There are two databases which specialise in locating book reviews:

• Book review index
  This database covers 1965 to the present. It lists published reviews, sometimes with full text.
• Book review digest retrospective
  This database covers the years 1908 to 1982. It lists published reviews, sometimes giving excerpts from them.

Many scholarly journals include book reviews. There are some journals which specialise in book reviews.

The following journals publish book reviews in all subject areas:

• Australian book review (in print, online from November 2010)
• Times literary supplement (in print, but the archive for 1902 to 2005 is available online)
• London review of books (in print)
• New York review of books (in print, with earlier issues on microfiche)
• New York Times book review (in print, but from 1997 also available online)

There are other journals which specialise in book reviews in specific subject areas. These are some examples:

• Classical review (online)
• Bryn Mawr classical review (online)
• Notre Dame philosophical reviews (online)
• History (Washington, D.C.) (online)
• American Historical Review (online)
• Journal of economic literature (online)
• Contemporary sociology (online)
• Reviews in anthropology (online)
• Reviews in religion and theology (online)

You can also use Library databases to locate book reviews. Many bibliographic databases index reviews. Use the terms 'review' or 'book review' as part of your search strategy when searching.

The Web of Science database is particularly useful for locating book reviews in leading journals in all disciplines, including the social sciences and arts and humanities. Use the Cited Reference Search and input the author's name in the Cited Author box. In the Cited Work box input the first letters of the first word of the title, using the asterisk to truncate (e.g. aust*). When the references are retrieved, use the selection box at the bottom of the screen to restrict your search to Book Review as the document type. Then click on the Finish Search button.

Thousands of book reviews are available on the Web. Use Google and input the author's last name, the title of the book in inverted commas, and the word review, e.g.

coetzee "slow man" review

As with all information which you find on the Web, you should carefully evaluate any book reviews which you find. What are the reviewer's credentials? Who is responsible for the website?

If you are just browsing for information on new books, here are some good sites to try:

• Arts & Letters Daily
• SciTech Daily
• The Guardian and Observer (UK)
• The Age (Melbourne)
• New York Times