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History Book Reviews: Using Print Indexes to Find Book Reviews

Locating the print indexes

All book review indexes are located in the Reference Alcove near the Reference Desk of Odum Library.

Book Review Index

Book Review Index (REF ALCOVE Z1035.A1 B6) covers book reviews published from 1965-2017.

  • Select the volumes for the year the book was published, as well as the following two years; book reviews can be written the year that the book was published and up to two years after.  Therefore we will search in the Book Review Index volumes for 1968, 1969, and 1970.
  • Books are listed by author’s last name, and then by title.
  • We notice that there are 12 periodicals that have reviews of The Johnstown Flood.

 

Page from Book Review Index - 1968 Cumulation surrounded in red on top right of page. In the bottom right, there is an entry consisting of the author's name McCullough, David G and Johnstown Flood, the publication title. Below these two items, there are a list of 12 periodicals that have reviews of The Johnstown Flood

 

  • Publications are listed alphabetically by title.  The titles are abbreviated.  They also list the author of the review (if available), volume, date, and page number of the reviews.
  • To find the full title of the publication, check the list of publications indexed in the front of the volume. For example, “Am Hist R” stands for theAmerican Historical Review.

 

List of Publications Indexed - Following is a list of periodicals cited in Book Review Index. They are listed in alphabetic sequence according to the abbreviations used to identify them in review citations. Below Am Hist R is defined as American Historical Review.

 

  • Once you have a list of publications, you can search to see if the library has access to the journals.
    • From the Odum Library homepage, click on the Books & Journals tab.  
    • Then search by journal title: enter the title and click Find. 
    • If there are too many results, you can limit the search to Format: Journals on the left.
    • Once you find the title, click View It to see the online volumes and click Get It to see what the library has in print. 
    • Look by volume & date to see if we have the volume and issue you need.  For our example, I will see if we have The New Yorker volume 44 for May 1968.  After searching, I see that we do not have electronic access for 1968, but that we do have the print journal from 1944-present.  I can then go to the bound journals to find the book review and photocopy it.

Book Review Digest

Book Review Digest (REF ALCOVE Z1219 .C96) covers book reviews published from 1906-present.

  • Select the volumes for the year the book was published, as well as the following two years; book reviews can be written the year that the book was published and up to two years after.  Therefore we will search in the Book Review Digest volumes for 1968, 1969, and 1970.
  • Books are listed by author’s last name, and then by title.  Book Review Digest also includes a short summary of the book with a selection from the text of some book reviews.

An entry from Book Review Digest 1968. The entry begins with McCullough, David G. The Johnstown Flood. It lists the publisher. Below a short summary of the book with a selection from the text of some book reviews.

  • Publications are listed alphabetically by title.  The titles are abbreviated.  They also list the author of the review (if available), volume, issue, date, and the approximate length of the review (in number of words).
  • To find the full title of the publication, check the list of publications indexed in the front of the volume.
  • Once you have a list of publications, you can search to see if the library has access to the journals.
    • From the Odum Library homepage, click on the Books & Journals tab.  
    • Then search by journal title: enter the title and click Find. 
    • If there are too many results, you can limit the search to Format: Journals on the left.
    • Once you find the title, click View It to see the online volumes and click Get It to see what the library has in print. 
    • Look by volume & date to see if we have the volume and issue you need. 

An Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities

An Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities (REF ALCOVE Z1035.A1 I63) covers book reviews published from 1960-1990.

  • Select the volumes for the year the book was published, as well as the following two years; book reviews can be written the year that the book was published and up to two years after.  Therefore we will search in An Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities volumes for 1968, 1969, and 1970.
  • Books are listed by author’s last name, and then by title.  Citations include the review author’s name (if available), index number (underlined below in red), date of publication, and page number.

 

Entry from Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities. Entry begins with author's name Mc Cullough, D.G. The title comes next, The Johnstown Flood. Citations are included below that. Citations start with review author's name, index number, date of publication, and then page number. The example circled has a citation of A.C. Ames, 440, the index number, is underlined in red. There are three more citations: A. Whitman, 441 (underlined in red), and then the date. Also 442, underlined in red, NY, and then the date. As well as 614 underlined in red, with the date.

 

  • Flip to the front of the volume, and look up the index number, which provides the name of the publication in which the book review is published.

 

The index number provides the name of the publication in which the book review is published. There are three entries encircled in red. The first index number 440, underlined in red, was in Book World. Chicago. Weekly. And it provides a date. The second index number, 441, underlined in red, is for New York Times. Daily. And then it provides a date range. The third index number is 442, underlined, is for the New Yorker. Weekly. And it provides a date range as well.

 

  • Once you have a list of publications, you can search to see if the library has access to the journals.
    • From the Odum Library homepage, click on the Books & Journals tab.  
    • Then search by journal title: enter the title and click Find. 
    • If there are too many results, you can limit the search to Format: Journals on the left.
    • Once you find the title, click View It to see the online volumes and click Get It to see what the library has in print. 
    • Look by volume & date to see if we have the volume and issue you need.  

 

Current Book Review Citations

Current Book Review Citations (REF ALCOVE Z1035.A1 C86) covers book reviews published from 1976-1982.

  • Select the volumes for the year the book was published, as well as the following two years; book reviews can be written the year that the book was published and up to two years after.  Since The Johnstown Flood was published in 1968, we know that reviews of that book won’t be available in Current Book Review Citations.
  • Current Book Review Citations includes both an author index and a title index in each volume.  In our case we will browse the author index.

 

Author index of Current Book Review Citation. Entry begins with author's name, title of book. Citations include the abbreviated publication name, volume, pages, dates and review author's name.

 

  • Books are listed by author’s last name, and then by title.  Citations include the abbreviated publication name, volume, pages, date, and author’s name (if available).
  • As with Book Review Index and Book Review Digest, full publication titles are available in the front of each volume.
  • Once you have a list of publications, you can search to see if the library has access to the journals.
  • From the Odum Library homepage, click on the Journals tab. 
    • From the Odum Library homepage, click on the Books & Journals tab.  
    • Then search by journal title: enter the title and click Find. 
    • If there are too many results, you can limit the search to Format: Journals on the left.
    • Once you find the title, click View It to see the online volumes and click Get It to see what the library has in print. 
    • Look by volume & date to see if we have the volume and issue you need.