1

Reviewing Reference ResourcesReviewing Reference Resources

Dr. John V. Richardson Jr., Professor

UCLA DIS 245 “Information Access”

2

Presentation OutlinePresentation Outline Introduction, Definitions and Functions Publishing - Reviewing Process

– Publisher; Journal Book Review Editor; “Book” Reviewer Elements and Types of Reviews Schools of Criticism Useful/Least Review Sources Specific Book Review Indexes Needed Research on Reviewing

3

DefinitionsDefinitions

“A quite exceptionally thankless, irritating and exhausting job.” -- George Orwell

REVIEW, – from the Latin (“to see again…”)

CRITICISM, – art of judging; molding taste– connotes need to evaluate or assess...

4

Are There Reviewing Criteria?Are There Reviewing Criteria?

What is good? What is bad? What is the value of this work?

Implies the existence of laws, standards, criteria, or principles

5

Review Functions (Chen & Review Functions (Chen & Galvin)Galvin)

Three functions:– Alerting (LJ and many RUSQ reviews are notices)– Selection (Choice is designed to aid academic

librarians) use of symbols: + or - or +- or -+

– Peer Appraisal (LQ reviews assist in P and T decisions)

SOURCE: Chen and Galvin, 1975

6

Review Functions Review Functions (Woodward)(Woodward)

Notification of the published literatureCurrent awareness of related fieldsBack-up to other literature searchingSearching for alternate techniquesInitial orientation to a new fieldTeaching aidFeedback (appraisal)

SOURCE: JASIS 28 (May 1977): 175-180

7

Role of Time LagRole of Time Lag

Alerting must be prompt

5-12 months or more

8

The Reviewing ProcessThe Reviewing Process

Publisher / Journal Book Review Editor

Reader Book Reviewer

9

Creating a MRWCreating a MRW

Initiation of idea (author or publisher: series or acquisitions editor)

Book proposal (rationale, subject and scope, approach, grade level, market, manuscript characteristics including camera-ready copy or not, competition, qualifications, schedule, tentative table of contents, and sample pages, if not entire chapter or two)

10

MRW continued:MRW continued:

Negotiate contract (title, number of pages, index, royalties--10-15% net, advance, due date)

Publisher sets price, graphic design, and advertising including sending pr to book review editors, provides the author with galleys or page-proofs; requests the index be prepared; sends books to review media; and finally sends reviews to author

11

MRW Which Should Exist But MRW Which Should Exist But Don’tDon’t

Statistical Abstract of Europe

Directory of Specialists in Alternative Medical Fields

Historical Guide to Prices in the United States

Los Angeles Times Index, 1881 - 1971

SOURCE: “Great Reference Books,” SCAN (LAPL), September/October 1983, p. 8

12

Tiers of PublishersTiers of Publishers

University Presses (i.e., Cambridge or Oxford; Chicago, Harvard, or Yale)

Trade Publishers (i.e., Academic, Elsevier, Wiley) Specialty Publishers

– for example, ALA, Bowker/Saur, Gale, Garland, Greenwood, H. W. Wilson, Haworth Press, Libraries Unlimited, McFarland, Oryx, Scarecrow

Vanity Publishers (pay to be published)

13

Reviews to Assess ReputationReviews to Assess Reputation

Based on a comparison of reviews of commercial and university press publishers in Book Review Digest and Choice:

number of reviews, de Gruyter (99) to Doubleday (1386) price ($57.85 average; high, $158.89 for de Gruyter) and quality (0--descriptive; 1--outstanding; 2--very good;

3--average, adequate, pretty good; and 4-- negative)

SOURCE: Jordy, McGrath, and Rutledge, CRL March 1999

14

Reviews to Assess ReputationReviews to Assess Reputation

SOURCE: Jordy, McGrath, and Rutledge, CRL March 1999

15

Publishing Output World-Publishing Output World-widewide

Monographic literature is growing world-wide 269-285 K titles (1955) 332-364 K (1960) 521-546 K (1970) 715 K (1980) 842 K (1990) 950 K* (2000) *(projected)

SOURCE: UNESCO or UN Statistical Yearbook, (year)

16

United States PublishingUnited States Publishing

United States monographic literature is slow growth (about 10%)

42K titles (1980); 46K (1990); 50K (1993); 53K (1997)

SOURCE: Bowker Annual, “American Book Title Production, Books” (year).

17

How Many Get Reviewed?How Many Get Reviewed?

Choice reviews about 6,000 titles a year

Calculate that in percentage terms of all books published

SOURCE: “Book Reviews in Volume Year,” Choice November 1985, p. 403

18

Publisher’s Objective?Publisher’s Objective?

To get attentionJudith Serebnick’s study of number of

reviews (as opposed to direction) influencing purchase

Wants review and does not care so much about direction of review (either positive or negative)

19

Publisher’s ObjectivePublisher’s Objective

“A review is better than no review.”

– Anonymous publisher

20

Journal Book Review EditorJournal Book Review Editor

“Gatekeeper” -- decides what to review

Paid/unpaid position– Scholarly journals do not pay this position– Professional service; national visibility– Shaping taste in the field

21

Review Editor continued:Review Editor continued:Maintains a file of reviewers (resumes) and their interests

Determines length of the review based on space and importance– LJ, 150 words; LQ, 1100 words (review essays, 2500); NYRB, 1500 words

22

Review Editor continued:Review Editor continued:

Maintains a statement of reviewing policy (e.g., advance copies)

Sets deadline for review (two weeks to several months)

23

Review Editor continued:Review Editor continued:

Reads review– Corrections--return to reviewer– Edits manuscript– May send advance review to publisher

for comment on factual errors

24

Reference Reviewers: Who?Reference Reviewers: Who?

Who are they?– Library school educators (F. N. Cheney holds record: 5,819

“Current” in WLB and 2,044 in “Recent” RSR). – Practitioners– Non-librarians (Choice policy)

25

Reference Reviewers: How Reference Reviewers: How Much?Much?

Compensation:– Copy of book, CD-ROM or software– Review in print (national audience); line

on resume– Copy of the journal or offprints of review

26

““Too Many Positive Reviews?”Too Many Positive Reviews?”– “A sample of 300 reviews shows they

tend to be too positive (not really critical) tend not to evaluate or compare tend not to be reliable tend to provide recommendations that don’t follow evaluations”

– SOURCE: Sweetland, James H. "Reference Book Reviewing Tools: How Well Do they Do the Job?" In The Publishing and Review of Reference Sources. Ed. by Bill Katz and Robin Kinder. New York: Haworth Press, 1986. The Reference Librarian 15.

SOURCE: Fialkoff, LJ 119 (January 1994): 90.

27

Elements of ReviewElements of Review

Bibliographic Citation (aka house style)– may be provided by journal– reputation for exactness or sloppiness

Price of Reference Books– 17 MRW are increasing faster than CPI (1981-1984)– “Pricing us out of the market,” AL July/August 1985, p.

506-507.

Contents

28

Review ContentsReview Contents

– Catchy opening (NOT “This book…” or “The author…”) such as an idea of interest

– Thesis– Main points (3)– Additional points; own ideas– Objections and shortcomings– Relate to other works– How does it change our concept/approach to topic– Snappy close

29

Review ClosingReview Closing

Direction of review should be clear by now

Need not give a specific recommendation

Author’s name, position, and institutional affiliation

30

Research on ReviewingResearch on Reviewing Age and

Professional experience as well as

Present and past institutional affiliation

– of author and reviewer

– influence the direction of the review

SOURCE: Snizek and Fuhrman, Am. Sociologist (1979).

31

Types of Reviews (Butler, 1934)Types of Reviews (Butler, 1934)Descriptive

– contents; list of table of contents; shorter reviews are more likely to be merely descriptiveEvaluative

– analysis; longer review; “verbosity is no automatic indicator of excellence.”Incidental essay

– springboard for some topicOrientation

– historical; comparative; lengthy; LQ “Review Essay”

32

Schools of CriticismSchools of Criticism

Older Tradition– Longinus: strong feeling is necessary; blow you

away all at once

Historical Critical Approach– criteria are relevant only to that particular period

20th Century– influence of psychology and technology

33

20th Century Schools20th Century Schools

ImpressionisticAbsolutistFreudianMarxistTheoreticalTextualNew CriticismPost-Modern movements

34

ImpressionisticImpressionistic

Immediate personal reaction

Sole purpose of art (books) is to move one’s being. Purpose is emotion. Books, CD-ROM, or software for review must grab you.

“Alienation effects”--justifying not reading the book

Book as prop. Entertainment value.

35

AbsolutistAbsolutist

One objective truth

“unalterable” law

G. B. Vico (18th century) was initially an absolutist

36

MarxistMarxist

New York Review of Books– social and economic factors

Materialistic reductionism

37

TheoreticalTheoretical

Analysis

– ALA Booklist “Guidelines” (see 220 class Webpage)

– Reprinted in Cheney and Williams’ FRS (1980)

38

TextualTextual

Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America– descriptive or analytical bibliography.

Methods of printing or book production generally and how these influence the text.

39

New CriticismNew Criticism AKA objective, cognitive, or ontological school

Often associated with John Crowe Ransom (The New Criticism,1941)

Looks at form of literature which provides the meaning and value; individual work is the unit of analysis

Scientific as opposed to the historical context approach

Combines the Freudian and Marxist

40

FormalismFormalism

Victor Shklovsky, Vladimir Propp, and other Russian critics (early 20th century)

plot structurenarrative perspectivesymbolic imagery

Developed into structuralism in France

41

DeconstructivistDeconstructivist

Jacque Derrida in France (1960s)

Examination of methodologyInvolves a questioning of the many

hierarchical oppositionsIn order to expose the bias (“the privileged

terms”) of those tacit assumptions on which Western metaphysics rest

42

Role of Reader and AuthorRole of Reader and Author

Reader may write to editor/reviewer

Author may write to editor/reviewer– disavowal of work– respond to criticism (see P. W. Filby’s October 1989

AL article about his book which received 19 favorable reviews and one periodical which labelled it “Not recommended.”)

– policy of publishing letters and responses

43

Reader Response TheoryReader Response Theory

A kind of Aesthetics of Reception

German critic Wolfgang Iser and other proponents

which examines readers’ responses to literature in a cultural and historical context.

44

Develop Your Own StyleDevelop Your Own Style

Reference books are what they are?

Is there an interior, individual, or practical meaning?

Is there a deeper meaning? Something hidden?

45

Useful Reviewing SourcesUseful Reviewing Sources

LQ, 4th most, longest reviews, orientation reviews, and critical reviews. 10.8 month lag

WLB, best time, 5.4 month lag Booklist, second best time, 5.8 month lag RQ, 6.4 month lag ARBA and C&RL, 3rd most titles, more unfavorable

SOURCE: Chen and Galvin, ARBA (1975)

46

Least Useful Reviewing Least Useful Reviewing SourceSource

LJ,– most reviews– descriptive– makes recommendations for type of library– 6.7 month lag

SOURCE: Chen and Galvin, ARBA (1975)

47

Favorable and Unfavorable Favorable and Unfavorable UpdateUpdate

Study of Periodical Abstracts-Research II (PAR II) of 1600 journals:

– January 1986 (69.4% favorable) to September 1992 (71.8%), reviews are becoming more favorable (Table 2)

– Shorter reviews are more favorable (75.3%) than longer ones (64.4%) (Table 3)

– Humanities (72.4%) more favorable than social sciences (69.1%) than sciences and technology (68.5%) (Table 5)

SOURCE: Greene and Spornick, JAL (November 1995): 449-453.

48

Ten Most Favorable LIS JournalsTen Most Favorable LIS Journals Wilson Library Bulletin (now defunct) Booklist Library Journal Choice School Library Journal Publishers Weekly New York Times New York Review of Books RQ (now RUSQ) TLS

SOURCE: Greene and Spornick, JAL (November 1995): 449-453

49

Newspaper ReviewsNewspaper Reviews

TLS--wide ranging, authoritative, thoughtful, well-written

NYT--strong influence. Esoteric. Boring Washington Post (“Book World”)--most

interesting and enjoyable USA Today--imaginative in selection of reviewers

SOURCE: “Choosing the Best of the Book Reviews,” LATimes, 11-13 December 1985, part V.

50

Sources of Reviews Sources of Reviews (Indexes)(Indexes)

Book Review Digest

Book Review Index

Current Book Review Citations

51

Book Review DigestBook Review Digest

1905 -- present

oldest index in continuous existence

journals indexed depends upon BRD subscribers

title listed if it gets two or more reviews

+/- has been used: +, -, +-, or -+

52

Book Review IndexBook Review Index

aims at completeness

200+ journals indexed

53

Current Book Review Current Book Review CitationsCitations

volume 1, January 1976 -- present

compilation of reviews which have already appeared in the nine other Wilson indexes covering more than 1,000 periodicals

54

Other Useful Reviewing Other Useful Reviewing SourcesSources

RSR, “Landmark Reference Books” column

55

Useful WWW ResourcesUseful WWW Resources

– Indiana University, Writing Tutorial Services: "Writing Book Reviews": http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/bookreview.html

– "Ed’s Internet Book Review": http://www.clark.net/pub/bell/review/book_review.shtml

– A Book Review Pathfinder: "Book Review Resources at Bobst Library": http:// www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/guides/bookrev.htm

56

Even More WWW ResourcesEven More WWW Resources

– "FAQ for rec.arts.books.reviews": http://www.lib.ox.ac.uk/internet/news/faq/archive/books.reviews-faq.html

– Student-written reviews (middle school): "OGRE: The Orange Grove Review of Books": http://falcon.cfsd.k12.az.us/ ~ogwww/reviews/ogre.html

– "OncoLink: Books and Book Reviews" (Cancer): http://cancer.med.upenn.edu/ psycho_stuff/books/

57

Personally Interested in Personally Interested in Reviewing?Reviewing?

Watch journals for notices– LJ, C&RL, JAL have requests from time to time

Obtain a brand, new book– write a review– send it to editor as an example

Write the editor– send sample– send current resume

Find someone who already reviews to recommend you

58

Research on ReviewingResearch on Reviewing

Arthur B. Connor Jr., “A Select Review and Comparison of Library and Scholarly Reviewing Sources,” MLS Specialization Paper, UCLA, 1982.

Replicate it as your MLIS Thesis

59

Research QuestionsResearch Questions

Researchable Questions:

– Are prices still going up? Replicate earlier study in AL– Time lag and how to Decrease It– What MRW are Needed? Replicate SCAN study– Who are the reviewers?– Does the direction of the review influence purchase?– Update Chen and Galvin’s study of useful reviewing

sources

60

Gentle Reminder!Gentle Reminder!

Remove the disk from the computer now...