Find Book Reviews
A book review is an essay or an article giving a descriptive evaluation of a recently published book. Book reviews may appear in newspapers, popular magazines, or scholarly journals. Depending on the publication in which it appears, some book reviews offer more critical evaluation than others. Keep in mind that, while thousands of books are published each year, a relatively small percentage of books are reviewed.
Follow the the steps below to find book reviews:
Step One: Gather the Necessary Information
Step Two: Select a Resource to Conduct Your Search
Step Three: Locating the Publication with Your Book Review
Step One: Gather the
Necessary Information
When looking for a book
review, you need to know the following:
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The full name of the author
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The exact title of the book
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The year the book was published
If you have a copy of the book for which you need a book review, look for the date of publication or copyright date on the front or back of the book’s title page. If more than one date is noted, use the earliest date.
To find the information you need if you do not have the book available to you:
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conduct a search in the library catalog using the book title;
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conduct a more extensive search for the book in WorldCat, a worldwide online catalog with more than 32 million entries (find a link to WorldCat on the Journal, Magazine and Newspaper Indexes page); or
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use the print resource Books in Print, which can be found in the Ready Reference Collection in the library’s Reference Room. Books in Print organizes information about books currently published or distributed in the U.S. by author, title, and subject.
Step Two: Select a
Resource to Conduct Your Search
Now that you have the
information you need, you are ready to conduct your search. You can conduct your
search for book reviews in:
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Print indexes (good sources for older reviews)
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Print periodicals (great for browsing for recently published reviews)
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Online indexes/databases (useful for some older publications and newer releases; some have full text)
SEARCH TIP: Make sure to record the complete citation for the book review you are trying to locate.
Book Reviews in Print Indexes
Find these
print indexes in the Reference Room on the library’s first floor. Use the volume
for the year in which the book was first published or the years immediately
before and after the initial publication date.
Book Review Digest
Reference Room Z1035.A1 B6
1905-present. Lists and provides excerpts of book reviews in the humanities,
social sciences, and general periodicals from the U.S., Canada, and Great
Britain. Entries are under author's last name. A short description of the book,
a full citation to locate the full text, and excerpts from 3-4 book reviews
appear under each entry.
Book Review Index
Reference Room Z1035.A1 B5
1965-present. Provides citations to reviews of books, periodicals, and
books-on-tape from over 600 general interest and scholarly publications.
Arranged alphabetically by author’s last name; there is no subject approach. No
summaries or excerpts of the reviews are included.
The New York Times Index
Reference Room AI21 .N44
1851-2001. Includes citations to all reviews in
The New York Times Book Review section; listed in the index
alphabetically by title under the Book Reviews subject heading. Search
Tip: An online index and access to full text articles for The New York
Times are also available in
ProQuest Newspapers
(1995-present) and
Academic Universe
(1980-present).
Readers’ Guide to
Periodical Literature
(see
Readers' Guide Full Text for
coverage from 1983-present)
Reference Room AI3 .R48
1900-2003. Lists book reviews alphabetically by author. Starting in
1976, book reviews are listed separately at the back of each volume.
Book Reviews in Print Periodicals
Browse through
these print periodicals found on the second floor of the library to find reviews
of recently published books:
|
Periodical Title |
Target Audience |
|
Book Links |
Young adults |
|
Choice |
Materials for academic libraries |
|
Curriculum Review |
K-12 teachers and administrators |
|
History: Review of New Books |
Historians |
|
Horn Book |
Children and young adults |
|
New Books on Women and Feminism |
Women’s studies |
|
New York Review of Books |
Popular fiction and nonfiction |
|
New York Times Book Review |
Popular fiction and nonfiction |
|
Publishers Weekly |
Emphasis on American publishing |
|
Women’s Review of Books |
Books by and about women |
Book Reviews in Online
Indexes/Databases
The databases listed below are good places to start when looking for book
reviews in online resources. To access the following databases, simply click on
the hyperlink, or go to the "Find Article Databases" link from the
Library Homepage to search for the name of
the databases listed below.
for instructions.ACCESS NOTE: Off-campus access to most online indexes and databases is available to UWSP students and staff through Virtual Private Network (VPN). Click here
ABI/INFORM Global
Contains
business periodicals covering business and economic conditions,
management techniques, theory, and practice of business, advertising,
marketing, economics, human resources, finance, taxation, computers, and
more.
Search Tip:
Click on More Search Options to expose additional selections;
select Book Review from the
Article Type drop-down menu.
Academic Search Elite
Multi-disciplinary database offers full text to many of it 2,000+
scholarly/general journals/magazines; 1,500 of these are peer-reviewed.
Full-text coverage dates back as far as 1985. Search Tip: Use the
Advanced Search screen; select Book Review as Document Type.
Academic Universe
The News search form can be used to locate reviews. Search Tip:
Use the Guided News Search. Select Arts & Sports News as the News
Category, select
Book, movie, music, & play reviews as the News Source, and enter the
title of the book in the search box. Change the date range, as appropriate.
America: History and Life
Find citations for reviews of books in the field of American history. Search
Tip: Use the Advanced Search screen; select Book Review as
Document Type.
Ethnic News Watch
Covers the
ethnic, minority and Native American press. Search Tip: Use the Advanced
Search screen. Click on More Search Options to expose additional
selections; select Book Review from the Article Type drop-down
menu.
Humanities Full Text
Full text plus abstracts and bibliographic indexing of the most noted scholarly
sources in the humanities, as well as numerous lesser-known but important
specialized magazines.
Search Tip:
Limit search to book reviews by selecting Book review as the Document
Type.
JSTOR
Provides
electronic access to back issues of core journals in the sciences,
humanities, and social sciences. Useful for finding book reviews of older
publications. Search Tip: Scroll down the search screen to Limit by
Type and select reviews.
Reviews in mathematics, statistics, engineering, and the physical sciences. Search Tip: Select Current Awareness: Books from the left navigation bar. Select date range, click on Book Reviews Entered, and select a classification to search.
Full-text access to the scholarly journals of several university presses. Search Tip: Use the Advanced Search screen; select Author Reviewed or Title Reviewed in the drop-down menu that appears next to the Search For box. You can also select Review in the By Type box.
Covers 1983 to present. Provides access to the contents of a wide variety of popular English-language magazines and journals. Search Tip: Limit search to book reviews by selecting Book review as the Document Type.
Religion Database (ATLA)
Provides
information on topics such as biblical studies, world religions, church history,
and religion in social issues. Search Tip: Use the Basic or Advanced
Search screen; select Review as Publication Type.
Science Citation Index
Index to the key scholarly journals in the sciences. Coverage goes back as far
as 1945 is some cases. Search Tip: Use the General Search; set
document types to Book Review.
Social Sciences Full Text
Bibliographic database to articles from more than 415 English-language
periodicals published in the United States and elsewhere plus the full text of
over 115 of those periodicals. Search Tip: Limit search to book reviews
by selecting Book review as the Document Type.
Step Three: Locating the Publication with Your Book Review
If the resource you have used does not offer the full text of the book review, use the citation you found in Step Two to determine if the UWSP library holds a copy of the publication in which your book review appears.
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Go to the "Journal titles A-Z List" from the Library Homepage and enter the name of the journal in the Find box to determine if the library holds the publication in print or electronically.
Your search result may include links to online databases or information about the journal in Current Periodicals, Microfilm Periodicals, Bound Periodicals, or Compact Storage.
If your search result indicates that the journal is not found in our collection, you can request the book review using the library’s online interlibrary loan (ILL) system.
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If the publication is available online:
Look at the resources that appear in the Journals result list. Select a resource that includes a date range appropriate for your citation.
The online resource you select launches in a separate window. Often you will be presented with a list of available issues. Check your citation, scan the list of issues, and click the link for the correct issue.
Scan the issue’s contents for your book review. Some databases organize issue contents in page number order, while others present the issue’s contents in alphabetical order by article title.
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If the publication is available in print or microfilm:
Use the date of the issue in which the book review appears to determine if you will find the issue in Current Periodicals, Microfilm Periodicals, Bound Periodicals, or Compact Storage.
Go to the periodicals department on the second floor of the library to locate the issue. Photocopiers are available in the periodicals department or you may check out the issue:
Undergraduates: All categories of print periodicals have a 24-hour checkout period with no renewals; microfilm cannot be checked out.
Graduate students: Current periodicals have a 24-hour checkout period; bound and compact periodicals can be checked out for three days (no renewals); microfilm cannot be checked out.