An Athletics Compendium

Hoip To Use An Athletics Compendium is abibliographyof books on trackand fieldpublishedin the UnitedKingdomor Republic of Irelandup to the end of the year 2000,and a guideto that literature. Its aim has been that of any bibliography, to bring together for the convenienceof readerand researcherthe literatureof a discrete areaof human activity, the better that it maybe accessed,understood, and builtupon. To thisend, it includesmanytitleswhichdo not have athleticsas theirmainfocus, but whichneverthelesscontaininformationdifficultor impossibleto findelsewhereand the inclusionof whichis necessaryto providea roundedand comprehensive coverage. Some categories of materialare excluded.Though newspaperscontain the minutiaeof records,event reports and commentarywhichis often the verystuff of research, it would be impracticalto attempt an indexof suchmaterial.Equally,thoughboys' annualsmight yieldthe occasionalitemof merit or interest, the researcheffort requiredto identifythem was deemed disproportionate to the likely return. Both categories are thus excluded. Ephemeral material such as programmes, and promotional and souvenir items are likewiseexcluded,although occasionalinstancesof these categories maybe included to makeor illustrate a specificpoint or where it is thought theymaybe of particularinterest to the researcher. The scope of this compilation is limited to published material: unpublishedresearchand publicrecordsare not included. Though reprints are not included, new editions are listed. In the case of serial publicationssuch as Yearbooks,Guides, and Annuals the entry givesthe year in which the titlesstartedpublicationand, if known, theyearin whichpublicationceased.Periodicals are included at title level;individual articles are not. Journal literature is invaluable in providingnewsand up-to-dateinformation on current topics of interest, on researchand work-in-progress.It is alsooften the means bywhichnew topicsfor studyand research are introduced,trends reportedand generalcommunicationwithinadisciplineor subject areafacilitated.Such informationdates quickly and, in this electronicage, is inappropriate for inclusionin a printedbibliography,beingbest accessedthroughsecondarysources of information- specialistindexing and abstracting services, such as Sport bibliography, a database with international coverage produced by the Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC) in Toronto. Many such services have long been available as online databases,and manyare now available as CD-ROMsor through the WorldWide Web, where specialistsitesand discussiongroups are rapidlytakingthe placeof the traditional learned journal. [ x i ]