FINDING BOOK REVIEWS

finding book reviews

Book reviews are essays that summarize the contents of a book and evaluate its merits. They help us decide if a book is worth reading or including in our research. Book reviews usually appear in periodicals shortly after a book is published, but only a small percentage of new books ever get reviewed. It is possible that some books you are interested in have not been reviewed.

To locate a review, gather the basic bibliographic information about the book: author's name, book title, and year of publication. Then choose an appropriate database (or, for some older books, a print index), and search for reviews.

All databases can be accessed from the E-Journals & Reference Databases page http://libraries.cuny.edu/resource.htm on the CUNY Libraries Web site http://libraries.cuny.edu/.

Selected Book Review Sources

1. Multidisciplinary Databases:

· Academic Search Premier. 1965 or first year published to present.

· MasterFILE Premier. 1975 to present.

These (and/or other EBSCO databases) may be searched together by choosing “EBSCO (all EBSCO databases combined.” To search by book author, type name in box next to “Find,” and select “PE People” from drop-down menu on right. To search by book title, type title in box and select “PS Reviews & Products” from menu on right. In “Limit Your Results” below, go to “Document Type” and select “Book Review.”

· Book Review Digest (Plus)

This database contains citations and full text from 11 databases—Applied Science & Technology Index, Art Index, Biological & Agricultural Index, Education Index, General Science Index, Humanities Index, Index to Legal Periodicals & Books, Library Literature & Information Science, Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature, Social Sciences Index, and Business Periodicals Index—in addition to summaries and book review excerpts from Book Review Digest. In “Search For” area, type author’s name, book title, or other keyword in box on left and match to category in drop-down menu on right. Then, go below to “Document Type” drop down menu and choose “Book review.”

· JSTOR. First issue published to 3-5 years ago (some to present).

Use for reviews from scholarly journals. Under “Enter search terms,” type author’s name or book title in box and match to “full-text” in drop-down menu on right. Under “Select disciplines or journals,” check one or more academic disciplines, or search individual journals by clicking on “Expand journal list” and checking off titles. Under “Refine your search (optional),” uncheck “articles” and check “reviews.”

· Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe. 1980 to present.

Choose “Guided News Search.” Under “Select a News Category,” pick “Arts & Sports News.” Under “Select a News source,” choose “Book, movie, music, & play reviews.” Under “Enter Search Terms,” type author’s name or book title in box and leave default (“Headline, Lead Paragraph(s), Terms”) in drop-down menu on right.

· Project Muse. 1993 to present.

Use for reviews from scholarly journals. Click on “Search.” Type author’s name or book title in box and match with “Author Reviewed” or “Title Reviewed,” respectively, in drop-down menu on left.

2. Additional Databases by Subject:

· Business:

Business Source Premier. 1965 or first issue to present (most).

To search by book author, type name in box next to “Find,” and select “PE People” from drop-down menu on right. To search by book title, type title in box and select “PS Reviews & Products” from menu on right. In “Limit Your Results” below, go to “Document Type” and select “Book Review.”

· Communications:

Communication & Mass Media Complete.

Next to “Find,” type author’s name or book title in box on left and leave “Default Fields” in drop-down menu on right. On line below, type “book reviews” in box and select “SU subject terms” from drop-down menu on right.

· Economics/Accounting:

Econlit. 1969 to present.

To search by book author, type name in box next to “Find,” and select “BA Book Author” from drop-down menu on right. To search by title, type title in box and select “TI Title” from menu on right. In “Limit Your Results” below, go to “Publication Type” and select “Book Review.”

· Education:

Education Full Text. 1994 (abstracts), 1996 (full text) to present.

In “Search For” area, type author’s name or book title in box and match to “Books Reviewed” in drop-down menu on right.

ERIC.

EBSCO version: Next to “Find,” type author’s name or book title in box and select “Keyword Identifier” in drop-down menu on right. On line below, type “book/product reviews” in box and choose “PT Publication Type” from drop-down menu on right.

· Fine Arts:

American Humanities Index. 1975 to present.

Next to “Find,” type author’s name or book title in box on left and select “AB Abstract or Author-Supplied Abstract” from drop-down menu on right. In “Limit Your Results” below, go to “Publication Type” and select “Review.”

· Literature:

American Humanities Index.

See “Fine Arts” above.

MagillOnLiterature Plus.

Select database from EBSCO combined databases. Next to “Find,” type author’s name or book title in box and select “AU Author” or “TI Title,” respectively, in drop-down menu on right. In “Limit Your Results” below, go to “Record Type” and select “Essay Review.” Select book reviews from list of results.

· Multicultural Issues:

Ethnic Newswatch. 1990 to present.

Choose English or Spanish language and then “Advanced Search.” Type author’s name and/or book title in box and select “Abstract” from drop-down menu on right. In next box, type “book review” and select “Document type” from menu on right.

· Psychology/Behavioral Sciences:

PsycINFO. 1840 to present.

Next to “Find,” type author’s name or book title in box and match to “RW Reviewed Item” in drop-down menu on right.

PsycARTICLES. 1985 to present.

Next to “Find,” type author’s name or book title in box and match with “RW Reviewed work” in drop-down menu on right.

3. Historical Sources:

· Historical New York Times. 1851 to 2001.

Database. Choose “Advanced Search.” Type author’s name or book title in box and select “Abstract” from drop-down menu on right. On next line, type “review” and select “Document type” from drop-down menu. Select relevant reviews from list of results.

· Book Review Digest. 1905 to present.

Ref Z1219 .C95

Print index. Entries are organized by author’s name; there is also a subject and title index.

· Book Review Index. 1965 to present.

Ref Z1035 .Z1 B6

Print index. Browse author and title indexes. In table of contents, see “Publications Indexed” for abbreviations of publication titles.

Prepared by Prof. Madeleine Nash, Fall 2004

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