Reviewing Nonfiction Books

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Reviewing Nonfiction Books

• Kati Tvaruzka
• Education Librarian/Asst. Professor
• UW-Eau Claire, McIntyre Library
• tvaruzke_at_uwec.edu
• 715-836-4522

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Whats in a book review?

• INTRODUCTION
• DESCRIPTION
• ANALYSIS
• AUDIENCE
• YOUR RECOMMENDATION

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INTRODUCTION

• You have one sentence to catch your audiences
  attention
• This accessible manual, whose authors are
  affiliated with the SUNLINK Project, Florida's
  K-12 public school union catalog of library media
  resources, provides concise and practical
  applications for weeding school library
  collections.
• from my review of Less is More a Practical
  Guide to Weeding School Library Collections.
  Collection Building (forthcoming)

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description

• A brief overview of the book
• Contents
• Scope
• Style
• A springboard into your critique

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description

• consists of seventy-one topics for weeding
  organized in general Dewey order includes
  general weeding guidelines for that area by age
  of publication, rationale for weeding that
  particular topic, Dewey numbers to check for
  similar items, and finally specific criteria for
  weeding in that area suggestions for replacing
  titles and a sample of items that deserve serious
  consideration from actual school catalogs are
  also included.
• from my review of Less is More a Practical
  Guide to Weeding School Library Collections.
  Collection Building (forthcoming)

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analysis

• Quality of information
• Quality of illustrations
• Access to information
• Presentation

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audience

• For whom is the book intended?
• This straight-forward, easy-to-understand work
  would be a solid addition to any school library,
  but will be of particular interest to those new
  to the field. It may not be of much use for the
  seasoned practitioner who has already made a
  serious commitment to weeding or for those who
  have already developed a weeding style and
  criteria that works for them.
• from my review of Less is More a Practical
  Guide to Weeding School Library Collections.
  Collection Building (forthcoming)

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audience

• Does the book/author do what it says it will do
  for this particular audience?
• Your review should include this information

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But how Do I review something I know nothing
about?

• You dont need to be an expert the author
  should be!
• It will take some extra legwork

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The extra legwork

• Look at other titles on the same subject
• Research the author
• What tools does the book have?
• Re-read the books introduction and jacket cover
  promises kept or broken?

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Pitfalls to avoid!

• Read the book! Dont try to shortcut!
• A review is not a summary!
• Dont plagiarize!
• Dont try to cram in everything! Focus on one or
  two things that are most important.

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Pitfalls to avoid!

• Distinguish between the author's opinions and
  your own
• Re-SEE, dont re-TELL
• Dont give away plot twists!
• Dont give away the ending!