Cultural Pluralism and Ethnic Diversity
Lois J. Buttlar, Lubomyr R. Wynar · Collection Management · 1993
Scholars who published articles in five major ethnic studies journals (Canadian Ethnic Studies, Ethnic Forum, International Migration Review, Journal of American Ethnic History, and Journal of Ethnic Studies) were surveyed in order to: (1) provide a profile of scholars in this cross-disciplinary field; (2) discover the kids of information they use for their research; and (3) how they retrieve information for their use. Findings indicate that respondents are a male dominated group, the majority of whom hold a PhD degree in the social sciences and are affiliated with public universities in the U.S. The primary focus of their research is on individual ethnic groups, immigration, demography, cultural diversity and race relations, and various specific aspects of ethnicity, e.g., ethnic literature and ethnic press. Many findings of the INFROSS and other earlier studies were confirmed and are still valued. For example, ethnic studies scholars use many primary sources and rely heavily on identifying information sources form citations in publications they read. They also identify information through contacts with colleagues and other experts, as well as by attending professional conferences. Although they are fairly systematic in their information seeking behavior through the use of abstracting and indexing services, they tend to use these services in the traditional print, as opposed to electronic, formats.