Book Review Resources in the Sweet Briar College Library

ABI Inform (some full-text in Business topics) - Go to the tab marked Advanced Search and click there to begin. Use the Boolean operators and put "book review" into the second search box. If you do not know how to do a Boolean search, see Search Techniques.

Notice that in the Recent Search link (located to the upper right of the Advanced Search form after you have done at least two searches) you can combine searches you've already completed earlier in the same session. Notice also that your search results are divided by tabs into articles from Scholarly Journals, Magazines, Trade Publications, and Newspapers. Items you place in your Marked List can be printed, emailed or exported to citation management software. You may also format Marked List items, selecting from MLA, APA, Turabian or AMA.

Expanded Academic Index (some full-text) - After you click on the link at left, you will go to a list of databases at Gale. Scroll down and click on Expanded Academic for a second time. Click Advanced Search on the left margin. Use the key word "book review" AND [a key word topic of your choice] to find book reviews by subject. Your results will appear under the search box with an "R1," "R2," "R3," and so on preceeding your search results. Click on the highlighted word View to see your search results. If you want only full-text reviews, be sure to look for "Limit the current search to articles with text," below the search box and put a check mark there.

Factiva - (full-text) First, you have to remember to use Internet Explorer (not Netscape) to get into Factiva. Netscape will not work. On the first screen of Factiva, find the word Subject in the section labeled Select Sources and Factiva Intelligent Indexing. Click the plus sign next to the word Subject. A list of options will appear to the right. Find the words Content Types in that list and click the plus sign. Scroll down until you see the word Review. Click on the blue triangle to the right of the word Review. This will automatically place a code in the Free Text box (at the top of the screen) that will limit your search to reviews only. Next to the code in the free text box, type the word AND and then type in any other words associated with the kind of book review you need.

Important: The default search on Factiva is a phrase search. If you want to do a Boolean AND search, you must type the word "and."

Click on Run Search. Select an item from your list of search results. To return to your list of search results DO NOT CLICK THE BACK BUTTON. Instead, look on the upper right side of the screen. Just above the top, right corner of your article you will see the words Return to Headlines in blue. Click there to return to your list of search results. (On an Apple computer, Return to Headlines may be located on the upper left.)

Gerritsen Collection: Women's History Online 1543 - 1945 - (full-text) Use the Quick Search instead of the Advanced Search, because the Advanced Search creates errors. In Quick Search you will have to use Boolean operators by typing them into the search box. For example: women and trance and religion. To find book reviews use the phrase "book reviews" and the title of the book you hope to find reviewed. Example: "book reviews" "false dawn." After you retrieve your document, you can increase the type size on the screen up to 400%. If you have a pop-up blocker, you will have to add "gerritsen.chadwyck.com" to your allowed sites before you can print or download citations to RefWorks. To print, click on View as PDF, and then on the next screen click the button marked "View as PDF." The PDF will load to a new window. From there, just click the Print button that is physically closest to the document you want to print. It will usually be located on the left, just above your document, next to an icon of a floppy disc.

JSTOR (full-text) - The Advanced Search page is the default. If you do not want to search all of the collections at JSTOR, scroll down and list one or more titles to search or check mark specific resources. Place as many checks as you like in the section marked These Discipline(s) and/or Journal(s):. If you leave them all unmarked the system will search all of them.

Printing from JSTOR is not easy. You might want to download the PDF to your computer and print it later. This is the fastest option.

If you need to print, DO NOT click on the print icon at the top of your browser window. DO NOT press control/P.

Before you print, look at the red bar at top and find the words Set Preferences and click. On the next screen select Printing. On the following screen look for the words Set Printing Preference. Below that, find Dialup Connection. Below those word you will see an option to "Choose PDF: Economy (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)." This option will allow you to print a good copy quickly. Place your radio button selection on PDF Economy and then click the button marked Set Printing Preference. The next screen will offer the option to Return to your JSTOR session. You should choose that one.

Now look for the word Print, in grey, on the left side of the screen top, just below the red bar at the top. It will be beneath the word Search. A pop-up box may appear that asks you to confirm your printing preferences. Click "ok" and a new window will load to your screen. Your PDF file will appear in this window. To print your PDF, click on the Adobe print icon. This is the one closest to your article. It will be above the article on the left, to the right of an image of a floppy disc.

New York Times Book Review (full-text) - The link to the left will take you to the Advanced Search screen in ProQuest. Put the title of the book you want reviewed in the first box, with quotation marks around the title. In the second box, type "book review" and set the pull-down menu on the right to the word "section." If the title of your book is common, you might want to put the author's name in the third search box, using quotations marks.

NetLibrary (full-text) - is a collection of over 43,000 online books in all subjects. Search by author, title, or keyword. You may also search the full-text for specific words or phrases. The most important thing to remember about NetLibrary is that if you click on "View this eBook" that title will be locked up for 15 minutes UNLESS you "close" the eBook. Directly below the NetLibrary logo in the upper left of the browser screen you will see the words Open Items. Beneath Open Items you will see the word Current followed by the title you are viewing. To the right of the title, you will see the words, Close Item. You should always close the item when you are finished viewing it! Sweet Briar College Library shares all of our NetLibrary e-books with all of the colleges in the state. If NetLibrary tells you that an e-book is already in use, it is probably being used at another Virginia school. Wait and try that book again later.

In order to prevent problems in getting back into an eBook you are using, you should also always leave your eBook open in a separate browser window. If you need to go to other web pages while you are using an eBook, open a new browser window and do your web browsing there. Leave your eBook open in it's original window! If you need to leave the computer you are working on, it would be best for you to either "close" the eBook (if it is not checked out) OR (if the item is checked out) check the item back in before you close the browser window.

To move through sections of books in NetLibrary, click the words "Next" or "Previous" in the top right of the page. DO NOT use the greyed out arrows on the bottom of the screen. They don't work. No, we don't know why they are there. Please note that NetLibrary books cannot be downloaded due to copyright law, but individual pages can be printed. The advanced search on Net Library accepts Boolean operators. If you do not know how to do a Boolean search, see Search Techniques.

Newsbank (full-text) offers newspapers from Virginia, major U.S. papers, and newspapers from the United Kingdom and Asia. It doesn't matter which link you choose on the first page - you will have to custom select the newspapers that interest you on the second screen. The coverage dates for each newspaper are shown to the right of the titles. If you do not wish to search papers from Virginia, or USA Today, you will have to de-select these titles. Click on "More Options," to the right of the Search button for an Advanced Search. Newsbank accepts Boolean operators. If you do no know how to do a Boolean search, see Search Techniques.

Wilson Web (some full-text) - The Advanced Search screen automatically loads. Search "book review" AND [research topic], using the first two search fields. The blue Start button is on the right. Below the Start button, notice the option to Limit to Full Text. You may also use Subject Area, to limit your search to a particular area if you get too many results by searching ALL.

How to Find Reviews for Books Published Before 1996

If you need a review for a book published before 1996, you will want to use the Book Review Digest and the Book Review Index. Both are shelved in the Index Hall outside the Kellogg Room. Please consult with Liz Kent, Joe Malloy or Lisa Johnston if you do not know how to use these indexes.

Book Review Guide

Subscription Databases