There are both electronic and print sources that can be used to locate book reviews, book
chapters, etc.
This web page will only discuss the use of electronic resources.
Locating A Book Review & Book Chapters
To improve your chances of locating a particular book, you need to have the book's title and
the author's name. The publication year would also be helpful. If you are still having trouble,
remember to
contact a Reference Librarian.
Research Databases
***Note: Keep in mind that there are many other research databases not listed here
that have included book reviews and chapters. If you are having trouble locating the information
you need, be sure to consult the database HELP option to understand searching techniques
specific to the research database you are using.
Contemporary Women's Issues
This database covers sociology, psychology, health, education, business administration, and
political science. From the main search screen, search the words
"book review" in the keyword or phrase section and then add author, book title or
another keyword to your search.
JSTOR
This database provides book reviews for specific subjects and disciplines, and contains the
back issues of selected scholarly journals in the humanities and social sciences. Date coverage
varies depending on individual titles, but overall coverage ranges from the late 19th century
onward. Note that JSTOR is primarily an archive and does not cover contemporary journal literature.
To search JSTOR: Search in the "Basic Search." Enter in a book title, author or keywords.
Scroll down and select appropriate disciplines. Scroll down towards the bottom on the page to
"refine your search" and choose "limit by type" and click-on "reviews." Now click-on "begin
search."
National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health
Use the NLM's tool called "LOCATORplus" when looking for fields of history in medicine,
health services research and bioethics. There is a tutorial in the
Help, Tutorials and FAQs section.
Proquest
Book reviews are made available from scholarly journals, trade publications and newspapers.
For the easiest method to access book reviews, start at "Basic Search" or go to "Advanced Search."
Click-on "More search options." Click-on "article type" and then choose and highlight "book
review." Type keywords or a phrase and click-on the "Search" button. (For better results, use the
default "Databases selected: Multiple databases…") When the search is complete, click-on the title
and the book review will be displayed.
PsycINFO
This database contains
book chapters, books, and dissertations, all in the field of psychology and the
psychological aspects of related disciplines, such as medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology,
education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, anthropology, business, and law.
To search for
book chapters, books, and dissertations, click on the
Limit Your Search
button on the main screen and select the
"book chapters, books, dissertations" option from the
Publication Type on the pull-down menu. In the keyword or phrase section add an author,
book title or another keyword to your search.
Sociological Abstracts
Locate books and dissertations in the field of sociology and related disciplines. To access
citations to book reviews, search the words
"book review" in the keyword or phrase section and then add an author, book title
or another keyword to your search. Or you can click on the
Limit Your Search
button on the main screen and select the
"book review" option from the Publication Type on the pull-down menu.
Web of Science
You can locate book reviews, chapter correspondence, case studies, letters, etc. Type a
keyword or a phrase into the "cross search" area. Search results appear, now click-on "edit
search." Here you can type in an author, title or source, or search for "book review, chapter,
commentary, or whatever."
Next clicking on search will pull up a list of citations. Now click on the "source title"
that is of interest to you. From the list, click on "current contents connect," and again click on
the source title of interest.
You will not find "full text," but the citation will lead you to a particular
journal where you can locate a review.
**Two important suggestions:
1. View the tutorial before searching this database. 2. To take full advantage of the ISS
Web of Knowledge, first-time users should register and sign in.
Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index,
and Arts & Humanities Citation Index
To locate citations for book reviews, go into the
Full Search option from the main screen. From this screen you can select to search
any combination of the above listed databases. Then click on
General Search. Scroll down to
SET LIMITS AND SORT OPTION; now click on "book review." Type in your keywords or
the name of the author, do the search and you will come up with a citation list. Next click on the
citation of interest and click on "OLinks" in the upper right hand corner. Now follow the screens.
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Commercial Booksellers To Search
Books in Print
Lists in-print and forthcoming books published or distributed in the United States which are
available to the general public or trade.
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
Borders
