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The University of Chicago Library

Book Reviews

How Do I Find Book Reviews?

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Book review databases:

arranged by date coverage

TLS Times Literary Supplement Centenary Archives
1902 to 1990.

Book Review Digest Retrospective
1905 - 1982.
English language fiction and nonfiction.

New York Review of Books
1963 to present.

Book Review Index
1965 to present.

Book Review Digest
1980 to present.
English-language, excluding reviews of textbooks, government publications, and technical law & science books.
We have the print version in Regenstein Library.

IBR International Bibliography of Book Reviews
1985 to present.
The database is international and interdisciplinary, the reviews have been published in over 6,000 academic journals mainly in the humanities and social sciences.

Choice
September 1988 to present.
Published by the Association of College and Research Libraries.
We also have this in print, 1964 to present, Z1035.C54 Regenstein Bookstacks. The most recent issues are held in Regenstein, 2nd Floor Current Periodicals & Newspapers.

 

Other databases that contain book reviews:

arranged by date coverage

Periodicals Index Online
1665-1995.
Covers periodicals in the humanities and social sciences.
search tip: Select "Article Search." Note the search option for "Book Reviews".

Periodicals Archive Online
1802 to 2000.
Covers periodicals in the humanities and social sciences.
search tip: Select "Article Search." Note the search option for "Book Reviews".

JSTOR
1834 to approximately 5 years ago.
search tip: Within "Advanced Search," select the type "Review".

New York Times
1851 - 2005
1980 to present

Academic Search Premier
1867 to present (citations).
1900 to present (full-text starts to appear in 1900).
search tip: Select the "Advanced Search" tab. Note the "Limit your results" box towards the bottom of the main page: limit "Document Type" by "Book Review".

Business Source Complete
1887 to present.
Covers business books.
search tip: Select the "Advanced Search" tab. Note the option to limit by "Document Type".

Readers' Guide Retrospective
1890 to 1982.
Search tip: Once you have selected the database a "Document Type" drop box appears with an option for "Book review".

Humanities and Social Science Index Retrospective
1907 to 1984.
Search tip: Once you have selected the database to search a "Document Type" drop box appears. Choose "Book review".

Web of Science
1945 to present (Science Citation Index Expanded).
1956 to present (Social Sciences Citation Index).
1975 to present (Arts & Humanities Citation Index).
search tip: For book reviews perform a "Cited Reference Search". Once your results have been displayed, restrict your results by the document type "Book Review".

Lexis/Nexis Academic
1973 to present.
search tip: Select the "Power Search" tab. Click on "Find More Sources..." Type in book reviews in the "Find a Source" search box.

Proquest Newspapers
Large general database which includes full text articles from recent years from over 300 newspapers in the United States, Canada and the UK, including Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune (1985 to present), Washington Post (1987 to present), and Times (London) (1992 to present).
search tip: Within the "Advanced" search option limit the "Document type" to "Review".

Factiva
2000 to present.
Global news and business, including local newspapers, same-day newswires, and media programs.
search tip: Expand out the "Subject" tab. Enter the term "book" in the "Find a Subject" box and select "Review" from the results.

More databases:

Database Finder
For a list of databases by subject select the "Subject Browse" tab.

Research Starting Points
If you are overwhelmed about which database to search, here are some suggestions.

Sources recommended by subject specialists:

Ancient Near East

Classics

Contemporary Fiction

Education

General Reference

German Literature

Modern Literature

APA PsycNET under "only show content where" set drop box to "document type"

Scandinavian Literature

Women's Studies