Archive for October, 2008
October 27th, 2008 | 
Author: Book reviews generally include the following kinds of information; keep in mind, though, that you may need to include other information to explain your assessment of a book.
Most reviews start off with a heading that includes all the bibliographic information about the book. If your assignment sheet does not indicate which form you should use, you can use the following:
Title. Author. Place of publication: publisher, date of publication. Number of pages.
Like most pieces of writing, the review itself usually begins with an introduction that lets your readers know what the review will say. The first paragraph usually includes the author and title again, so your readers don’t have to look up to find this information. You should also include a very brief overview of the contents of the book, the purpose or audience for the book, and your reaction and evaluation.
You should then move into a section of background information that helps place the book in context and discusses criteria for judging the book.
Next, you should give a summary of the main points of the book, quoting and paraphrasing key phrases from the author.
Finally, you get to the heart of your review—your evaluation of the book. In this section, you might discuss some of the following issues:
• how well the book has achieved its goal
• what possibilities are suggested by the book
• what the book has left out
• how the book compares to others on the subject
• what specific points are not convincing
• what personal experiences you’ve had related to the subject.
It is important to use labels to carefully distinguish your views from the author’s, so that you don’t confuse your reader.
Then, like other essays, you can end with a direct comment on the book, and tie together issues raised in the review in a conclusion.
There is, of course, no set formula, but a general rule of thumb is that the first one-half to two-thirds of the review should summarize the author’s main ideas and at least one-third should evaluate the book.
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The constitution of the American Meteorological Society lists as its objectives “the development and dissemination of knowledge of the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications.” One way in which the Society pursues these objectives is through publication of journals, newsletters, books, and monographs.
The publications of the AMS fall into two broad categories: those produced by Society Headquarters and those under the auspices of the Publications Commission. In general, the division between these two groups relates to the extent of their scientific assessment through the peer-review process. This Authors’ Guide applies to both groups, although most of the text addresses peer-reviewed material under the aegis of the Publications Commission.
These are exciting times in the world of scientific publications and in particular for the Society’s publications program as new electronic publishing opportunities present themselves. The AMS has been aggressive in its exploitation of the electronic media, both in terms of taking advantage of the latest technology in the production and dissemination of its print journals—all AMS print journals are delivered online in addition to print—and in producing new journals, such as Earth Interactions. In addition, the Society has been providing new services such as CDROM supplements to the print journals and the ability to place supplemental material online through the AMS Web site. Also, the Legacy database provides access to every journal article ever published by the AMS.
