Guide to the Amerikansky Russky Viestnik. Vol. 1: 1894-1914 by James M. EvansReview by: Robert H. BurgerThe Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 60, No. 2 (Apr., 1982), p. 313Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4208526 .

Accessed: 15/06/2014 01:12

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School of Slavonic and EastEuropean Studies are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Slavonic andEast European Review.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 62.122.73.177 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 01:12:20 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

REVIEWS 3I3

Evans, James M. Guide to the Amerikansky Russky Viestnik. Vol. I: I894-I9I4.

Carpatho-Rusyn Research Center, Fairview, NewJersey, I979. ix + 508 p. Appendixes. Indexes. $9.50.

THE Amerikansky Russky Viestnik was one of the major Rusyn emigre newspapers published during the initial period of Rusyn immigration to the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The guide under review, prepared from a microfilmed copy of the newspaper, was intended to be 'an invaluable aid to scholars and students of Rusyn immigration history, cultural life, genealogy, and religion' (p. vii). The guide has an informative introduction, followed by listings of entries classified into six broad categories: Amerikansky Russky Viestnik, The Greek Catholic Union, Greek Catholic Church in Europe and America, Rusyn Social Issues and Development, Rusyn Culture and Education, and Rusyn Individuals (Personalia). Each entry contains the bibliographic informa- tion necessary for retrieval of the article from the newspaper, as well as a brief descriptive phrase about the content of the article. These entries are arranged chronologically by date of publication in the first five categories and alphabetically by individual in the last.

Location of articles of interest to a reseacher is further aided by a subject index and an author index. The compiler has also added appendixes listing, respectively, Greek Catholic Union (G.C.U.) Supreme Officers and their tenure, G.C.U. Membership Statistics, and G.C.U. Financial Statistics.

The arrangement of the guide is useful for studying the area intended by the compiler. It provides the scholar with all the tools necessary for investigating this valuable Rusyn primary source material. Unfortunately, this reviewer sees two majdr defects which will impede such research. First, the guide does not cover all issues of the newspaper. Vols I-2 (I892-I893), vols 6-9 (I897-I900) and vol. 14 (I905) of this newspaper were 'not available for microfilming' (p. i). This means that seven of the twenty three volumes covered in this volume of the guide (almost one third of the issues covered) were not represented. Secondly, Evans has not provided coverage of all the articles available but instead has selected those articles which will, in his view, aid the investigation of' (i) The Rusyn nationality issue; (2) the Greek Catholic Church; (3) the social, political, and economic life of Rusyns in Europe and America; and (4) Rusyn public opinion and reaction to current events' (p. 6). Given these selection criteria, it is difficult to imagine what could be excluded. As a result of these defects, the astute user will, I fear, be doubtful about the utility of the guide: if one cannot trust the compiler to be exhaustive, or to establish precise and explicit selection criteria, then why use the guide at all? The serious scholar of Rusyn affairs will have to decide this alone.

Urbana- Champaign ROBERT H. BURGER

This content downloaded from 62.122.73.177 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 01:12:20 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions