Subject Databases
Subject Indexes/Databases
These are the most interesting to use because of the variety they represent. Mostly, they will help you identify reviews in professional and scholarly journals. This is not meant to be a complete list. However, these particular ones include a large number of book reviews. Their subject coverage is fairly apparent from their titles.
For each database, be sure to look at the dates of coverage carefully as they vary quite radically. Remember this date refers to the years reviews might appear in. So, for example, a book published first in 1972 could, theoretically, have reviews published in 1972 and any year after that. Most likely, scholarly reviews will appear anywhere from the same year to 3 or even 4 years later. And, if the book is reprinted or republished at some subsequent date another cluster of reviews could appear.
Once in the database, you need to search using a unique strategy to be sure to get BOOK REVIEWS. It is critical that you search following strategy outlined here exactly! You are going to use ONLY the surname of the 1st author listed and keywords and phrases from the TITLE of the book. Whenever possible, ignore words containing internal punctuation.
Consider the two books whose covers are pictured below.
The ADVANCED searches for these would go like this:
Notice that I put the author's surname on one line and selected keywords and phrases from the title of the book for the other line. You need to put and between the keywords you selected unless they are adjacent. That is why I put an and between america and the phrase democracy inaction. Notice, too, that I didn't choose to use '44 in my search. It's best to avoid words with punctuation in them or 2-letter words in this database.
In addition to selecting the right words and not making any typos, it is TRULY CRITICAL that you do one more thing and that is to tell the database you are searching specifically for BOOK REVIEWS. In most cases, you do that by scrolling down to the area labeled Limit your results and looking for a pulldown box where you can specify DOCUMENT TYPE or PUBLICATION TYPE of Book Review or maybe just Review, like this:
Many of the reviews cited in these database are going to appear in FULLTEXT. Often you will even have a choice of HTML or PDF. Select the PDF whenever possible to avoid missing some information and so you can be sure to get page numbers. If all you get is a citation or reference to a review, click on the 
link to do a search of both our print and electronic journals. You COULD get a link directly to the fulltext of the review or you could be directed to the database containing the periodical with the review or to an OSCAR record for the print periodical. And, if we do not have the periodical in any form, you will be sent to an interlibrary loan form. If you fill out that form, you will get an email with the PDF file of the review in a few days.
- America: History and Life with Full Text This link opens in a new windowThis database covers the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. With selective indexing for 1,700 journals from 1964 to the present, this database also provides full-text coverage of more than 196 journals and more than 92 books.
- Art Full Text (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new windowIndexes articles and reproductions of works of art appearing in periodicals published throughout the world on the visual arts, from 1929-present. The full text of articles in selected periodicals is available online back to 1997. Updated daily.
- ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials This link opens in a new windowIndex to periodicals, research in ministry, book reviews in religion and Methodist reviews. 1949-present. Updated semi-annually. Includes online versions of the entire runs of a core collection of more than fifty significant scholarly periodicals in the field of religion, most of which go back to 1949.
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window1,700 full-text, peer-reviewed journals. 1,600 business trade and general business publications. Additional full-text non-journal content includes financial data, books, monographs, major reference works, conference proceedings, case studies, investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses, faculty seminars (video) and more
- Communication Source This link opens in a new windowThe most comprehensive resource for scholars studying mass media, communication theory, linguistics, organizational communication, rhetoric & discourse, phonetics, and speech pathology. It includes the full text of more than 600 publications (academic journals, conference papers, magazines, and periodicals). Coverage goes back to 1915.
- Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new windowIndexes and abstracts over 500 professional and scholarly education journals. Dates of coverage vary by title, but some go back to 1983. For 250 of the journals, full-text of the articles is provided, some back to 1994, but most for only the most recent 5 years.
- Political Science Complete This link opens in a new windowPolitical Science Complete contains full-text for more than 520 journals and indexing & abstracts for over 2,900 titles, including top-ranked scholarly journals. The database has a worldwide focus, reflecting the globalization of contemporary political discourse. The database also features over 340 full-text reference books and monographs and over 36,000 full-text conference papers. The subject specific thesaurus contains over 17,500 terms to aid researchers.
- Women's Studies International This link opens in a new windowThe ultimate women's studies resource! Includes over 540,000 records drawn from a variety of essential women's studies databases. 1972-present.