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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Reviewing reviews
Authors:Barringer, TerryISNI
Kitchen, StephanieISNI
Pinfold, JohnISNI
Year:2007
Periodical:African Research and Documentation
Issue:102
Pages:13-35
Language:English
Geographic term:Africa
Subjects:bibliography
periodicals
publishing
Abstract:Book reviews, from the varied perspectives of scholars, publishers and librarians, was the theme of the panel organized by the Standing Conference on Library Materials on Africa (SCOLMA) at the meeting of the African Studies Association of the UK (ASAUK) on 13 September 2006. Terry Barringer, reviews editor of 'African Research and Documentation' and 'The Round Table', discusses the art of book reviewing, illustrated with feedback from fellow review editors, reviewers, reviewees and publishers. Though she dispels her existential angst at the idea that the time and energy she has spent on 'the book reviews enterprise' may be misspent, she remains concerned about how much scholarship and how many publications originating in Africa are reviewed in 'mainstream' Africanist journals, as well as how many Africa-based scholars are employed as reviewers. Stephanie Kitchen presents a publisher's viewpoint. On the basis of the experience of African Books Collective (ABC), she details the marketing, profiling and cultural benefits of book reviews, and the challenges for African authors/publishers in securing reviews in Northern Africanist/African studies academic journals. John Pinfold, based at the Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House, Oxford, presents a librarian's view. He discusses the journals he regularly scans for book reviews and what he looks for in a book review, concluding that the book review remains a vital tool in the acquisition process. Bibliogr., notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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