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1. What is a Book Review?
- A book review is a short (usually
between 50 and 1,000 words, although some reviews are longer)
article published in a newspaper, magazine, or journal In a
review, the reviewer provides information about the book (such as
its subject, the technique used, or, in the case of fiction, a brief
plot synopsis and mention of the major characters) and an opinion as
to the merit of the book. It is useful to know the publication
year of the book for which you are seeking reviews since most
reviews appear within a year or so.
Book reviews are not critical works, especially in terms of literary
criticism (use the English and Literature page for literary
criticism). While the two forms are similar, and to some
extent overlap, a critic's job is to analyze work in terms of
a set of standards. A reviewer's mission, on the other hand,
is to report on the book, much like a reporter's job.
Reviewers, do, however, of make some critical judgments about the
worth of a book, but do not go into the depth of analysis that a
critic would.
2.
Databases/indexes to find
reviews in periodicals - These databases are designed to
help you identify relevant periodical articles through keyword or
subject searches. In most cases there will be links to either
the online version of the article or a listing of the library's
holdings. If you are not sure, you may check the library's
periodical
holdings list and/or its
list of
online journals. These databases are listed in the order
in which the library recommends them.
| Database Name | Link to access from on-campus | Link to access from off-campus if available | Info about the database |
| Academic Search Complete |
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| Humanities International Complete |
|
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| Literary Reference Center |
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| American Periodicals Series |
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| Choice Reviews Online |
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No |
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2.
Databases/indexes to
find reviews in newspapers- These databases contain the
full-text of articles from many newspapers over a long period of
time.
| Database Name | Link to access from on-campus | Link to access from off-campus if available | Info about the database |
| LexisNexis Academic Universe |
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| Newspaper Source |
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| America's Newspapers |
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