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Volume 51 / Social Sciences

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND GENERAL WORKS


ANN HARTNESS, Assistant Head Librarian, Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas at Austin

MANY VALUABLE BIBLIOGRAPHIES, reference sources, and general works enhanced the bibliography of Latin America during the period surveyed here, as did a spate of new serials devoted to various aspects of the social sciences. This introduction will serve to note subject trends and to identify works of particular significance or interest.

The Central American countries continued to be the focus of a number of publications issued in the region and elsewhere. Two useful bibliographies about Honduras were published: Honduras bibliography and research guide, by Colin Danby and Richard Swedberg (item bi 89001206), covers publications taking both historical and contemporary approaches to that country and includes a section on US-Honduras relations, while the Anuario Bibliográfico Hondureño lists titles published there during a three-year period, 1981-83 (item bi 90006181). Works in English on post-Somoza Nicaragua are cited in Nicaragua: an annotated bibliography, 1979-1984, by D. Neil Snarr (item bi 90005256); the Directory of the Republic of Nicaragua (item bi 8900400), which identifies key government officials and other leaders, covers the same general period. A basic reference source, Diccionario nicaragüense: geográfico e histórico, by Julián N. Guerrero C. and Lola Soriano de Guerrero (item bi 89001203), was also published. Hubert J. Miller describes an important collection of Guatemalan imprints in "The Taracena Flores Collection in the Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas..." (item bi 88000774), while Temas de la Realidad Guatemalteca, a periodical published in Mexico, focuses on contemporary Guatemala (item bi 90005304).

Interest in and concern for research on Latin America led to a significant number of publications on research funding, supporting institutions, and products. Alan Gilbert's article "Current Issues in Research on Latin America" (item bi 90005275) discusses the decline of funding for area studies (including Latin American studies) in Britain, the purpose of such research, and strategies for gaining increased support in the future. Funding for research, study, and travel: Latin America and the Caribbean, by Karen Cantrell and Denise Walker, is an excellent directory of funding sources (item bi 90005266). Three important directories of research institutes were issued: Unidades de investigación en ciencias sociales en Uruguay: directorio general (item bi 89001226), which updates an earlier publication of the same title; Cadastro de instituiç˜oes, pesquisadores e fontes primárias e secundárias em relaç˜oes internacionais na América Latina (item bi 88001392); and Directorio de instituciones, actividades de formación ambiental y proyectos de investigación: América Latina y el Caribe (item bi 89000396). Weine Karisson's "Importante Centro de Estudios Latinoamericanos en Escandinavia" (item bi 90005278) describes the activities and research interests of the Institute of Latin American Studies of the Univ. of Stockholm. Two surveys of research in progress, Unidades de investigación en ciencias sociales en el Uruguay: repertorio de proyectos (item bi 88001389) and Levantamentos e pesquisas em andamento no IBGE, 1982/1983 (item bi 88001415) provide information about research topics and support. The latter, issued by the Fundação Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, is representative of a number of publications issued by Brazilian universities, which have begun to publish periodic surveys of research projects "em andamento" and bibliographies of the research of their faculties, partially in response to a need to establish accountability.

Agro-industry, rural development, and other topics related to social and economic aspects of agriculture were frequent subjects of bibliographies, reflecting the important role played by the agricultural sector in the economies of Latin America, and the need for access to information in that field. Bibliografía agroindustrial de Colombia, 1978-1986 (item bi 89001204) cites 1,558 publications. The same primary author, Maruja Uribe, prepared two bibliographies on rural development: Bibliografía latinoamericana de desarrollo rural, 1979-1983, with Gladys Soche (item bi 89001211), and Bibliografía selectiva sobre desarrollo rural en el Perú, with Margarita Hernández and Ligia O. Carriazo (item bi 88001400). Bibliografía agraria, by Marianna Giacaman and Patricia Sanzana (item bi 89001215), cites almost 2,000 items, with emphasis on Chile (item bi 89001215). Publications about agricultural cooperatives are well represented in Bibliografía sobre cooperativismo disponible en Costa Rica, edited by Rafael Angel Bolaños (item bi 88001403). The Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) issued two important bibliographies with numerous citations related to agricultural economics: Bibliografia de Rondônia, by Lidia Woronkoff (item bi 90005258), and Catálogo de publicações da EMBRAPA e empresas estaduais de pesquisa agropecuária, 1974-1979, by Miriam Dalma Lima Martins and Cléa Lúcia Lira (item bi 90005262). Martin Sable's Mexican and Mexican-American agricultural labor in the United States: an international bibliography serves as both a bibliography and a directory of organizations, research centers, and government agencies involved in that field (item bi 90005313). A new periodical, Honduras Agraria (item bi 90005293) features articles studying agrarian issues and their implications.

There were important additions to the bibliography of education. The Bibliografía educativa boliviana, 1950-1969, by Carlos Aramayo S.C. and Ana R. Vilar Z. (item bi 88001429), covers all aspects of education, as does the Bibliografía de artículos de periódicos sobre educación paraguaya, by Mirtha Rivarola F. (item bi 89000397). Educación popular en América Latina, issued by the Centro Internacional de Estudios Superiores de Comunicación Social, Quito, covers a wide range of topics associated with non-formal education (item bi 88001387). Adolfo Rodríguez Gallardo's Bibliografía comentada sobre educación bibliotecológica en México is a significant contribution to the subject of professional education, covering publications over a period of 70 years (item bi 89001208). A useful directory, Capacitación docente en la universidad latinoamericana: directorio de instituciones de educación superior, by Berta de Soria Garibay, appeared in Docencia (item bi 90005269).

In the field of library science, several conferences resulted in significant publications. The Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM) published the proceedings of two of its annual meetings which had themes of broad interest as well as implications for research libraries: Latin American masses and minorities: their images and realities (item bi 88001395) and Intellectual migrations: transcultural contributions of European and Latin American emigrés (item bi 89001228). Reunión de Bibliotecas Universitarias y Nacionales Latinoamericanas: actas e informe final covers topics from bibliographic networks to user services (item bi 89001217); the Memorias of the Seminario sobre Políticas y Procedimientos de Selección en Bibliotecas Mexicanas examine the principles governing the selection of library materials in Mexican libraries, including universities (item bi 89001207); and the Proceedings of the Second Binational Conference on Libraries of the Californias focus on library services in the US-Mexico border region (item bi 89001201).

There were a number of other noteworthy works, including two on government publications: the Anais do 4o Seminário sobre Publicaç˜oes Oficiais Brasileiras, which treats many aspects of editorial policy for government agencies (item bi 89001221); and Publicaciones oficiales de Chile, 1973-1983, another welcome addition to an area of bibliography that is all too often lacking in Latin American countries (item bi 89001209).

Other important contributions to bibliography were William M. Sullivan's Dissertations and theses on Venezuelan topics, 1900-1985 (item bi 88001419), covering more than 1,500 works; two bibliographies on Cuba: Ronald Chilcote's Cuba, 1953-1978: a bibliographic guide to the literature (item bi 88001398), a two-volume work emphasizing Cuba's recent past, and Bibliografía cubana, 1900-1916, by Elena Grapera Arango, covering more than 2,000 publications of an earlier period (item bi 88001403); A resource guide to Dominica, 1493-1986, by Robert A. Myers (item bi 89000395), a comprehensive three-volume work (item bi 89000395); and three Brazilian publications: Indice de ciências sociais (item bi 88001433), a semi-annual serial indexing about 30 Brazilian journals; Bibliografia sobre política do livro no Brasil (item bi 88001397), covering all aspects of book publishing in that country; and Bibliografia sobre administração municipal e poder local (item bi 88001427), issued by the Centro de Estudos e Pesquisas de Administração Municipal.

Among the outstanding reference sources were Alberto Tauro's well designed and well illustrated Enciclopedia ilustrada del Perú (item bi 8800-1388); Latin American labor organizations (item bi 90005271), edited by Gerald M. Greenfield and Sheldon L. Maram, a basic reference source in English for Latin American labor history; and Diccionario biográfico del gobierno mexicano (item bi 90005268), providing "Who's Who"-type data about and portraits of almost 2,000 officials of the mid-1980s.


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