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Sources of information used to compile this bibliography:

The journal articles in this bibliography have been selected from sixteen journals and cover all material published in those journals within the dates indicated, for the islands of Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia, including Maori New Zealand, Australia's Torres Strait Islands and Indonesia's Irian Jaya:

Australian Journal of Politics and History (AJPH) [Vols 1-36 (1955-1990)]; Australian Historical Studies (HS) (Previously Historical Studies of Australia and New Zealand) [Vols 1-26 (1946-1990)]; Australian Outlook (AO) [Vols 1-40 (1947-1990)]; The Contemporary Pacific: a journal of island affairs (CP) [Vols 1-2 (1989-1990)]; The Great Circle (GC) [Vols 1-12 (1979-1990)]; The Journal of Pacific History (JPH) [Vols 1-25 (1966-1990)]; Journal of Pacific Studies (JPacS) [Vols 1-15 (1975-1990)]; The Journal of the Papua New Guinea Society (JPNGS) [Vols 1-6 (1966-1972)]; Journal of the Polynesian Society (JPS) [Vols 1-99 (1892-1990)]; Kabar Seberang: sulating Maphilindo (KS) [Nos 1-21 (1977-1990)]; New Guinea and Australia, the Pacific and South-East Asia (NG) [Vols 1-10 (1965-1976)]; O'O: a journal of Solomon Islands studies ('O'O) [Vols 1-3 (1980-1989)]; New Zealand Journal of History (NZJH) [Vols 1-24 (1967-1990)]; Pacific History Bibliography and Comment (PHB&C) (Now The Journal of Pacific History Bibliography and Political Chronicles) [1979-1990]; Pacific Perspective (PP) [Vols 1-15 (1972-1990)]; Pacific Studies (PS) [Vols 1-13 (1977-1990)]; Pacific Viewpoint (PV) [Vols 1-2 (1960-1990)];

The bibliography provides access to journals readily available in most large libraries, including the most relevant current journals as well as some valuable but now defunct journals, and some of the journals produced in the Pacific Islands. Inclusion of Journal of Pacific Studies, 'O'O: a journal of Solomon Islands Studies, New Guinea and Australia, the Pacific and South-East Asia, Pacific Perspective, and the Journal of the Polynesian Society ensures that articles by Pacific Islanders appear alongside those of better known Pacific historians and other writers. As far as possible every possible article of interest to historians of the South Pacific has been included. For some journals this means every article, but for others, Australian Historical Studies for instance, only relevant articles have been indexed. Review articles and correspondence have been included, but not book reviews, or "fillers" such as the half pages from old books and documents that the Journal of Pacific History has often used to fill spaces at the ends of articles. Unattributed short notes have usually been excluded, although this policy was not followed for the Journal of the Polynesian Society, from which all but the very briefest anonymous notes have been included. Occasionally comparative studies have been included, when they draw parallels with other Third World regions, Aboriginal Australia and its territories such as the Cocos-Keeling Islands.

Each item has been classified under a number of headings. The bibliography was compiled from reference to the title page of each article, not the index pages of the journals, so there are occasional differences in titles. The content of each article was established by a quick reading. The whole project has taken from 1989 to 1992 to complete. The classification system contains a fair element of personal judgement and an historian's bias: it is an academic user's classification, not a bibliographer's. Occasional lapses in memory may have led to a category being introduced then neglected. As more journals were added extra symbols were used, but it was not possible to add these symbols to earlier entries. The last journal to be indexed was the Journal of the Polynesian Society, which contains more archaeological, linguistic and anthropological entries than the other journals; a more detailed breakdown of these fields would have been useful but was not attempted, It is available in earlier indexes and in The Polynesian Society's Centennial Index. The total list of classifications is listed below.

In the classifications a rough division has often been made into Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia. Although I am aware of the growing debate concerning these categories, they are used in most of the articles in the bibliography, and they are still a useful geographic division of the Pacific Islands. Some categories recur hundreds of times - particularly Micronesia, Polynesia and Melanesia - but others appear only once or twice - Eskimo, Crocodile etc. The most reliable part of each classification is the names of the colonies or nations concerned. For the sake of brevity the key words used are often only an indication of the approximate content. Thus "Mission" is used for Christianity even when the church has become indigenous and is far removed from its mission origins. Where possible the denomination has also been included, but for instance "Methodist" covers "Wesleyan" and any other variations on that denomination, or "Cult" includes everything from "Cargo Cults" to "millenarian movements" in any period. The category "King" includes anything from the Maori King Movement to Queen Salote of Tonga! An effort has been made to include women and children wherever they appear, though men have not been given a separate category.

There are also problems with non-English words. It has not always been possible to include the total range of accents used in the original articles, and some author's names and article titles, particularly Maori titles in the Journal of the Polynesian Society, have created difficulties. Whenever possible Maori names have been listed under surnames, but on occasions the second name has been left in full after the surname rather than turned into initials. Some of the more famous names deserve mention: Peter H. Buck appears under Buck, P.H. and Rangihiroa, Te, as he published under both names, but not as Rangi, Hiroa Te. Apirana T. Nagata is listed as Nagata, A.T.; and Hare Hongi is listed as Hongi, Hare.

But generally the entries are as they appear in each journal: this causes some overall inconsistency. Authors are listed alphabetically first by surname and then by initials. No attempt has been made to alter surnames changed by marriage (Fink to Latukefu, for example), or author's different methods of rendering their first names and initials. Te'o Fairbairn holds the record: he has published as I., I.J., T.I., and T.I.J. Fairbairn. Although some inconsistencies could have been removed, when dealing with references going back to 1892 there was a chance of creating new problems when correcting old ones, so a policy of non-interference was adopted. There are other problems with authors who are really translators: particularly in early issues of the Journal of the Polynesian Society, it is not always clear who did the translation; and book review forums with several authors - these have been listed under the author of the book under review. All of this has caused some irregularity in chronological order of references by author.

It is easy to suggest other categories which could have been used. Hundreds of categories were included, but it was decided to limit the number by using single terms to cover more than one field. Generally, individual islands have not been included, but Norfolk, Pitcairn, Rotuma and Easter, Rorotonga and Chatham Islands have been, as have important island groups such as Hawaii, the Marquesas and Tahiti, but not minor island groups, islands or atolls. My knowledge of South Pacific island groups and islands has improved remarkably during the project, but some mistakes may have occurred. Most islands have been included under contemporary territorial boundaries. No attempt was made to divide Melanesia by island, so the categories only indicate the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji (except for Rotuma) and New Caledonia. But Polynesian Outliers in Melanesia have been classified whenever they have been recognised. It might have been better to divide Papua New Guinea by provinces or islands, but I stuck to a simple three-way division: Papua New Guinea; New Guinea (meaning German New Guinea, later the League of Nations Mandated Territory, and the United Nations Trusteeship); and Papua.

Acknowledgement is due to the Australian Research Council for their financial support. Thanks are due to Bryan Jamison for typing and classifying the entries for the Journal of the Polynesian Society from 1892 to 1967, and to Mary Kooyman for checking two drafts of the bibliography. Checking entries for the Journal of the Polynesian Society was made easier with the use of C.R.H. Taylor's 1892-1966 index and Marta Langridge's 1967-1981 index; and the valued assistance of Richard Moyle and Dorothy Brown from The Polynesian Society of the University of Auckland, and Ray Harlow from the University of Waikato. Doug Munro kindly answered strange telephone calls asking about the whereabouts of remote Micronesian and Polynesian islands and atolls well beyond my knowledge. Final checking and editing was done by Gillian Scott at the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, the Australian National University.

Final responsibility for what was included or left out, and for all idiosyncrasies rests with me. Although every effort has been made to create an accurate record, readers are advised to use the bibliography as a means of gaining access to a wide range of references in sixteen journals, not as an infallible source.

Clive Moore, History Department, University of Queensland

September 1992.

URL http://coombs.anu.edu.au/WWWVLPacific/Pac-Jrnl-Bibliography.html

Copyright (c) 1992 - Bibliography by Clive Moore & Department of Pacific and Asian History, Research School of Pacific Studies (RSPAS), Australian National University. Copyright (c) 2003 - Database design and production by T. Matthew Ciolek. Internet Publications Bureau, RSPAS, ANU.