MLA International Bibliography
The International Bibliography of Books and Articles on the modern Languages ( MLAIB ) is published by the Modern Language Association and is an ongoing or periodic specialist bibliography for all modern philologies with the exception of classical philology. Her focus is on English studies , but she also records folklore and smaller languages. Also constructed languages are considered. It appears in electronic and printed form.
history
The first edition appeared in 1920 under the title “American Bibliography” within the journal PMLA (Publications of the Modern Language Association of America) and listed publications exclusively from the USA and by American scholars abroad. From 1955, on the one hand, publications by scientists of other nationalities were taken over; on the other hand, a Master List of Periodicals was created, i.e. H. approx. 1000 journals were listed, which are regularly evaluated for the content of the bibliography . In connection with the internationalization of the bibliography, it was renamed "Annual Bibliography" in 1956 and was only given its name MLAIB, which is still valid today, from the 1963 reporting year.
Form / access
From 1969 the MLA International Bibliography was spun off from the PMLA magazine and appears in its print version as the magazine in its current form from 1981.
Since 1987 the MLAIB has been available in electronic form as a database in addition to the journal. It is offered by various database manufacturers ( hosts ) as an online database and CD-ROM.
Bibliography sources
The basis of the MLA International Bibliography is the already mentioned Master List of Periodicals, which now contains around 4400 scientific journals that are evaluated. Overall, a permanent MLA editorial team, together with over 120 freelancers from all over the world - including in particular humanities scholars , librarians and professors - takes care of the creation of the bibliography .
Frequency of publication and update
The print version of the MLAIB appears annually in two volumes and always refers to the reporting year approximately 1 year ago. Most of the documents were published in the year under review, with older, as yet unrecorded titles being added. The reporting period covers the years 1963 until today. The volumes are divided as follows: The volume “Classified Listings” contains the complete title entries, while the volume “Subject Index” represents the corresponding register volume. The electronic form of the MLAIB has existed since 1987. It comprises both an online database and a CD-ROM. The database also includes the reporting period from 1963 to the present; Updates are made ten times a year. The electronic version is distributed by Ovid , Gale - Cengage Learning , OCLC and EBSCO .
Media genres
Since the MLA mainly evaluates the 4,400 journals listed on the Master List of Periodicals , most of the documents it contains are journal articles. However, monographs (no primary literature), anthologies, reference works or commemorative publications are also listed, as well as gray literature (congress reports, dissertations ). In principle, all information carriers are listed whose content is suitable for the bibliography, including films, microforms and electronic media.
Scope / growth
The database contained in 2003 about 1.6 million entries. The entire bibliography records an average of 50,000 new entries per year.
particularities
The MLAIB contains the so-called "MLA Directory of Periodicals" as a special part of the database, a list of all journals and journals that are included in the Master List of Periodicals. It also includes addresses, telephone and fax numbers, email addresses, descriptions of the subject areas and prices of the individual journals.
The objectivity of the MLAIB is guaranteed by the 120 freelancers and the various sources.
literature
- Jost Hindersmann: MLAIB and ABELL: periodical specialist bibliographies, CD-ROM and online databases on English studies, LIT Münster, 1997, ISBN 3-8258-3358-5