Finding Books and Book Reviews GGR 329 Winter 2017 Andrew Nicholson Liaison Librarian for Geography
Finding Books Before we look for reviews, we need to locate an appropriate book. In this example, i am looking for books on globalization and trade Do not use the Search All tab. Use the Catalogue and enter your keywords. Use anywhere for keyword searching Try using * at the end of a root word to get more results: ex: environment* = environment, environmental, environmentalist ex: global*= global, globalist, globalize, globalization
Finding Books 1044 titles found, sorted by relevance On left side, results are arranged by Library (197 at UTM Library)
Finding Books I have found one book which looks good and the instructor has approved it. The book is: Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. W.W. Norton, 1997. If available, the record will indicate Stacks. Note down the call number And retrieve it from the stacks. (Call numbers: A-L -3 rd floor; M-Z -4 th floor) We now need to find some Reviews.
When searching for reviews, consider the following: Source of the review: Is it in a scholarly (peer reviewed) journal? Is it from a specialized magazine or professional website? (Tip: Avoid reviews from personal websites, blogs, social media, etc) Author of the review: Would they be an expert in the field? Are they a friend or colleague of the books author? Are they a regular critic of the author or that viewpoint? (Tip: Look for some background info about the review authors. This can bring a deeper context to the issues and viewpoints discussed.)
When searching for reviews, consider the following: The edition of the book: Is it a first edition, or a later edition? Are the reviews for the edition you have or are they for earlier editions? The year the book was published: a book just published may take up to a year or more to generate a sizable collection of reviews For example, a book published in 2014, might only see reviews begin to appear in 2015 and even later. (Tip: Find a book at least a year or two old)
Rather than spending hours searching for book reviews using Google, try first using one or all of the following Library online tools: Book Review Index Online Book Review Digest Plus Try Advanced Article Search (Summon) on the Library homepage
I need to find Book Reviews on: Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. W.W. Norton, 1997.
From the U of T Mississauga Library website, go to the Starting Points Geography.
Enter the title of your book in the Title Guide search box..
Clicking on the Get It button, Will then check the system for full text and print copies
The second link is for the Book Review Digest Plus.
With the Book Review Digest Plus, you need to select Title from the drop down menu.
Limit the results to Book Review Articles
A Third option for Book Review Searching is through Summon Summon is located on the UTM Library search bar, change the tab to Article Search to access it. Enter the title of the book in the Articles Search box.
110 Book Reviews are found.
Tip: - good indicator of refereed review reviewer name and research affiliation included. PDF of Book Review accessed.
Questions??? Andrew Nicholson Geography Liaison Librarian U of T Mississauga Library Rm.375 andrew.nicholson@utoronto.ca