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On the Feasibility of an Automated Bibliography of Iranian Studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Jerome W. Clinton
Affiliation:
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literature, University of Michigan
Donald C. Croll
Affiliation:
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literature, University of Michigan
Edward W. Davis
Affiliation:
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literature, University of Michigan

Extract

To state that the bibliography of Iranian studies is accumulating at an alarming rate is perhaps to belabor the obvious. It is an impression most students of the field will share. The project described in the following few pages was undertaken in part to explore this impression, and to test a solution to the problem implicit in it. Whatever small part impressionism may have thus played in its conceptual phase, the project's findings are strictly empirical. Our general finding has been that the accumulation of bibliography in Iranian studies is faster than its students dare imagine, and is accelerating. For all practical purposes, it is beyond the control of the traditional methods of compiling and publication. Only the application of modern automated methods of data storage and control can allow the individual scholar to keep abreast of developments in his field, and save him an appreciable amount of time-consuming drudgery.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 1969

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References

Notes

1. These are inconsequential demands to make of computer technology. There are presently in use or under development data systems bibliographies of much greater complexity and developed at vastly greater expense. Such systems handle documents and other primary as well as secondary materials, but are designed more for use by students of the social and behavioral sciences.

2. We are indebted to Mr. Allan Emery of the University of Michigan Computing Center for adopting his program to fit our special requirements.

3. Financial support for the project was provided by the Center for Near Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Michigan.