Use of scholarly book reviews: Implications for electronic publishing and scholarly communication

Studies examining the use of printed materials by scholars are necessary precursors to the development of scholarly electronic journals and the development of the field of electronic publishing. Electronic publishing of journals is important in scholarship, where the timeliness and relevance of publications are crucial to the advancement of knowledge. Although considerable space is devoted to book reviews in scholarly journals, few previous studies have examined or provided detailed data on the utility or importance of book reviews to scholars. In addition, book reviews have generally not been included in models of scholarly communication. This article results from a survey of science and technology faculty, and the humanities and social science faculty at the University of North Texas. The survey sought to determine: (1) Whether faculty read book reviews in scholarly journals; (2) the sources, importance, and utility of book reviews for faculty research and teaching; and (3) faculty criteria for useful book reviews. Findings show that most faculty read book reviews, however, a dichotomy exists as to the usefulness of book reviews for faculty research and teaching. Different book review formats were also preferred by humanities and social sciences faculty, and science and technology faculty. Based on these findings, an extension of Garvey and Griffith's (1971) scholarly communication model is proposed that includes book reviews and various feedback loops as part of the scholarly communication process. Findings from this study hold implications for the content and access to electronically published book reviews, and further research. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.