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Home > Selected Internet Resources > By Topic > Library Science Resources > Online Book Reviews |
Hypertext Supplement to LIS 101:
An Introduction to the Library
| Contents: | General Observations | Newspaper Book Reviews | |
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Generally speaking, online book reviews are. available for more recent books (i.e. those published within the last few years), but are harder to find for anything more than a few years old (and impossible to find for books published before 1980, unless they have been re-published). For these older books, the print indexes Book Review Digest and the Book Review Index are still your best sources. By far the best online source of book reviews is the site maintained by The New York Times. An electronic version of the print "Book Review" supplement to their Sunday edition, every word contained in the print version is reproduced on their online Books site, containing every book review published in The New York Times from 1980 to the present.The New York Times on the Web. In order to access this site, you must fill out their Free Registration form and provide them with some very general information about yourself. Once you have registered, access to all parts of the online version of the newspaper (including the "Books" section) is free. For more information about The New York Times on the Websee the Online Newspapers page. The following is the main advanced search page for the NYTimes Books Web site: |
 A red*indicates that the field is required.
Note: Articles from the last 7 days are free, as are all reviews back to 1996.
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Best of the sites which do not require registration is The Science Book Board: Reviews, E-STREAMS: Electronic reviews of Science & Technology References covering Engineering, Agriculture, Medicine and Science. The Boston Book Review offer BookWire browsers a wealth of informative reviews." A Search BookWire page allows you to retrieve information from all of these journals by keyword searches by title, author, or publisher (but not subject): |
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Almost every newspaper, whether online or in print, has at least a weekly book review section. A few of the major national newspaper Book Review sections include the Los Angeles Times Books & Talks, a Sunday Book Reviews. It is possible to set their Archives Basic Search so that it covers from 1985 to the present. If you are willing to send your credit card number to the Los Angeles Time, they will allow you to download the fulltext of articles for $2.50 per article, although the accompanying "graphics and photos are not available". A Pricing Plan offers significant discounts for bulk purchases. For bibliographic information you can now go downstairs to the Microforms Department and look for the roll of microfilm that contains The Los Angeles Times. Look for the "Book Review" section, and there you will find the fulltext of articles together with any illustrations that accompany it. The Meyer Library Microforms Department has the Los Angeles Times from January 1, 1970 to the present. The extent to which such newspaper book review sections are archived varies enormously; but, generally speaking, these sources are most useful for current and recently-published books.From time to time books emerge which have an interest or create controversy beyond the confines of the world of book reviews. A recent example was Charles Murray's Bell Curve, which claimed that there were racial differences in intelligence. In addition to the usual book review sites, a wide variety of columns also wrote what were, in effect, reviews and critiques of the book. A collection of Columns, Essays, Editorials & Opinions. This is worth keeping in mind the next time another controversial book is published. |
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