Head of Research, Outreach, and Inclusion
What is the purpose of review?
At this point, we are overwhelmed by the number of reviews we see everyday.
From Yelp reviews, to BookTok reviews, we don't have to look far for reviews.
In this class, we're going to focus on book and film reviews.
Discussion Question: What purpose does a review serve?
Components of a review:
- Analysis
- Comparison
- Recommendation
- What else?
Things to have handy before we start looking at reviews:
- What is the original publication date for the book/film?
- Who are all the authors/directors/producers involved?
Finding Creator Information
For many contemporary authors, you should be able to find information either through their personal websites or through their publisher profiles (for example. search for AUTHOR NAME publisher profile).
There may also be biographies about authors found in newspapers - which can be searched through our newspaper databases (for example, search for AUTHOR NAME biography). If your author is very popular, you might find there are reviews of biographies about them - not particularly useful to learn about the author so be wary!
The same search strategies should also work when looking up performer or director information.
- Access World News Research Collection This link opens in a new windowThis database Includes articles from 600 U.S. newspapers and over 700 international newspapers. Coverage varies, some newspapers going back as far as 1977.
- New York Times (NYTimes.com) This link opens in a new windowProvides access to NYTimes.com, New York Times mobile apps, and New York Times in Education. Registration is required. Content includes Breaking News, Multimedia, Opinion, Blogs, Videos and more.
We also have databases that are specifically geared towards biographies and information about a person.
- Dictionary of Literary Biography This link opens in a new windowThis database provides in-depth, richly illustrated encyclopedia articles on over 200,000 authors from all times and places worldwide, discussing their lives and works, as well as the historical, cultural, and social contexts in which they lived and wrote.
- Gale Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new windowThis database provides the full text of literary criticism and reviews, biographies, original works of literature, multimedia resources, and links to selected web resources on more than 130,000 authors and their works, from all times and places.
- MAS Ultra - School Edition This link opens in a new windowThis database provides full-text reference of over 458 popular magazines and 533 eBooks, topics range from history, biographies, science to health, as well as over 55,000 primary source documents and 75,000 Associated Press videos. Updated daily.