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Are Bibliographers Like Shortstops? Gresham's Law and Africana Bibliography1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2014

David Henige  and
James T. Sabin
David Henige
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Extract

A well conceived and executed reference book can become a perennial, a notable tool indispensable to research in the field…

Despite its relatively brief history, African studies has developed a remarkably abundant bibliographic infrastructure to support its aims. This is tangibly evidenced in the recent appearance of Yvette Scheven's cumulated bibliography of Africana bibliographies, which comprises citations to well over 3200 bibliographies of various stripes published between 1970 and 1986, or an average of nearly 200 each year. Of course, some of the parts of the structure overlap and even duplicate other parts, and by no means has every effort attained acceptable standards, but on the whole there has been little about which to be ashamed or mortified.

Perhaps this should come as no surprise. In theory at least, the obstacles to preparing useful bibliographies are not outrageously demanding, and not at all commensurate with their enduring value. Mechanically, there are only a few rules, but these are unrelenting: entries must be accurate in all their parts, as well as complete, yet should be economical as well, and not provide useless information; coverage must be comprehensive within stated parameters; and access must be facilitated by means of thoughtful organization, extensive cross-referencing, and thorough and sensitive indexing. The intellectual challenges to accomplishing these goals might not be overwhelming; nonetheless forethought, punctilious and constant attention to detail, linguistic ability, doggedness, and above all a commitment to the highest standards of accuracy are all imperative.

Type
Research Article
Information
History in Africa , Volume 17 , January 1990 , pp. 157 - 169
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1990

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Footnotes

1.

My thanks go to Phyllis Bischof, John Bruce Howell, Joseph Lauer, Eleanor Rodini, Nancy Schmidt, Yvette Scheven, Janet Stanley, Dorothy Woodson, and Irene Zimmerman for their comments generally and especially for reassuring me that, if I have my facts right, I am entitled to the opinions I express here. Some readers might wonder whether HA is the most appropriate place for a review of this kind. The answer is no, but, as they will infer from comments in the paper, the review mechanisms in the field of librarianship are rather anemic, and the points of view expressed here consequently unwelcome. In any case, historians are among the principal consumers—and producers—of bibliographies. Greenwood Press has not responded to the opportunity offered them to respond to this paper.

References

Notes

2. Brownstein, Marilyn, Kisch, Nora, and Sive, Mary R., “Reference Books From a Scholarly Publisher,” Reference Librarian, no. 15 (Fall 1986), 147.Google Scholar All three co-authors are (or were) on the staff of Greenwood Press and, I presume, speaking ex officio.

3. Scheven, Yvette, Bibliographies for African Studies, 1970–1986 (London, 1988).Google Scholar

4. Brownstein, /Kisch, /Sive, , “Reference Books,” 150.Google Scholar

5. In African Economic History, 17 (1988), 201–03.Google Scholar

6. All 190 of these are listed, one by one, in a single entry in the index, occupying nearly a full column there…

7. Howell, John Bruce, Kenya: Subject Guide to Official Publications (Washington, 1978).Google Scholar

8. Lest readers wonder whether the listing was intended to be chronological, let me quickly disabuse them of this notion by noting that the sequence is: 1968/69, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1963, 1960, 1963+, and 1965.

9. But wait! The 1960/61 edition of Afrika-Bibliographie appears in both Obudho (0839) and Sarfoh (0683) under…“Thoden, Rudolf.”

10. Brownstein, /Kisch, /Sive, , “Reference Books,” 152.Google Scholar

11. Ibid., 151.

12. Obudho, : American Reference Books Annual, 17 (1986)Google Scholar: “belongs in research libraries”; Choice (Sept. 1985), 85–86Google Scholar: “recommended for most graduate collections.” Sarfoh, : Choice (May 1988), 1224–26Google Scholar, “extremely useful…recommended”; American Reference Books Annual, 20 (1989), 45Google Scholar, “very useful…highly recommended”; B1: Choice (June 1989) B2Google Scholar: Choice (November 1989), 1256Google Scholar, “a major, comprehensive bibliography…[r]equired”; B3: Choice (December 1989), 603–04Google Scholar, “a valuable reference tool [and]…a very thorough survey.”

13. Altick, R.D., “Bibliographies: How Much Should a Reviewer Tell?” in Literary Reviewing, ed. Hoge, James O. (Charlottesville, 1987), 69.Google Scholar

14. A point noted by Rettig, James, “Every Reference Librarian a Reviewer,” RQ, 26 (1987), 67–76.Google Scholar

15. For various views on the matter see, among others, Rettig, James, “The Reference Reviewer's Responsibilities,” Reference Librarian, no. 15 (Fall 1986), 21¬33Google Scholar; Sweetland, James H., “Reference Book Reviewing Tools: How Well Do They Do The Job?” Reference Librarian, no. 15 (Fall 1986), 65–74Google Scholar; Schlachter, Gail, “Reviewing the Reviewers,” RQ, (Summer 1988), 468–70.Google Scholar Some useful items turn up in the bibliography in Krummel, D. W., Bibliographies: Their Aims and Methods (London, 1987), 161–81.Google Scholar

16. Brownstein, /Kisch, /Sive, , “Reference Books,” 148.Google Scholar

17. I should note that when the editor of African Economic History asked Greenwood Press if they cared to respond to my review of Sarfoh's work, they declined.

18. Brownstein, /Kisch, /Sive, , “Reference Books,” 148.Google Scholar

19. ASA News, 22/4 (Oct. - Dec. 1989), 7–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

20. Note that Bullwinkle himself threatens an update volume carrying these three volumes into the 1990s.