With the growth in interest in ethnographic materials, this is an essential publication for large public libraries serving patrons with interests in anthropology and art. Choice
This indispensable directory of data on serials that contain information relevant to the study of ethnoart fills a gap long perceived by scholars of the indigenous arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, an area of academic focus in which reference materials have been generally lacking. Culled from a database developed by compiler Eugene C. Burt to track potentially useful periodicals in connection with his publication, Ethnoarts Index, the volume is designed to aid those with an interest in ethnoart in determining which serial publications best suit their research needs. In the main directory users can find information on former titles, publisher, editorial focus, content features, and a relevancy rating on each of almost 700 individual serial titles that have an editorial focus related to ethnoart. Nine separate appendices list recommended titles in various categories as well as serials that include indexing, bibliographic or abstracting services, ceased titles, and more. Titles include publications from the fields of art history, anthropology, history, area studies, librarianship, museum studies, and general interest magazines.
Prefatory material explains the book's organization and the rationale for its recommendations and is followed by the major portion of the volume, the database of serials arranged alphabetically by title. In each entry more than 20 categories of information are provided including an assigned relevancy rating that rates the level of relevancy of a publication to ethnoart based on the frequency that ethnoart-oriented articles, reviews, etc. appear. Several indices make collection development recommendations based on the relevancy ratings, with approximate cost information. Additional appendices list titles by country of publication, relevant ceased titles, and more. Finally, a unique, rotated-keyword-in-title index that includes subtitles and former titles provides easy access to the main database. All of this information will be welcomed by librarians, scholars, collectors, dealers, curators, and students of ethnoart. Highly recommended for librarians building ethnoart collections; for university libraries where courses on any aspect of ethnoart are taught; and for libraries of museums and research institutions with an interest in ethnoart.
EUGENE C. BURT is Managing Editor, Ethnoarts Index, Seattle, Washington. He has a Ph.D. in Art History, specializing in ethnoart. His previously published books include Erotic Art: An Annotated Bibiliography with Essays, Ethnoart: Africa, Oceania, and the Americas: A Bibliography of Theses and Dissertations, East African Art in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Bibliography of Tribal Art Bibliographies, and An Annotated Bibliography of the Visual Arts of East Africa.
