Review by Choice Review
This indispensable tool for the Latin Americanist or Caribbean scholar is well made and beautifully printed, but its bulk will discourage browsing, which is unfortunate since much of the value lies in the essays that preface each major disciplinary division. For example, the essay introducing sociology clarifies briefly and expertly such arcane concepts as modernization theory and its successor, dependency theory. Oddly enough, the clarity becomes somewhat clouded in the bibliography for this section: population studies appear (rightly) under "Demography," but that term does not appear in the index, which yields up the relevant pages only under "Population." The table of contents does not provide listings of the multifarious subdivisions in each section, and for this reason lapses in indexing are especially damaging. The bibliographies themselves are no doubt authoritative, but will soon become dated, and given the complexities of division and subdivision they are not always easy to use. One particularly valuable element is the listing "Resources," under which heading important special collections are identified. Although the editors state that the work is designed to be of use to undergraduate majors as well as graduate students and faculty, any use by undergraduates assumes either graduate-quality bibliographic searching skills or considerable assistance from faculty or librarians. Essential for any strong Latin American or Caribbean reference collection. N. F. George; Kenyon College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
This guide to the growing field of Latin American studies provides essays on research trends, lists over 6,000 reference sources, and identifies specialized collections in U.S. research libraries. Given its multidisciplinary focus and easy-to-use format, it will be of value to a variety of users, including not only students, librarians, and scholars in Latin American studies, but also those seeking important sources in areas beyond their specialization and non-Latin Americanists engaged in comparative studies. The book is divided into 15 chapters, beginning with a general bibliography of interdisciplinary sources, followed by chapters covering broad disciplines in the social sciences and the humanities, such as sociology and literature. Some chapters are divided into subfields (e.g., "Performing Arts" into "Dance" and "Theater"), regions ("Caribbean Literature"), or different time periods ("History"). Each chapter has an introductory essay highlighting the state of research within the discipline and its subfields, one or more sections listing reference sources for scholarly research, and a section describing relevant special collections, such as clipping files, primary-source material, and film resources. Almost all entries have annotations that are evaluative as well as descriptive, which should help users identify those works most useful in their fields of interest. Materials in Spanish and Portuguese are listed, but the majority of the works cited are in English. Generally, the scholarly essays are well written and well documented. The essay on the history of Brazil, for example, contains footnotes citing 250 books and articles. Author, title, and subject indexes complete the volume. One of the book's most interesting features is a chapter on databases, which will appeal to researchers seeking sophisticated access to the most current information. The chapter describes the five databases established in the past decade that are specifically tailored for Latin American studies, reports on the fledging electronic information industry in Latin America, and speculates on the impact of technology on Latin American scholarship. The book's 51 contributors come from a broad range of specialties and include bibliographers, curators, librarians, and faculty members. Editor Covington is Latin American and Iberian bibliographer at Vanderbilt University. Used with other specialized sources, like the annual Handbook of Latin American Studies, this timely guide will provide improved access for those interested in this part of the world. (Reviewed Dec. 1, 1992)
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
