Week 5 Prompt

 

Different publications review different types of books and they allow different types of conversations. For example, Booklist will not publish negative reviews, while, as you have all seen, Kirkus has no problems with it (check out this savage review - https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sebastia-alzamora/blood-crime/). Ebook only books, which are increasingly popular (especially in the romance genre) see little to no reviews in professional publications unless they have a big name author. How does this affect collection development?

It is unfortunate that some books will be reviewed in review journals, and some will not. There are so many books being published that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to sift through them all for a review. I’m sure there are plenty of worthy books that are overlooked in collection development because they are not reviewed in popular review sources. This means that library collections could be missing out on books that their community would enjoy. The beauty of having different review sources who review different materials means that a librarian will see a variety of materials and can assess what to add to a library’s collection. Each review source having different types of reviews they will publish, or not publish, also helps a librarian make more informed collection development choices. This can be especially true when the same item is reviewed in several different review sources.

I have posted two more documents in the week five files. One is two reviews of an ebook only romantic suspense novel, one from a blog and one from amazon. Look over the reviews - do you feel they are both reliable? How likely would you be to buy this book for your library?

The blog post review of this title is a more polished review and reminds me of reviews I come across in review journals. The Amazon review of this title isn’t as polished, but it does go over the main plot of the book. The reviews taken together paint a clearer picture of the books appeal. If I worked at a library where these types of books were popular, I might be inclined to purchase this book for the collection. This title has some hallmark vibes, which can be popular with some readers.

 

The other document contains some reviews of Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt, an incredibly popular memoir. These reviews are all from professional publications, feel free to find more on your own I just nabbed a few from the Book Review Digest database for you. How do these reviews make you feel about the possibility of adding Angela's Ashes to your collection?

All the reviews of this title paint it in a positive light and make it appear to be a book that would be worthy of adding to a library’s collection. The fact that three different review journals have positive reviews of the title would make this book stand above other titles that may not be receiving as positive of reviews. Here again, it would really depend on the library’s community and it’s readers as to whether this book was added to the collection. It would also depend on the library collection itself and if there was a need for books on this subject matter.

 

Do you think it's fair that one type of book is reviewed to death and other types of books get little to no coverage? How does this affect a library's collection?  And how do you feel about review sources that won't print negative content? Do you think that's appropriate? If you buy for your library, how often do you use reviews to make your decisions? If not, how do you feel about reviews for personal reading, and what are some of your favorite review sources?

I do think it’s unfortunate that some books will receive all the reviews and other will not. I’m sure there are books that a library and its readers are missing out on because the books have not been in the review journals a librarian reads. I think that review sources that won’t print negative content are doing librarians a disservice. There is no way for a librarian to read every book, so they must rely on review sources to make collection development decisions. If review sources are only printing positive things a librarian is missing out on crucial information. Each library and its readers are unique, and a librarian's goal is to curate a collection of books that readers want and need. I purchase books for the youth services department at my library and am a big proponent of review journals. They keep me informed of what’s being published and help me make decisions on what to add to our collection. To help combat some of the books that are missed in review journals I will look at Amazons best seller lists and their list of new books for various age categories. I also look at other lists of books that are curated on various websites like Bookriot. If I feel that a book review in a journal may be missing something I will go on Amazon and read a review from someone who hated the book. People that feel strongly about a book will often take the time to go into a lot of detail and this can help paint a clearer picture of the book.