The standard format for entries in this guide is straightforward:

The title appears as the first line of the entry. Titles in green are commercial discs; titles in red are fan projects. Occasionally, an entry will be included with an aqua title; this represents a title which has not yet appeared, but has been prominently announced, discussed at some length on rec.music.dylan, and/or described in reliable press reports (such as ICE magazine). A few titles appear in black, slightly smaller in size; these are items that do not properly belong in the Guide --pirate discs, discs devoted to another artist with a Dylan guest spot, collections with tracks by several different artists, etc --but which often are offered for sale as, or appear on lists of, Bob Dylan field recordings. These entries are usually abbreviated.

The second line identifies the label which released the disc, if it can be identified, and indicates the number and type of discs in the set as it originally appeared. Glass-mastered cds are noted as CD, recordable cds as CDR, and computer discs as CDROM. If the type of disc is not known, the item is simply noted as 1D, 2D, etc. It is important, of course, to remember, that many discs originally issued as glass-mastered CDs often circulate, through both fan and commercial channels, as CDR copies.

Most glass-mastered discs have been assigned Townshend numbers, which appear in brackets in the form [T-xxx] at the end of this line. When only a T-number follows the label, the entry represents a single, originally glass-mastered, CD.

The second part of the entry lists the sources for the disc(s), to the extent that the tracks can be identified. Many discs have proved to have grossly inaccurate source information, and Michael Krogsgaard's ongoing research into Dylan's studio recordings has provided much new information (and forced no small number of corrections to previous listings!). When sources differ, this Guide relies on Krogsgaard's work (now being published in The Bridge).

The third section of the entry provides tracklists. Tracklist errors in CD packaging are fairly frequent, and the Guide tries to correct them. Many songs, especially traditional songs covered by Dylan, are known by several different titles; this Guide follows one simple, unambiguous rule in consistently identifying such songs -- I use the title I like best (and I like short titles). In the same spirit, one Dylan standard is listed as "Memphis Blues Again," rather than any of its longer title variations.

The final section of the entry provides reviews, comments, notes, etc. In some cases, comments on a source disc are also used as comments on direct clones from that disc. Any assistance in providing comments on otherwise unreviewed items, or in providing different perspectives on already reviewed discs, is appreciated. And, of course, I am beginning to add original reviews to the Guide, so CDR copies of unreviewed items are quite definitely appreciated . . . .