Evaluation of a Book (from a catalog record, or from book in hand)--

Evaluation of materials is easier if you have the materials in your hand. However, there are points to examine even if all you have is a citation:

• Have we collected more than one book from the author (we have ten of Brookfield's books)?Is the book from a good publisher? (This may not be obvious). Is the book part of a series? (Jossey Bass higher and adult education series, in this case). The other titles in the series may be useful, too.
• Are the subject headings descriptive of what you are looking for? Click on them to get related material on the same subject.

If you have the book in hand, look at the table of contents, the index, and how the book is formatted. Is it organized well? Does the content look promising? Is there any indication, perhaps in the introduction, of the author's credentials or experience? There are often book reviews in journals, magazines or newspapers that will help you evaluate a particular book, a particular author, or an author's body of work. They may be indexed in general or subject-specific databases. The New York Times has a famous book review section. The history databases, such as America: History and Life, and some social science databases, such as PsycInfo or Sociological Abstracts, may index book reviews.

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