BibTeX reads the top-level auxiliary (.aux) file that was output during the running of latex(1) or tex(1) and creates a bibliography (.bbl) file that will be incorporated into the document on subsequent runs of LaTeX or TeX. The auxname on the command line must be given without the .aux extension. If you don't give the auxname, the program prompts you for it.

BibTeX looks up, in bibliographic database (.bib) files specified by the \bibliography command, the entries specified by the \cite and \nocite commands in the LaTeX or TeX source file. It formats the information from those entries according to instructions in a bibliography style (.bst) file (specified by the \bibliographystyle command, and it outputs the results to the .bbl file.

The LaTeX manual explains what a LaTeX source file must contain to work with BibTeX. Appendix B of the manual describes the format of the .bib files. The `BibTeXing' document describes extensions and details of this format, and it gives other useful hints for using BibTeX.

If the environment variable TEXMFOUTPUT is set, BibTeX attempts to put its output files in it, if they cannot be put in the current directory. Again, see tex(1). No special searching is done for the .aux file.

*.bst

Bibliography style files.

btxdoc.tex

``BibTeXing'' - LaTeXable documentation for general BibTeX users

btxhak.tex

``Designing BibTeX Styles'' - LaTeXable documentation for style designers

btxdoc.bib

database file for those two documents

xampl.bib

database file giving examples of all standard entry types

btxbst.doc

template file and documentation for the standard styles

All those files should be available somewhere on your system.

The host math.utah.edu has a vast collection of .bib files available for anonymous ftp, including references for all the standard TeX books and a complete bibliography for TUGboat.