A Guide to Ethnic Health Collections in the United States

by Tyson Gibbs

Overview

Ethnic minority groups in the United States suffer and die from disease at rates much higher than the general population. Such groups include African-Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Americans, Hispanics, and Pacific Asian Americans. To understand the nature of the deplorable rates, the health history of the ethnic groups must be understood. This book describes the contents of libraries nationwide which house health and medically related materials on ethnic minority populations. The book covers information about catalogs, books, articles, biographies, and autobiographies, primary source materials, cassette tapes of speeches, video tapes and films, and medical artifacts.

The repositories covered are in various stages of cataloguing these materials but indicate an interest in having researchers use the collections. This book is the most comprehensive guide to ethnic medical health materials, their location, state of completion, and the contents of collections.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313297403
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/18/1996
Series:	Bibliographies and Indexes in Medical Studies , #13
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.44(d)
Lexile:	1070L (what's this?)

About the Author

TYSON GIBBS is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Texas.

Table of Contents

Introduction
The Repositories
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Bibliography
Appendix A: Data Collection Questionnaires
Appendix B: Listing of Libraries Contacted
Index

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Craig Mulder, MILS (Michigan State University)
Description: This work identifies 74 collections of historical materials related to ethnic health in the United States. The populations covered by the collections are African Americans, Native Americans, and Pacific Asian Americans. The book is a revised edition of Ethnic Health Collections in the United States, published by Jamilla Powers in 1993.
Purpose: According to the author, these collections are "an invaluable source of material by and about minority groups, individually or collectively." As noted, more than 50 percent of these collections are uncataloged, and this book increases accessibility to these resources.
Audience: Dr. Gibbs, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of North Texas, wrote this book for researchers of ethnic health.
Features: The collections are organized by state, and then within each state, by ethnic group. Each record includes a description of the health area or activity covered by the collection, origin of the materials, address, permanent status, dates covered, number of volumes, types of materials, and availability to the public. The author mailed more than 450 questionnaires to state libraries and archives, public and private libraries, college and university libraries, selected hospitals, and medical and public health schools. More than two thirds of the questionnaires were returned. The book covers collections in 32 states and the District of Columbia. No collections were reported for 19 other states. (However, no mention is made of Missouri.) A bibliography lists more than 200 monographs and chapters related to ethnic groups. In some places, the font size changes for no apparent reason.
Assessment: The chief advantage of this work is the compilation of more than 70 collections of ethnic health materials in one volume. For libraries serving research in this area, this could be a useful resource. The only change between this work and the 1993 edition is a slightly updated bibliography.

Doody's Review Service

3 Stars from Doody

This work identifies 74 collections of historical materials related to ethnic health in the United States. The populations covered by the collections are African Americans, Native Americans, and Pacific Asian Americans. The book is a revised edition of Ethnic Health Collections in the United States, published by Jamilla Powers in 1993. According to the author, these collections are "an invaluable source of material by and about minority groups, individually or collectively." As noted, more than 50 percent of these collections are uncataloged, and this book increases accessibility to these resources. Dr. Gibbs, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of North Texas, wrote this book for researchers of ethnic health. The collections are organized by state, and then within each state, by ethnic group. Each record includes a description of the health area or activity covered by the collection, origin of the materials, address, permanent status, dates covered, number of volumes, types of materials, and availability to the public. The author mailed more than 450 questionnaires to state libraries and archives, public and private libraries, college and university libraries, selected hospitals, and medical and public health schools. More than two thirds of the questionnaires were returned. The book covers collections in 32 states and the District of Columbia. No collections were reported for 19 other states. (However, no mention is made of Missouri.) A bibliography lists more than 200 monographs and chapters related to ethnic groups. In some places, the font size changes for no apparent reason. The chief advantage of this work is the compilation ofmore than 70 collections of ethnic health materials in one volume. For libraries serving research in this area, this could be a useful resource. The only change between this work and the 1993 edition is a slightly updated bibliography.

Craig Mulder

Identifies and briefly describes the contents of collections of primary literature relating to African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asian Americans in public and private libraries, hospitals, and government agencies. The main listing is by state, with subsections of ethnic groups. The entries provide contacts but no information about access. Based on returned questionnaires. Includes 20 pages of bibliography. Revised from Ethnic Health Collections in the United States (1993). Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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