General Reference Service, on the 2nd floor, is an excellent place to search for reviews of all kinds of books, both fiction and non-fiction. You may also search for book reviews in more specialized subject indexes found in other units at the Mid-Manhattan Library. Literary criticism may be found on the 3rd floor in the Literature & Language Collection.
REVIEWS OF BOOKS IN MANY PERIODICALS AND NEWSPAPERS MAY BE SEARCHED ON ELECTRONIC DATABASES AVAILABLE ON LEO EXPRESS THROUGHOUT THE LIBRARY AND AT www.nypl.org [LIBRARY CARD REQUIRED FOR REMOTE ACCESS.]
New York Times Ondisc See Librarian at General Reference Information Desk
Indexes book reviews in the daily New York Times (type: "Books of the Times" and author or title) and the Sunday Book Review Section (type: "Se(Book Review)" and author or title. Reviewers' names are also searchable. If you find your review, you may print the full text by pressing the <Print> button on the Netscape screen. Note: You must sign up to use this CD-ROM at the General Reference Information Desk.
2nd floor: General Reference = GR ; Education = ED; Health Information Center = HIC
3rd floor: ART; Literature & Language = LL
4th floor: Periodicals Shelves = PER; Periodicals Desk = PER/DESK
5th floor: History and Social Science = HSS
(E) Art Full Text (some full-text; coverage from 1981+ depending on periodical)
- Covers art and architecture. Using your mouse click on <Electronic
Databases>, <Art and Architecture>, <Art Full Text>, then
<connect from the library>. To find book reviews, at <Enter terms,
select options> type "book review" [subject, author, or title].
(P) Art Index (Nov 1973-) ART - There is a "Book Review" section at the back of each volume beginning Nov 1973.
(E) Business and Company ASAP (1980-) This database indexes reviews of business books. On LEO EXPRESS or the Branch Libraries home page, click on <Electronic Databases>, on <Business and Company ASAP>, and then on <Start searching>. At the search box, type: "book review" AND words from the book's title, subject and/or author's name.
(P) Business Periodicals Index (1958-) GR - Book Review section follows main body of each volume.
(E) Business Source Premier (mostly 1990+, some earlier) - full text
scholarly business journal articles - Using your mouse click on <Electronic
Databases>, <Business & Industry>, <Business Source Premier>,
then <connect from the library>. To find book reviews, at <Find>
type "book review" [subject, author,
or title], select <All Words (AND)>.
(P) Wall Street Journal Index / Barron's Index (1996-) GR - Book reviews begin in 1996 (though index is from 1955) in Volume II of each year under "Book Reviews", "Books-Authors" and "Books-Titles".
(E) ERIC Document Reproduction Service - Book reviews from education documents
Click on <Electronic Databases>, <Education>, then <Eric Document Reproduction Service>. Enter the subject or book title in the <Keyword in Abstract> field. Then, select <Book and Product Reviews> in the <Publication type> field. Then click on <Search>.
(P) ERIC (1929-) - ED - Earlier volumes have book reviews under that heading, while later ones have a "Book Review" section is at the back of each volume.
(C) ERIC Index ( 1982-) ED - There is also a CD-ROM version available in Education. At <Find> type: "book reviews AND Montessori," for example.
(E) Professional Development Collection (mostly 1990+, some earlier)
- Book reviews from selected education journals - Using your mouse click
on <Electronic Databases>, <Education>, <Professional Development
Collection>, then <connect from the library>. To find book reviews,
at <Find> type "book review" [subject, author, or title],
select <All Words (AND)>.
(E) Health Reference Center - Indexes reviews of selected medical books. On LEO EXPRESS or the Branch Libraries home page, click on <Electronic Databases>. Choose <Community & Health>, <Health Reference Center>, then <Proceed>. At <Click on the entry and enter search terms> type: "book review" followed by words from the book's title, subject and/or author's name. Also available on CD-ROM in HIC.
(P) America: History and Life (1980-) HSS - Vol. B of each year from 1980 through 1988 is all book reviews; from 1989 to the present, book reviews are listed separately within each specific subject.
(E) History Resource Center (1990+, varies ) - full text coverage of
history-related magazines - Click on <Electronic Databases>, <History>,
<History Resource Center>, then <connect from the library>.
To find book reviews, at <Basic Search> type 'book review AND [subject,
author, or title]'.
(P) Index to Legal Periodicals (Sep 1985-) HSS - "Book Review" section is at the back of each volume.
(P) Library Literature (1980-) HSS - "Book Review" section is at the back of volume.
(E) Library Literature & Information Science (1984-) Electronic database available at library locations only.
(E) NoveList - Book reviews for fictional works - Click on ,<Electronic
Databases>, <Literature>, <connect from the library>, <NoveList>,
then <Start>. Search by author, title, series name, or plot. Retrieve
search results. If there is a red check in the 'Includes description'
field for the book title of interest, click on the book title to view
book reviews.
(P) Music Index (1949-1990) GR - Book reviews in music periodicals listed by author under "Book Reviews" with title cross-references.
(P) The Rolling Stone Index (1967-1996) GR - Book reviews are first listed by title. There is an author index to book reviews, followed by a 'reviewer' index to book reviews. (P) Bibliographic Guide to Dance (Sep 1990-) MY - "Book Review" section under "Book Reviews in the main body of each annual volume.
(P) Index to Book Reviews in Religion (1988-1992) HSS - There is an author and editor index, a title index, a series index, an index to reviewers, and a classification index.
(P) Catholic Periodical and Literature Index (1992-1997) HSS - "Book Review Index" is a separate section near the back of each volume.
(P) General Science Index ( June 1983-) GR - "Book Review" section follows main body of each volume.
(P) The International Index: a Guide to Periodical Literature in the Social Sciences and Humanities (1907-Mar 1965) GR - Precedes the Humanities Index and Social Sciences Index.
(P) Humanities Index (1974-1993) GR - Reviews are listed by author in the "Book Review" section in the back of each volume. LL has 1994-, and HSS has 1979/80-.
(P) Social Sciences Index (1974-) HSS - "Book Review" section at the back of each volume.
(P) Criminal Justice Periodicals Index (1992-) HSS - "Book Review" section is within the "Subject Index" of each volume.
(P) Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities (1961-1990) GR - Book reviews are listed by author.
(P) The Philosopher's Index (1997-) HSS - "Book Review Index" at the back of each quarterly issue.
(P) Booklist (Sep 1969-), Choice (Mar 1964-), and Library Journal (May 1976-) PER. Kirkus Reviews are available only at the PER/DESK.
(P) Bulletin of Bibliography (1982-) PER - "Book Review" section is at the back of selected issues--one or more issues per year have a book review section.
(P) The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America (1979-) PER - Offers book reviews in the field of bibliography.
(P) The New York Review of Books (Feb 25, 1963-) PER/DESK - Microfilm and paper issues.
(P) New York Times Book Review (1896-) is available in a variety of formats. GR, has bound issues for October 1896 to 1981 (some gaps), and microfiche for 1977, 1979, 1980, and from 1982 to current. Hardcopy issues for recent years are available at PER/DESK.
(P) Publisher's Weekly (Nov 1989-) PER
(P) Quarterly Black Review of Books (1996-) African and African-American interest titles -- print issues for 1998- are at PER. Issues from 1996- are available full-text on Ethnic Newswatch (E), one of the online electronic databases accessible from LEO EXPRESS or the library's web site at www.nypl.org.
(P) Times Literary Supplement (1923-1964) GR - Bound volumes. Earlier holdings, from 1902-, are available on microform, and more recent microform and paper issues are both available at PER/DESK.
Atlantic Unbound (Atlantic Monthly) www.theatlantic.com/books/books.htm Literary magazine published in Boston since 1857
* For additional indexes and sources of book reviews, see Librarians at Information Desk in each unit