ENG 111: College Reading and Writing (Weber)
Search Tips
PUBLICATION DATE
When searching for book reviews in the databases, you can limit the date of publication so that your search results will only retrieve reviews published the years you have identified. Therefore, when searching for book reviews on This Boy's Life, limit your publication date range beginning with the year the book was published, 1989, and no later than a couple of years before the film adaptation was released, 1991; the film was released April 9, 1993.
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DOCUMENT TYPE
In many databases you can refine the document type (or resource type) to Book Review or just Review; go to the Advanced search to refine document type or resource type.
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SEARCH TERMS
To search for book reviews about This Boy's Life, you'll search for: "This Boy's Life" AND Wolff
The quotations will instruct the database to search for the title as a phrase.
WORD COUNT
It is also important to mention that some book reviews can be very short, just a couple hundred words or less. For the purposes of this assignment, you will want to locate book reviews that offer a substantial and critical commentary about the book, which means that you will want to select book reviews that contain a word count of several hundred.
Library Databases
The following databases will provide you access to either the full-text of the book review or the citation of a book review. If you only find a citation of the book review, you can request another library send you an electronic copy of the book review; this service is called Interlibrary Loan and does not cost you anything additional. You will receive an email that will provide you information of where you can download the article.
- Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
Broad database with both academic and general articles. Many are full text, but some are citation only. - JSTOR This link opens in a new windowAccess to thousands of academic journals, books, and primary sources covering the social sciences, humanities, and arts. Some journal issues extend back to the 19th century. Full text.
- Project Muse This link opens in a new windowFull text journals from Johns Hopkins University Press, emphasizing the humanities and social sciences.
Reference Books
Use the following reference sources (Reference Collection, 1st Floor) to locate book reviews:
Book Review DigestCall Number: Ref. Z1035 .C96 B5Publication Date: 1905-CurrentThe Book Review Digest provides excerpts from and citations of reviews of adult and juvenile fiction and non-fiction books.
Use the "Abbreviations of Publications" at the front of each volume to learn the publication title.
Sample entry: London Rev Books 11:23 Ag 17 '89. Mark Illis (1100w).
Interpretation: London Review of Books. Volume 11, issue 23. August 17, 1989. Author=Mark Illis. 1,100 words.
Book Review IndexPublication Date: 1965-CurrentThe Book Review Index contains citations to every review published in more than 600 periodicals.
Use the "Publications Index" in the front of each volume to learn the publication title.
Sample entry: Lon R Bks - v11 -Ag17 '89 - p23.
Interpretation: London Review of Books - Volume 11 - August 17, 1989 - page 23.
