W&J: How to Locate Critical Book Reviews

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How to Locate Critical Book Reviews

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1. Begin with Book Review Digest (Ref 015 B64, 1905-present).

Find the volume labeled with the year the book was published, then search by author's name. Look for entries in the succeeding two years as well (if necessary, search WorldCat by book title for author/publication date information).
Many citations in Book Review Digest include brief extracts from the review itself. All citations include bibliographical information leading you to the complete book review in a periodical.
Search by journal title in the Journal Locator to determine if U. Grant Miller Library has access to the source publication of the book review you need. Local holdings will be in either print, microfilm, or online formats.

2. Additional citations to book reviews may be found in Book Review Index (Ref 016.011 B645, 1965-present) and in Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities (Ref 016.016 In23, 1960-1990).

3. Use the Academic Search Elite online database to find citations to reviews published after 1985.

Note:

Some book reviews, such as those found in Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Choice, etc. are meant only to help librarians decide whether to buy the book, and generally should not be used in research papers. The Library has the following three critical reviewing sources which are more appropriate for research papers, particularly in the field of literature:

Times Literary Supplement (in bound stacks)
New York Times Book Review (on microfilm)
New York Review of Books (on microfilm)

All of these are indexed in Book Review Digest and Book Review Index.

4. Other sources of citations to critical book reviews in literature are:

MLA Bibliography (Online from 1963-present)
The Contemporary Novel (Ref 016.82303 Ad33c)
The American Novel (Ref 016.813 G325)
English Novel Explication (Ref 016.83209 P182e)
The English Novel, 1578-1956 (Ref 016.82309 B413e)
Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals 1824-1900 (Ref 052 W459i)

5. Many books are reviewed on Internet websites. Do a Yahoo or Google search for the author's name or book title.

6. For additional help please vist the Reference Desk, call the librarian on duty (724-223-6072), or contact reference librarians Trevor Onest or Jennifer Corbin.