1. Use a library catalogue.
Subject searching
Most material in a library catalogue has been classified by standard subject headings to permit people to find items on the same subject. The most popular subject classification system used in college and university libraries is the Library of Congress system of subject headings.
Some useful Library of Congress Subject Headings for Canadian government and politics are listed in Part 4: Finding Information: Books
Book-length bibliographies have the Library of Congress subject heading subdivision 'bibliography' listed after the subject heading. Therefore, bibliographies can be found by means of a subject search using a relevant LC subject heading and 'bibliography'.
Research tip: For example do a subject search on Political parties - Canada - bibliography, or Canada - politics and government - bibliography.
Keyword searching
Books with a significant bibliography should have this mentioned in the notes field of the library catalogue record. If your library catalogue indexes this field, a keyword search will find books with a bibliography section even if it did not have the bibliography subject heading. These books would also be well worth looking at.
Research tip: Doing a keyword search on the terms 'Canada and federalism and bibliography' will result in a set of items on Canadian federalism containing a bibliography. Limit by date to retrieve a current bibliography.
2. Browsing the shelves in a Library
In Library of Congress and Dewey classification systems subject bibliographies are not shelved with the books on the same subject. Most bibliographies are usually kept in an entirely different section of the library. While this may cause them to be overlooked, it does permit researchers to see all the bibliographies in one place. A helpful way to think of this section is that it serves "as kind of an index to the rest of the classification scheme, much like the index volume at the end of an encyclopedia" (Mann 1998, 120).
Research tip: The Library of Congress classification for bibliographies on Canadian government and politics is Z1365 to Z1401 (bibliographies on Canada) or Z7161 to Z7166 for political science. Look at the shelves in this section of the library to find bibliographies.
3. Use a bibliography of bibliographies
Bibliography of Canadian Bibliographies, 3rd ed. Ernie Ingles ed. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994). Look in the section: "Politics, government and public administration" and other sections as appropriate (e.g. area bibliographies). Entries are in English or French and are listed in chronological order by publication date. For bibliographies published after 1994, supplement research with searches in a library catalogue (as above).
In addition, Gregory Mahler's two bibliographies - Contemporary Canadian Politics: an annotated bibliography, 1970-1987 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1988) and Contemporary Canadian Politics: an annotated bibliography, 1988-1994 (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995) list general and specialized bibliographies in Canadian government and politics - check the index under bibliographies.