Month*: Month appeared in. Example: February.
• Day*: Day appeared in. Example: 19.
• City*: City published in. Example: San-Fransisco.
• StateProvince*: State published in. Example: California
• CountryRegion*: Country published in. Example: USA
• Medium: Medium published in. Example: CD-ROM
• StandardNumber: ISBN/ISSN or some other standard number. Example: ISBN 226-392-34

Similar fields in BibTex
As I mentioned earlier in this post the comparison will be based on a linear mapping table as shown in Table 3. Table 2 contains the mapping of author fields.

Table 2: Author fields in MSBib and BibTex

MSBib	BibTex	Comment
Author	author
BookAuthor	msbib-bookauthor	custom
Editor	editor
Translator	msbib-translator	custom
ProducerName	msbib-producername	custom
Composer	msbib-composer	custom
Conductor	msbib-conductor	custom
Performer	msbib-performer	custom
Writer	msbib-writer	custom
Director	msbib-director	custom
Compiler	msbib-compiler	custom
Interviewer	msbib-interviewer	custom
Interviewee	msbib-interviewee	custom
Inventor	msbib-inventor	custom
Counsel	msbib-counsel	custom

Here goes the table with MSBib and BibTex fields.
Table 3: Fields in MSBib and BibTex

MSBib	BibTex	Comment
Tag	Database key or key
SourceType		Chose from Table 1
GUID		Ignore
LCID	language	A map between language name to LCID may be required
Title	title
Year	year
ShortTitle	msbib-shorttitle	custom
Comments	note	or annote
Pages	pages
Volume	volume
NumberVolumes	msbib-numberofvolume	custom
Edition	edition
StandardNumber	ISBN, ISSN, LCCN, mrnumber	Parse standard number to determine ISBN or ISSN
Publisher	publisher
City, StateProvince, CountryRegion	address	or location. Usually MSBib fields appear together.
BookTitle	booktitle
ChapterNumber	chapter
JournalName	journal
Issue	number
Month	month
Day	msbib-day	custom
PeriodicalTitle	organization
ConferenceName	organization
Department	school
Institution	institution
ThesisType	type
InternetSiteTitle	title	Approximate
YearAccessed, MonthAccessed, DayAccessed	msbib-accessed	Date accessed “month day, year” format in an additional field
URL	URL
ProductionCompany	msbib-productioncompany	custom
PublicationTitle	title	Approximate
Medium	msbib-medium	custom
AlbumTitle	title	Approximate
RecordingNumber	msbib-recordingnumber	custom
Theater	msbib-theater	custom
Distributor	msbib-distributor	custom
BroadcastTitle	title	Approximate
Broadcaster	msbib-broadcaster	custom
Station	msbib-station	custom
Type	msbib-type	Patent type. custom
PatentNumber	msbib-patentnumber	custom
Court	msbib-court	custom
Reporter	msbib-reporter	Reporter for a case. custom
CaseNumber	msbib-casenumber	custom
AbbreviatedCaseNumber	msbib-abbreviatedcasenumber	custom
BibTex_Series	series	Common name of series of books.
BibTex_Abstract	abstract
BibTex_KeyWords	keywords
BibTex_CrossRef	crossref	Database key being cross referenced.
BibTex_HowPublished	howpublished
BibTex_Affiliation	affiliation	Authors affiliation.
BibTex_Contents	contents	A table of contents.
BibTex_Copyright	copyright
BibTex_Price	price
BibTex_Size	size	Physical dimension of a work.

This articles is more or less complete here. I hope to update this post as soon as I get more info about these formats. Thank you for reading it.

Ping
I love visitors. So let me ping important sources so that people come to know about this article. 😉

Some references that might be helpful:

1. How to use Office 2007 bibliographic tool
2. OpenXML Developer
3. Blog of Brian Jones, the person behind the Office 2007 open XML
4. ECMA Open XML Standard Elaborated Schemas (all documents)
5. MSDN article showing how to work with Bibliography (updated March 23, 2007)