Book Review Digest
Before the Internet, Book Review Digest was a significant reference tool and bibliographic aid used by the American public and librarians alike to find current literature.
Description and usage
During the 20th century, Book Review Digest was a common American library bibliographic aid for the public to find current literature.[1] The reference work compiles book reviews from major periodicals of the period beneath each book's bibliographic entry.[2] Beginning in 1905, the H. W. Wilson Company issued Book Review Digest monthly, with cumulative compilations.[1] By the 1950s, Book Review Digest covered 4,000 books annually.[2]
Each book's bibliographic entry is introduced with a noncritical description,[2] annotating discrete features with no assessment of quality.[3] Beneath each is a digest of reviewer commentary in brief excerpt. Plus and minus symbols indicate the review's favorability, if apparent, letting readers quickly summarize critical consensus towards the book.[2] (Generally, listed reviews tend towards praise.[4]) Each volume additionally lists the review source publications, which are both American and English. For a sense of expansion over time, the 1905 volume had 386 pages while the 1948 volume had 1,067.[5]
While also used to aid libraries in their acquisition selection, as a compilation of book reviews often published and compiled after the book's release, Book Review Digest was not as useful to acquisition librarians as the American Library Association's Booklist new book guide, which is based on short descriptions rather than compiled, printed reviews.[1] Book Review Digest nevertheless was a mainstay for new book selection.[6] Some libraries clip and paste each book's digested review summary within the reviewed book itself or in the library's card catalog.[2]
Cumulative and index
Like other Wilson bibliographies, Book Review Digest was printed as a cumulative catalog. Issued as a monthly, Book Review Digest collected book reviews for each catalog entry, printing each month's new reviews alongside the reviews compiled in prior issues. When the issue became too expensive to print, twice a year, Wilson issued a cumulative list: a six-month cumulation in August, and a bounded, full-year annual in February. Wilson released a cumulative index, compiled continuously, every five years.[7]
The cumulative format is based on the technical linotype print production technique. Each catalog entry is typeset as a linotype slug, i.e., a small metal bar, and can be kept in alphabetical order, simply adding reviews beneath each slug between monthly issues. This let the monthly issue remain current and uniform while building towards the annual cumulative volume.[7]
Its subject–title index additionally classifies books by type or special interest. Fiction, for example, is divided into "Cheerful Stories", "Ghost Stories", "Historical Novels", "Mystery Novels", and "Novels of Locality" (with subdivisions), as well as groupings by theme, such as school or sex.[8]
References
- ^ a b c Haines 1957, p. 70.
- ^ a b c d e Haines 1957, p. 71.
- ^ Haines 1957, p. 73.
- ^ Haines 1957, p. 101.
- ^ Haines 1957, p. 72.
- ^ Haines 1957, p. 382.
- ^ a b Haines 1957, pp. 70–71.
- ^ Haines 1957, pp. 71–72.
Works cited
- Haines, Helen E. (1957). "Familiar Friends and Companions". Living with Books: The Art of Book Selection. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 63–77. OCLC 580015.