BOOK REVIEWS Selected Resources

A book review usually appears in a magazine or journal soon after the publication of book.  For printed sources, it is very useful to have the date of publication for finding a review.  For electronic sources, a keyword search on a  word from the title or author’s name (plus the word review ) is often sufficient.  Reprints or later editions aren’t always reviewed.  Note for literature students: while reviewers are referred to as critics, reviews have a different purpose from literary criticism.  Ask a reference librarian for good indexes or sources of literary criticism, as well as for reviews.  Questions?  Use the phone number above or contact  webref@southalabama.edu

BOOK  REVIEW  SOURCES:  ELECTRONIC

Access these through the Library home page.  Link through Articles, Indexes, Databases
     Limit to scholarly or peer reviewed journals if that is desired, as several of these databases cover mass market magazines as well as scholarly/scientific journals.

Thomson Gale (InfoTrac) databases (coverage generally begins with 1980):
Academic OneFile
Expanded Academic ASAP
General Business File ASAP
LegalTrac

EBSCO databases (coverage as early as 1975 or earlier):
Academic Search Complete
Professional Development Collection (education)
Communication & Mass Media Complete
Newspaper Source
Literary Reference Center
History Reference Center
SocINDEX  with Fulltext
MLA International Bibliography
Periodicals  Archive Online (full text, 1996 or before)
JSTOR  (full text except latest five years)
Readers Guide Retrospective.  (1963-1982.  Citations only; no full text.)
ScienceDirect

The following are freely available web sites:
    Book Reviews from H-Net.  http://www.h-net.msu.edu
                Particularly good for history and the social sciences. There is a link to H-Southern-Lit.
    Booknotes: A Cyber Companion. http://www.booknotes.org
                This site compliments the C-Span cable show of the same name.  Presents transcripts of
                author interviews.

PRINTED INDEXES TO JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES

The following are printed indexes found in the Reference department; citations may be found to print
(or sometimes online) journal, magazine, and newspaper reviews.  For access to specific journals or magazines,
use Our Journal List.

The following are dedicated to indexing book reviews – coverage through 1997:
Book Review Digest. 1906-   Ref. Z 1219 .C96
Book Review Index.  1965-    Ref. Z 1035 .A1 B66

The following indexes offer coverage (for the University Library)  through 1998/99
Readers Guide to Periodical Literature.   Ref. AI 3 .R48
Art Index.  Ref. Z 5937 .A78. 
Humanities Index.  Ref. AI 3 .H84
Social Sciences Index.  Ref. AI 3 .S62
General Science Index.  Ref. Z 7401 .G46
Business Periodicals Index.  Ref. Z 7164 .C81

REVIEW  JOURNALS  AND  MAGAZINES

Suggested keyword search:  “book reviews” and periodicals
                Some periodicals are primarily known for reviews.  The following are either in our collection or
access is provided.  Back issues of some may be on microfilm.  Look up by journal title search in SOUTHcat catalog or go to the home page and check Our Journal List

General  (examples):
Black Issues Book Review
Booklist
New York Review of Books
New York Times Book Review. This is a section of the Sunday New York Times  Back issues will be
            on the microfilm for the Times.  See the  N Y Times Index (Ref. AI 21 .N45)
Publishers Weekly
TLS  Times Literary Supplement.  Back issues are on microfilm.

Specialized (examples):
American Historical Review
American Economic Review (current print issues in the MCOB Library)
American Political Science Review
Political Science Reviewer
Review of English Studies
Reviews in American History

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Questions (jwright@southalabama.edu) or call (251) 460-7025.
URL: http://www.southalabama.edu/univlib/guides/bookreviews.htm
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Last updated: 6/14/2012 ap