New Zealand Book's Excellence Recognised In Prestigious US List
Weavers of Song by Auckland author Mervyn McLean has been selected in US magazine Choice's prestigious 'Outstanding
Academic Titles' list for 2000.
The OAT list, 'The Best of the Best in Published Scholarship', is highly selective. It contains only about 10% of some
6,600 items reviewed in Choice each year. Over 25,000 items are submitted annually to the magazine, which has reviewed
scholarly books and media for more than 35 years.
In awarding the designation Outstanding Academic Title, the editors apply several criteria to reviewed titles including:
* overall excellence in presentation and scholarship * importance relative to other literature in the field *
distinction as a first treatment of a given subject in book or electronic form * originality or uniqueness of treatment.
Choice's review described Weavers of Song as an unusually valuable book. It said, 'The first comprehensive book about
the music and dance of Polynesia, this is a splendid effort by a distinguished ethnomusicologist who has devoted his
life to research on the musical cultures of Polynesia. McLean (formerly, Univ. of Auckland) draws together a vast body
of historical, ethnographic, and musical information and presents it as a combination of flowing narrative and
handbook-type reference.'
Choice is published by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library
Association.
Mervyn McLean is an international authority on Polynesian music. Formerly Associate Professor and Head of the Archive of
Maori and Pacific Music at the University of Auckland, he has published widely on Maori and Pacific music. He is also
the co-author of a number of titles including, with Margaret Orbell, of Traditional Songs of the Maori.
Weavers of Song: Polynesian Music and Dance by Mervyn McLean 556p, illustrations, musical examples, hardback, with CD,
$79.95, ISBN 1 86940 212 X
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