A reviewer does four things:

• describes the work or production being reviewed,
• tells how effective she thinks the work or production is,
• gives examples from the work to support her evaluation, and
• presents an evaluation as free from bias and prejudice as possible so that the reader of the review can form his own opinion of the work.

• Book Review Digest (Honnold/Mudd Index Room)
• Book Review Index (Honnold/Mudd Index Room)
• LexisNexis Academic (use the "General News" files)
• Wilson General Science Abstracts (in Ovid)
• Wilson Humanities Abstracts (in Ovid)
• Wilson Readers Guide Abstracts (in Ovid)
• Wilson Social Sciences Abstracts (in Ovid)

• LexisNexis Academic (use the "General News" files)
• Wilson Art Abstracts (in Ovid)
• Wilson Humanities Abstracts (in Ovid)
• Wilson Readers Guide Abstracts (in Ovid)

Although indexes all vary slightly, each will tell you the title of the journal or newspaper, the volume number, date and page where you will find the review. Especially in paper indexes such as Book Review Index, journal titles may be abbreviated.  Those abbreviations are usually explained at the front of each volume of the index. Be sure you find the complete, unabbreviated title of the journal before you look for it in our libraries.

Be aware that your ability to find reviews will be somewhat dependent on when the book was published or the play or film produced, on where and when the art was exhibited, and on how well-known the author, artist, or performance is.

Browsing Through Reviews
If you'd like to see what typical reviews are like, you might browse a major reviewing source like the New York Times Book Review or familiar magazines like Time or Newsweek for more popular reviews, or a scholarly reviewing source such as the American Historical Review for scholarly reviews.

Book Review or Literary Criticism?
A good book review can provide important information about a book's style, plot, and quality and about the author's credentials. It will reflect current critical opinion of a book and often give comparisons to other similar titles. Remember, however, that a book review will not include the more in-depth analysis found in good literary criticism.

Need more help?

When you need help on your research project, talk to your professor, stop by the Reference Desk at one of the Libraries, make an appointment to talk with a Reference Librarian, or talk with someone in the Writing Resource Center on your campus.