This eighth volume of the Illustration Index is entirely new and covers the years 1992-1996. It follows the patterns of scope, style, and arrangement set in volumes four through seven. The depth of indexing is attested to by the existence of over 19,000 individual subject headings, encompassing about 28,000 entries.

Though not claiming to be totally comprehensive, the only illustrations methodically excluded are advertisements. Each illustration within each journal article is treated separately, rather than indexing a few illustrations from an article to represent its major theme. There is an extensive system of cross-references and in the interest of easy access to each citation, there are frequently multiple entries for one illustration, or several cross-references. Publications were selected for their richness of illustrations and for the availability of back issues in libraries.