Book Reviews
Reviews of classic, current, or forthcoming books and reference works which provide information about authors are invaluable aids to those seeking to evaluate books and are more easily available than ever before! They can be located through indexes of popular and scholarly journals and newspapers, specialized indexes of book reviews, book review web sites, and electronic sources of biographical information.
Indexes of popular and scholarly journals and newspapers:
Book
reviews appear in popular and scholarly journals and newspapers. Large
full-text databases that provide access to such material are excellent
places to look for reviews of current books. When searching for reviews use
the title of the book or the subject you are interested in, and the term "review" or
"reviews."
- Ebsco Host
- Searchbank
- Academic Universe
-
Project MUSE
--books reviews from 200 full-text online scholarly journals
from academic presses -
JSTOR--
book reviews from over 100 years of journals in African-American Studies,
Anthropology, Asian Studies,
Ecology, Economics, Education, Finance, History, Literature, Mathematics, Philosophy, Political Science,
Population Studies, Sociology, and Statistics
Specialized Indexes
Full-text databases cover only the last 20 years and do not offer
indexing and full-text of book reviews for materials published prior to that
period. For the most extensive bibliographic access to older book reviews, use the following specialized
indexes:
Book Review Digest-[INDEX]
Z1035.A1 B6 1906-2001
Look in the
index for the year the book was published under the author’s name.
Often include book summaries and segments of reviews.
Reviews found are:
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More likely to be from popular magazines
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Generally written by authors with a general knowledge of the subject area, but not experts
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Short--often less than a page
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Provide some critical information on quality, scope, and content of the work, author qualifications, and comparisons with other works
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Generally available within a year of the book's publication
Book Review Index--
[INDEX] Z1035.A1 B61 1967-2001
Look in year book was
published under the author's name. Entries begin to appear
in the year book was published, but may take several
years to appear. No summaries or segments
of reviews reprinted.
Reviews cited are:
-
More likely to be from scholarly journals.
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Generally written by authors who are experts in the field.
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May be a few pages long.
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Provide more extensive critical information on the scope, content, and value of the book, authors qualifications, and comparison with other important books
Book Review Web sites:
Electronic Sources of Biographical Information:
Information about the author aids readers in reviewing books. The following databases are excellent sources of information about authors:
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Biography Resource Center-- biographical information on nearly 220,000 people from throughout history, around the world, and across all disciplines and subject areas.
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Literature Resource Center-- literature reference database rich in biographical, bibliographical, and critical content.
Also see: