Research Guide
FINDING BOOK REVIEWS
A Resource Guide
GENERAL BOOK REVIEWS
To begin, you need to know the author and title, and preferably the date of publication, of the book for which you need reviews. From there you have several options.
DATABASES & INDEXES
Online
General databases.
For recent book reviews you may choose to use InfoTrac's Expanded Academic ASAP, a database which indexes 1,500 magazines and journals, and includes the full text of many articles. From the library's homepage, choose the option 'Find Articles.' General databases appear on the left of the screen. You can also search Ebsco's Academic Seach Elite. Once in the system, a keyword search using the author's name and the major words in the title of the book you are interested in will yield greatest results.
Subject Specific Databases
In the databases available at the Auburn University Libraries you have access to hundreds of indexed journals in subject specific fields. From the libraries home page (www.lib.auburn.edu) click on 'Find Articles'. From here you will have access to databases in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Select "Databases by Subject" for relevant area. Keyword searching in most databases will secure the best results.
Reviews can also be found in PRINT INDEXES.
Book Review Digest (REF Z 1219 .B72)
Reviews are listed alphabetically by author, and a title index is included at
the back of each volume. Check the volume corresponding to the year in which
the book was published, as well as the next few years. Coverage begins in 1965
and runs through the present.
Book Review Index (REF Z 1035 .A1 B6)
Reviews are listed alphabetically by author, and a title index is included at
the back of each volume. Check the volume corresponding to the year in which
the book was published, as well as the next few years. Coverage begins in 1965
and runs through the present.
Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Scholarly Journals,
1886-1974
(Z 1035 .A1 C64)
Scholarly reviews of books dealing with history, political science, and
sociology are listed alphabetically by the author of the book being reviewed.
Volumes 13-15 serve as the title index.
Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities,
1802-1974 (AZ 221 .C645 1982)
Reviews of book reviews in the humanities are listed alphabetically by the
author of the book being reviewed. Volume 10 is the title index.
Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities (AI 5 .I5)
Reviews are listed alphabetically by the author of the book being reviewed.
This index begins coverage in 1960.
National Library Service Cumulative Book Review Index, 1905-1974 (Z
1035 .A1 N3)
Reviews are indexed in "author" and "title" volumes. This
index reviews for Book Review Digest, Choice, Library Journal,
and Saturday Review.
New York Times Book Review Index, 1896-1970 (Z 1007 .N562)
Reviews are listed in author, title, subject, category, and by-line volumes.
Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature (REF AI 3 .R4), Humanities Index (AI 3 .H9) and Art Index (N 1 .A454).
Social Sciences Index (H 1 .S632) and Business Periodicals Index (HF 5001 .B8288)
General Science Index (Q1 .G47), Applied Science and Technology Index (Z 913 .I7) and Biological and Agricultural Index (S 1 .A1635)