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. 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, and then still it's usually only RT Reviews (formally Romantic Times) or other genre heavy publications. How does this affect collection development?

Different publications having different types of conversations can effect collection development in a number of ways. If a librarian only reads one or two publications, the collection could become very one dimensional over time. The collection needs to have a wide enough range to attract all types of patrons. If a librarian reads many different publications with good and bad reviews, she will be able to make more informed decisions about which books should be added to the collection.

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? Is this ebook even romantic suspense?

I feel both book reviews are reliable enough for me to get a sense of the book. Both reviews have enough detail to show they read the book. I like the second review a bit more because she doesn't seem to have as much of a bias toward Christmas romance novels. The second review also aligns more with my view on romance novels, so I trust the review a bit more.

This ebook could be a good ebook to add to the library's collection. There are many avid readers who enjoy romance novels, especially holiday romance novels. The decision would have to be up to the cost versus how much money is in the budget.

I don't believe this book is a romance suspense. I have not read the book so I cannot be completely sure, but there are key characteristics that make this not a romantic suspense novel. The heroine (Robyn) is not in danger or told only from her POV. There is no choice between two men and it doesn't seem to have an easy tone.

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?

For the library, I would probably purchase Angela's Ashes. There are many good reviews for the book and it is popular among readers as well. It bodes well that the book will circulate well and be worth the purchase for the library. I would still look at reviews of real readers as well as these professional publications.

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 don't think it is fair that some books are reviewed to death, especially with professional publications. Popular books will get reviewed by many other sources. I feel professional publications need to give reviews for popular and unpopular books. If librarians rely solely on these publications, collections can become too similar between libraries. In the digital age, libraries can easily do InterLibrary Loans or share books through a consortium of libraries. 

On a personal note, I am one of the few that does not enjoy reviews from publications. The thing I dislike most about these reviews is the amount of information they disclose. I like to go into a novel without knowing the first 50 or so pages of the book. Reading reviews like this makes me not want to pick up Angela's Ashes. The reviews also seem impersonal and I like to get to know the reviewer as I am reading a review.