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Reviews are articles in magazines, journals or newspapers about recently published books--both fiction and non-fiction. They are useful for learning what a particular book is about, and for comparing various works on the same topic or by the same author. Personal information about authors can at times be found in reviews. Some books get more reviews than others do; you may only be able to find one or two in some cases.
For popular works, Book Review Digest is a good place to start. A good source for recent reviews is also ProQuest, which includes many review articles from newspapers and journals. To get more reviews, or more subject specific reviewing, try the appropriate periodical index that gives book review citations. Example: for a sociology text try Social Sciences Index, or for a history book try America, History and Life. All the databases like ProQuest can be found at http://www.brockport.edu/~library5/first.htm.
ProQuest: online 1986-date. ProQuest indexes newspapers, magazines and journals, and includes a lot of book reviews. Click on the "guided" search tab at the search screen and change the drop down for "all article types" to "book reviews." Because of the newspapers it is especially good for recent titles,but it does include many reviews from scholarly journals.
Book Review Index. REF AI3 .B65, print, 1965-present. This indexes popular magazines, scholarly journals, as well as several newspapers, for a total of some 450 titles. Try this when Book Review Digest doesn't work. Most subject areas of fiction and non-fiction are covered. Some foreign language titles are included. Main entries are arranged alphabetically by author, and there is a separate index of titles in the back of each volume.
Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. From 1890-1904 this index included book reviews by main entry in the body of the index. Then from 1976 to date there is a separate review index at the end of the volume. In print 1890-1997, REF AI3 .R48Online in FirstSearch 1983-date. Covers popular titles for fiction and non-fiction.
New York Times. This is a very good source for critical reviews in most subject areas, but particularly for best-selling fiction and non-fiction. The NY Times Book Review is online 1986-date in ProQuest; Prior to that try the print index, REF AI1 .N45, where the book review coverage goes back to 1858. In the index look under "book reviews," for most years; some earlier years use "reviews." You can also try the Internet site for the NY Times Book Review www.nytimes.com/books/. It is free, but you must register at the site before using. The site includes reviews back to 1980.
Business Periodicals Index. REFHF1 .B88, From 1976 to 1998 is a separate review index at the end of the volume. See ProQuest for more recent business book reviews.
Criminal Justice Periodical Index.REF HV6001 .C75. 1975 to 1998.
Democrat & Chronicle Index.1983-89, Storage. Mic 1, 1990-1996. The Democrat & Chronicle is a good source for reviews of books by local authors. Look in the index for the subject heading "reviews-books", then search alphabetically by title. For author information, also look under "literature".
Education Index.REF L11 .E3. From 1929 to 1997 is a separate review index at the end of the volume.Online in FirstSearch 1983-date.
General Science Index. REF Q1 .G46. From 1978 to 1997 is a separate review index at the end of the volume. Online in FirstSearch 1983-date.
Humanities Index. REF AI3 .H85. From 1974 to 1997 is a separate review index at the end of the volume.Online in FirstSearch 1983-date.
Index to Black periodicals. REF E185.5 .I52. 1984 - 1997.
Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities. REF Z1035 .A1, 1960-1990.A comprehensive index to reviews in over 600 humanities periodicals. Subjects covered include literature, poetry, biography, drama, and philosophy. A number of foreign-language journals are included.
Social Sciences Index.REF AI3 .S62. From 1974 to 1997 is a separate review index at the end of the volume. Good for Political Science, Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, Health Sciences, Criminal Justice, etc. Online in FirstSearch 1983-date.
Wall Street Journal Index. Online in ProQuest, 1986-date; print, Index Tables 1958-1998. A large number of book reviews are published in the Wall Street Journal. The subject range is all-encompassing, but with an emphasis on business-related titles. In the print copy, search Volume II, under the heading "book eviews". Reviews arranged alphabetically by title.
Women Studies Abstracts. REF HQ1101 .W65, 1972 to date. Book review section in each issue; entries arranged by author.
Atlantic Unbound. Includes brief reviews from recent issues of the Atlantic Monthly magazine. (http://www.theatlantic.com)
Booklist. Digital counterpart of the American Library Association's Booklist magazine, which each year reviews nearly 4000 adult books, over 2500 children's books, 500 reference sources and 1000 audiovisual items. Indexed archive of reviews since the beginning of 1996. (http://www.ala.org/booklist)
Book Wire, which includes the Boston Book Review and the Hungry Mind Review. (http://www.bookwire.com)
Books in Depth: US/Canada Newspaper, Magazine Book Reviews http://www.booksindepth.com This site helpfully consolidates in one place not only links to book reviews in newspapers and magazines, but also to excerpting sources, interviews, features, and sources for rare and hard-to-find books.
Last updated 2/02. E-mail Charlie Cowling with comments or suggestions.
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