A Global Perspective on the Literature of Art History: A Case Study from the Expansion of Art Full Text Mark Gauthier, VP, Indexing & Editorial Services, H.W. Wilson

Art Full Text Expansion Project Project Rationale Database growing, but unsystematically Cessation of Bibliography of the History of Art Enhance international scope Include new open-access publications Align source list with art history curricula

Assumptions: What We Thought We Would Learn Coverage skewed toward Europe and North America, away from Asia and Latin America Faster rate of growth of literature from Asia and Latin America More publishing in English, even from non-English- speaking countries More electronic publishing, especially outside Europe and North America

Periodicals Study Set Source:UlrichsWeb.com Status:Active Serial Type:Academic/Scholarly Subject:Art or Architecture Results:949 Titles

Indexing Coverage of Art & Architecture Periodicals DATABASENumber of Journals Art & Architecture Complete183 Art Full Text153 ArtBibliographies Modern84 Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals166 Total:292

Unique Titles by Database DatabaseNo. of Titles Art & Architecture Complete20 Art Full Text10 ArtBibliographies Modern18 Avery Index34

All Art & Architecture Titles 949 Titles 31% Indexed 69% Unindexed

Growth in Periodical Literature by Decade

Percent of Journals Indexed by Start Date Indexing status is skewed towards older journals

Geographic Distribution of Journals REGIONALL JOURNALSINDEXED JOURNALS Africa1%0% Asia11%4% Europe52% Latin America5%2% North America25%37% Pacific5% Totaln = 949n = 292 North America is overrepresented among indexed journals, at the expense of Asia and Latin America

Geographic Distribution of Indexed Journals: Trend over Time Region 1950s2000s Africa0% Asia7%4% Europe67%52% Latin America2% North America22%37% Pacific2%5% European coverage is lessening, as North American coverage is growing.

Languages All JournalsIndexed Journals English64%82% German11%14% Spanish10%4% French9%12% Italian9% Chinese6%0% Total No. of Titles Indexing is skewed toward the traditional languages of art history research

Art & Architecture Journals n = 949 Place of PublicationLanguage of Publication

English Language Periodicals by Decade DecadePercentage of All TitlesPercentage of Indexed Titles Pre-1950s 60%65% 1950s 65%72% 1960s 65%73% 1970s 67%77% 1980s 66%80% 1990s 64%81% 2000s 64%82% While the proportion of English-language titles is steady, its dominance among indexed titles is increasing

H.W. Wilson’s Experience with Foreign Language Indexing of Art & Architecture Hire NYC-area indexers with BA or MA in Art History Screen for reading knowledge of major European languages Rely on English abstracts for “minor” languages Major challenge: indexer productivity Indexer solution: Google Translate User solution: WilsonWeb automatic translation

Library Holdings of Indexed Journals median = 105; n = 292

Library Holdings of Unindexed Journals median = 18; n = 657

Reasons for Inclusion of Titles with Low Holdings Underrepresented subject area Highly specialized content Geographic representation Linguistic representation Medium Age

Evaluating Low-Holdings Journals Editorial focus Publisher/Sponsor Editorial board Authors Bibliographies; Notes International scope Graphic design and illustrations Frequency and currency

Open-Access Titles: Growth

Open-Access Titles: Indexing Status Indexing status is skewed toward print publications

Open-Access: Geographic Distribution REGIONNUMBER OF TITLES Asia3 Europe50 Latin America3 North America26 Pacific10 Total92 Why the dominance of Europe among open-access publications?

What We Learned More comprehensive coverage of new publications Increase coverage of Latin American, Asian and Pacific publications; maintain coverage of European titles Broaden foreign language coverage, so long as the scope of the content is international Increase coverage of open-access publishing Decrease reliance on holdings as a quality indicator Add core art & architecture titles to current list