Finding Books and Book Reviews
GGR 329 – Winter 2012
Andrew Nicholson
GIS/Data Librarian & Liaison for Geography
Finding Books
Before we look for
reviews, we need to
locate an appropriate
book.
In this example, i am
looking for books on
globalization and trade
•Do not use the “Search All” tab. Use the “Catalogue” and enter your keywords.
•Use “anywhere” for keyword searching
•Try using * at the end of a root word to get more results (ex: global* = global, globalization, globalize)
Finding Books
1328 titles found, sorted by relevance
On left side, results are arranged by Library (175 at UTM)
Finding Books
I have found one book which looks good and the instructor has approved it.
The book is::
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. W.W. Norton, 1997.
If available, the record will indicate “Stacks”. Write down the call number
And retrieve it from the stacks.
(Call numbers: A-M -3rd floor; N-Z -4th floor)
We now need to find some Reviews…….
Finding Book Reviews
When searching for reviews, consider the following:
Source of the review:
• Is it in a scholarly (peer reviewed) journal?
• Is it from a specialized magazine or professional
website?
(Tip: Avoid reviews from personal websites or blogs!)
Author of the review:
• Is it a expert in the field?
• Are they a friend of the books author?
• Are they a regular critic of the author or that viewpoint?
(Tip: Look for some background info about the review authors. This can bring a
deeper context to the issues and viewpoints discussed.)
Finding Book Reviews
When searching for reviews, consider the following:
The edition of the book:
• Is it a first edition, or are there earlier editions?
• Are the reviews for the edition you have or are they for
earlier editions?
The year the book was published:
• a book just published may take up to a year or more to
generate a sizable collection of reviews
• For example, a book published in 2008, may have
reviews appearing in 2009 and even later.
(Tip: Don’t restrict your search by years!)
Finding Book Reviews
Rather than spending hours searching for book reviews
using Google, try first using one or all of the following
Library online tools:
• Book Review Index Online
• Book Review Digest Plus
• “Article Search” (Summon) on the Library homepage
Many Book Reviews are available in full text online.
If not online, we may have print copies available through
the Library.
Finding Book Reviews
I need to find Book Reviews on:
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. W.W. Norton, 1997.
Finding Book Reviews
From the U of T Mississauga Library website, select the “Article Search” tab.
Click on “See lists of article databases
by subjects A to Z”
You are redirected the U of T Libraries website downtown
Finding Book Reviews
On the UT Libraries website, select the drop down menu and scroll until you find
“Book Reviews – Humanities and Social Sciences”
Once highlighted select Go
Finding Book Reviews
The first link is for the “Book Review Index Online”.
Finding Book Reviews
Enter the title of your book in the “Title Guide” search box.
The best reviews will be found in peer-reviewed or “refereed”
scholarly journals. Try limiting your search to “refereed” publications.
Finding Book Reviews
Clicking on the “Get It” button,
Will then check the system for
full text and print copies
Finding Book Reviews
Finding Book Reviews
Finding Book Reviews
Refereed = Peer reviewed
-articles are reviewed and critiqued by fellow scholars prior to acceptance
for publishing
Finding Book Reviews
The second link is for the “Book Review Digest Plus”.
Finding Book Reviews
With the “Book Review Digest Plus”, you need to select “Title” from the drop down menu.
Finding Book Reviews
The reviews appear under the Book citation.
Finding Book Reviews
A Third option for Book Review Searching
is through Summon
Summon is located on the UTM Library search bar,
change the tab to “Article Search” to access it.
Enter the title of the book in the “Article Search” box.
Finding Book Reviews
Selecting different
filtering options will
allow you to narrow
your results.
Finding Book Reviews
Initial search results will yield a large quantity of results, to narrow your search
select Book Review under Content type on the left side of the screen.
All content types found over 30,000
results!
When the Content Type
is selected to look for
just book reviews it
returns 168 results.
Finding Book Reviews
Finding Book Reviews
Tip: - good indicator of refereed review
…reviewer name and research affiliation included.
PDF of Book Review accessed.
Finding Book Reviews
Questions???
Andrew Nicholson
GIS/Data Librarian & Liaison for Geography
U of T Mississauga Library
Rm.360
[email protected]