Investigating the Value of Scholarly Book Reviews for the Work of Academic Reference Librarians

Library science textbooks typically recommend scholarly book reviews as a good source of information about recently published books and other items that may be suitable for purchase. Less attention, however, has been paid to the value of scholarly book reviews as a way for academic librarians to stay current in their areas of specialization or to learn about unfamiliar areas. This article shows that a careful analysis of scholarly book reviews can provide a wealth of knowledge about significant issues in a variety of academic subjects and fields. Results are based on a proof-of-concept questionnaire sent to experts in the fields of Popular Music and Southern Literature, who evaluated two overviews of their fields written entirely from the information contained in scholarly book reviews.