Barbara Chen

How old are you? 54 years old
Where are you living at the moment? Tappan, NY, a suburb of New York City
What is your current occupational activity? I am presently Editor of the MLA International Bibliography and Director of Bibliographic Information Services at the Modern Language Association
Where have you been working before? Prior to that, I was Associate Director of Indexing Services at the HW Wilson Company, responsible for their periodical indexes, such as Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, Humanities Index, Art Index, etc.
What are your current research projects and your exploratory focus? My focus is enhancement and expansion of the MLA International Bibliography. This year we began to index Web sites.
What are you interested in furthermore? In my spare time, I am a voracious reader. I also paint.
What are you especially looking forward to? Adding more full text links
to the Bibliography.

James Dow

Wie alt sind Sie? Unverschämt alt! schon 71
Wo ist Ihr aktueller Wohnsitz? Story City, Iowa (USA) - Stimmt, genannt nach einem Richter, nicht weil ich ab und zu mal Erzählungforschung mache.
Was ist Ihre momentane berufliche Tätigkeit? Bin pensioniert seit anderthalb Jahren, bin aber noch nicht fertig mit meinen Forschungen.
Wo waren Sie zuvor tätig? Vier Jahre an der University of Wyoming,
ein Jahr an UCLA, und 35 Jahre and der Iowa State University
Was sind Ihre aktuellen Forschungsprojekte bzw. Forschungsschwerpunkte?
Kleinere Forschungsprojekte
I) Lebensgeschichte eines Juden aus Glogau,
II) Wyoming Folklore from the Works Projects Administration (1935-1943)
III) Revision of the Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend
(2. Auflage)
Großes Forschungsprojekt
I) Zimbrische Gesamtgrammatik - 1000 Seiten, erscheint bei Steiner Verlag
2008.  Nur zu Ihrer weiteren Information: Zimbrisch ist ein deutscher Dialekt,
der in Oberitalien gesprochen wird.  Ich bearbeitete das Manuskript, das
zwischen 1941-1956 von einem gewissen Bruno Schweizer (entstand unter
Auspizien des himmlerischen SS-Ahnenerbes.  Die Arbeit wurde von der
renommierten John Simon Guggenheim Foundation in New York unterstutzt, auch
von meiner Uni.)
II) Kirchenlieder bei den Amischen Alter Ordnung. Gemeinsames
Forschungsprojekt mit meinen Musik-Kollegen aus Innsbruck (Thomas Nussbaumer) und Salzburg (Monika Oebelsberger)
Was sind Ihre weiteren Interessensgebiete? Bearbeitung des Konzepts "gesunkenes Kulturgut" von Hans Naumann. Eine vollständige Geschichte der "Kulturkommission" in Italien (1941-1943).
Worauf freuen Sie sich besonders? Ruhe, nach einer langen Kariere. Aber noch dazu mein nächster Besuch in Deutschland und Österreich - bin September und Oktober wieder da, mit Tochter, Schwiegersohn, und vier von ihren sechs Kindern. Sie wollen sehen, wo ich so viele Jahre verbracht habe. Sie sind eigentlich in Peking zu Hause und kommen uns in Europa besuchen. Wir waren im April-Mai bei ihnen in China und machten einen Abstecher nach Tibet (nein, nicht sieben Jahre). Wir möchten noch weitere solche abenteuerliche Reisen machen.

Summing up the Modern Language Association International Bibliography for the 20th Century, Plans for the 21st

James R. Dow
The historical background of the largest international database for the humanities, the MLAIB, will be presented, and will emphasize its computerization through several stages. Details, including statistical growth and the subsequent development of today‘s MLAIB will be outlined: the division into four then five separate volumes (Volume V Folklore), the creation in the1970s of the current Contextually Indexed and Faceted Taxonomic (CIFT) system, the Directory of Periodicals (DOP), and the decline in the print run. Two personal reminiscences will be added to the factual history: the earliest discussions (1980) of the future availability of the bibliography on-line which was to include the Internationale Volkskundliche Bibliographie, and a meeting on the Indiana University campus in February 1989, Michael Taft (Library of Congress) and Dow met with representatives of the Folklore Institute, the MLA, and the IU Folklore Librarian to set up the IU-MLA-American Folklore Society program for students of folklore. Using graduate assistants who are based in the Indiana University Library, the MLA Folklore Bibliography Project now solves two problems that plagued the folklore section: access to the literature in folklore, and how to train and support field bibliographers effectively. The project produces one third of the entries in the folklore volume annually.

Barbara Chen
By the late 1980s the rapid expansion of PCs and the rapid development of the Internet resulted in significant changes to the MLAIB. Recent enhancements to the online bibliography that facilitate searching will be presented: we have added tables of contents; retrospectively converted 1926–1962 volumes into machine readable formats; and listed citations with links to online material. Most important is JSTOR with over 100,000 links in the MLAIB to language and literature and 14,000 links to non-language materials. JSTOR continually adds more journals of language and literature to their list. For electronic periodicals, bibliographies and monographs we have established specific guidelines for inclusion: For electronic journals these publications must meet the following criteria:

• Only electronic. Cannot have an identical print version.
• Examined by an Indexer and designated as Modern Language (ML).
• Identify the editor and editorial board.
• Have a stated editorial policy.
• Identify the publisher and/or sponsoring organization.
• Provide for archiving of past issues (i.e., provide for continuing access).
• Publishes new content periodically.

The goal of this presentation will be to describe the history, the current practices and the future development of a primary medium (personal computers) for research in our discipline(s), through detailed presentations of knowledge transfer, methodology, and storage and retrieval systems. We will conclude with a description of employment possibilities for students who are trained in research in an academic field and who are computer literate.