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II. PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF BOOKS AND
PERIODICAL ARTICLES
By the time you reach Step 7 of the research process, you've used
various access tools and come up with a list of citations for books,
articles, and other traditionally published sources of information.
At this point, it's important to do some preliminary evaluation
of these sources even before you retrieve the book/article from
the library shelves or database.
(NOTE: Websites are a relatively new way of presenting information
that present a special set of challenges. Evaluating Websites will
be discussed in the next section of this lesson.)
There are three ways to get a sense of the perspective, relevance,
and quality of a book or article even before you have it in your
hands:
- Carefully examine the bibliographic citation.
- Find information about the author.
- Read a review of the work.
Let’s examine each separately.
1. Carefully examine the bibliographic citation.
(NOTE: This is the same as Step 6 of the research process.)
Bibliographic citations contain "clues" that will help
you decide if an item is of sufficient quality and relevance and
worth reading in its entirety. The clues are found in specific parts
of the citation:
- Title: Read the entire title of the book or
article (especially the subtitle if there is one) and look for
important words and phrases that indicate relevance to your topic.
Also take note of the formality or informality of words used in
the title. Formal language usually indicates a serious, scholarly
work.
- Author: Is this an author you've come across
before in your reading? Is this author discussed or cited by other
scholars or writers? If so, you can usually be certain that this
person is important in the field. (The next section of this lesson
will discuss how to find out more about an author's qualifications.)
- Date of Publication: When was the item published?
You usually want very current information if you're researching
a topic in science, technology, or social science. By contrast,
research on historical topics may benefit from primary or secondary
sources written long ago.
- Edition (for books): Publishers often revise
books (especially textbooks) and issue them in later editions
to reflect revised or expanded knowledge in the subject. A book
that's continually republished in later editions is often an indication
that it's become a standard, authoritative work in the field.
- Publisher: Is the book or periodical published
by a reputable publisher? University presses, (Harvard University
Press, Stanford University Press, etc.) for example, are considered
highly reputable and usually publish very scholarly material.
Depending on your topic, you may also want to seek items published
by what is known as the alternative press. The
alternative press is comprised of small, lesser-known publishing
houses that often make available unorthodox or controversial views
from authors outside the academic mainstream. If you are uncertain
about whether or not a publisher belongs to the alternative or
mainstream press, ask the librarian or consult The International
Directory of Little Magazines and Small Presses (REF Z6941.I32).
- Abstract: Computerized periodical indexes
often include a brief abstract (summary) that will help you decide
if the article is relevant to your topic. Similarly, bibliographic
records found on online catalogs sometimes have a field labeled
"Contents" or "Summary" which will give you
a better idea of what the book is about.
- Subject headings: Books are given anywhere
from 1 to 6 subject headings and should be read carefully because
they describe the contents of the book. Similarly, computerized
periodical indexes, such as the InfoTrac OneFile, assign
subject headings to periodical articles.
- Title of periodical (for magazine, journal
and newspaper articles): Does your article appear in a popular
magazine, scholarly journal, or professional publication? The
distinction is important because each type of publication has
a different audience in mind and will offer different levels of
complexity and depth of analysis. The appropriateness of a popular,
scholarly, or professional publication to your research depends
on the type of information you need and your previous knowledge
of the topic.
It is also important to remember that periodicals often have an
ideological perspective that may or may not be apparent from the
title of the publication. In other words, magazines and journals
often espouse a particular political stance or philosophical grounding,
and the articles they publish usually express these perspectives
and assumptions. For example, it's very helpful to know that Mother
Jones is usually thought of as a magazine with politically
leftist and socially liberal points of view and the articles they
publish will reflect that ideology. On the other hand, National
Review is thought of as a politically rightist and socially
conservative magazine. To determine the ideological stance of
a periodical, you can consult a publication called Magazines
for Libraries, (READY REF Z6941.M23) or ask the librarian.
Given below is a selective list of liberal, centrist, and conservative
periodicals:
| LIBERAL |
CENTRIST |
CONSERVATIVE |
| New Left Review |
Maclean's |
Policy Review |
| Mother Jones |
Economist |
Strategic Review |
| Monthly Review |
US News & Word Report |
Public Opinion |
| Progressive |
Time |
Cato Journal |
| Nation |
Newsweek |
Soldier of Fortune |
| New Statesman |
New Republic |
National Review |
2. Find information about the author.
It is very important to know if the author(s) is qualified to write
on your topic. The first step in assessing an author's qualifications
is to ask yourself if you've seen this person's name before during
your research. Respected authors are cited frequently by other scholars.
If, however, it's a name you're seeing for the first time, you should
try to identify the author's credentials. What is his/her educational
background, past writings, occupation, experience, awards, and political
perspective? Sometimes this information is provided on the first
or last page of a journal article. In books, information on the
author may be given at the beginning or end, or sometimes on the
book jacket. Aside from the article or book itself, however, there
are 4 ways to learn more about the background of an author:
- Look for books about the author using the online catalog.
If the author is an important literary figure or historically
prominent, entire books may have been written about him or her.
Conduct a subject search of the OPAC using the author's name as
the subject.
- Look for periodical articles about the author using
periodical indexes. Magazines and newspapers frequently
write articles profiling authors. These articles are included
in general periodical indexes, such as the InfoTrac OneFile
and in specialized indexes such as the Gale Biography Resource
Center. A subject search (author's name entered last name
first) will find entire articles about the author, while a keyword
search (author's name entered first name first) will pull up any
article in which your author's name is mentioned.
- Search the Internet. Information about authors
can be found in a variety of Internet articles and documents.
When using a Web search engine to search for information about
an author, enter the name in quotation marks, first name first.
Also keep in mind that authors who are faculty members at colleges
and universities often list their credentials at the school's
Website.
- Search specialized reference sources, such as:
Contemporary Authors (REF Z1224.C6). One of the most comprehensive
sources of biographical information on nontechnical writers of
all genres -- fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, etc. - who have
lived since 1900 and whose work has been published in the U.S.
or translated into English. Covers over 90,000 modern writers.
Contemporary Authors has reached over 100 volumes in print and
Skyline Library owns a portion of the full set.
Who's Who in America (REF E176.W642). Contains brief
biographical information on individual Americans notable "by
virtue of their positions and/or noteworthy achievements that
have proven to be of significant value to society" (preface).
American Men and Women of Science (REF Q141.A474).
An 8-volume set providing biographical information about 119,618
scientists and engineers from North America who have made significant
contributions in their field.
Gale Biography Resource Center (online). A full-text
database containing articles describing the life and work of
thousands of noteworthy individuals, including authors, politicians,
scientists, film makers, musicians, artists, and many others.
3. Read a review of the work.
Although not every book published is reviewed, it is often very
helpful to find book reviews
and learn what other people think about a book. Reviews summarize
and critique the ideas presented in a book, thus giving you a deeper
understanding of the work and helping you decide if it's relevant
to your topic. (Journal articles are not reviewed in the same way
that books are, but you can sometimes find a special type of article
called a literature review that summarizes and
discusses significant articles in a particular field or subject
area.)
Book reviews are published in magazines, journals, newspapers, and
on the Internet. They are indexed (listed) in most general and subject
periodical indexes as well as newspaper indexes. When using the
print versions of periodical indexes, books reviews are usually
under a heading such as BOOKS; BOOKS AND LITERATURE, or in a separate
section at the end of the volume labeled BOOK REVIEWS.
The best place to look for a book review, however, is an index
that only lists book review articles. There are two such indexes:
Book Review Digest (BRD): Covering English-language fiction
and non-fiction, the H.W. Wilson company began publishing this index
in 1905. BRD is issued monthly with annual bound volumes and covers
about 6,000 books per year. It offers a brief summary of each book
listed along with citations for each magazine or newspaper review
of that book. Short excerpts from the reviews are often included
so you can immediately get a sense of the reviewer's opinion of
the book. The reviews are drawn from 90 American, Canadian, and
British magazines. Skyline Library has a complete set of the volumes
in print, 1905 to the present, as well as an online version covering
1983 to the present.
Book Review Index: Published by Gale, Inc., this index
covers many more books than Book Review Digest. Approximately 75,000
books reviewed in 500 periodicals are covered each year. Unlike
Book Review Digest, however, no review excerpts or summaries are
offered. Skyline Library has print volumes from 1969 to 1990. It
is available online from 1969 to the present.
Finding book reviews can be a little complicated so feel free to
ask the reference librarian for help.
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