Book Reviews: Getting Started

Montreat College Library Catalog

WorldCat
WorldCat is universal in subject scope and includes records for over 95 million items held in thousands of libraries throughout the United States and Europe.

Use the Online Journal Finder to locate electronic journals in the Montreat College Library's Collection. 

Book reviews provide an overview and a brief critical assessment of a particular book. Reviews are usually published in journals, magazines, and newspapers. Many databases and indexes provide access to book reviews.

To locate book reviews, you will need to know:

• the author's full name
• the complete title of the book
• the year the book was first published

This information can be found in the library catalog, in www.worldcat.org/ or in the book itself.

Tips for Locating Reviews

• Most reviews appear within two or three years of the book's original publication date. So when searching for reviews, start with the book's publication date and then check the next two years.
• Usually the first edition of a book gets reviewed, rather than later editions. Remember that many books never get reviewed.
• Seek book reviews from scholarly journals. JSTOR is a good source for scholarly book reviews and books published more than a few years ago.
• Consult several reviews of the same book for a more balanced assessment.
• Many of the library's databases provide book reviews for publications within their disciplines. You can usually limit your search to book reviews.
• Search the library's Online Journal Finder for journals in which the reviews were published.
• If the library does not have a book or journal article you need, request it through interlibrary loan.