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Various
Religions | Christian
| Jewish
| Science
Fiction/Fantasy
Selection Sources for Congregational Libraries:
Reviews of Jewish Electronic Resources
- Anna Olswanger
Books
- This site "publishes and promotes books and articles of Jewish interest
for readers, booksellers and librarians, authors and illustrators. The
site links internally to Jewish fiction, Jewish book publishing news,
and interviews with industry professionals." Although not containing
book reviews, this a good site to visit to keep abreast of book releases,
author tours, book readings, and locating author contact information.
Also available vie e-mail, the newsletter is archived on the site. The
site owner "hopes to encourage booksellers and librarians to connect
with customers and patrons by cooperating with each other in arranging
author appearances." Considering the Internet's limited content as it
relates to Jewish publishing, this site is a welcome addition. Last visited: 03/2005.
- Harnik's
List Of Jewish Fiction
- Harnik's Happy House of Books, a bookstore in Brooklyn, New York,
has compiled a lengthy list of Jewish fiction arranged by alphabetically
by title. The author is noted and a short summary is provided. An Amazon.com
purchasing partner. Last visited: 03/2005.
- JBooks. Needham,
MA: Jewish Family & Life!
- "...Dedicated to the idea that books are enhancing the Jewish spiritual
renaissance..[and] publish[ing] reviews...directly address[ing] the
interests and needs of the diverse Jewish community." This clearly stated
mission is fulfilled on the attractive JBooks site. Reviews are
organized by subject, such as: fiction, nonfiction, children's, poetry,
life, and audio books. Select an area to be greeted with multiple signed
reviews arranged chronologically. Chose a title to see bibliographic
data, cover art, and lengthy, 600-800 word reviews. In a field where
reviews are typically plot summarization, JBooks refreshingly
provides critical analysis. At the end of each review, the reviewer's
credentials are provided. Those seeking older reviews will find an archive,
although at a different site, JewishFamily.com.
Author interviews, regular columns, and a discussion area round out
the site. The discussion area is clearly underutilized, and could prove
useful if site visitors would participate. Providing a search engine
or author-title indexes would greatly improve access to those seeking
specific reviews. Lacks statement on how items are chosen for review.
Highly recommended for critical analysis and Jewish perspective. Last
visited: 03/2005.
- Jewish
Book Council
- Founded in 1942, the Council disseminates information about Jewish
books in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish, and encourages the publication
and distribution of such books. Publishes the Jewish Book Annual,
which contains literary criticism and bibliographies, and annually sponsors
the National Jewish Book Awards. The web site contains no reviews. This
site could be very valuable if it were updated. The site claims to be
under construction, but the failure to include a date when the site
was last updated is frustrating, as the visitor has no idea long the
site has been under construction or when a new site might appear. Given
the disappointing web site, it is recommended that readers subscribe
to the printed versions of newsletters. Last visited: 03/2005.
- Jewish ValuesFinder
- A project of the Association of Jewish Libraries, Valuesfinder identifies
Jewish values found in contemporary Jewish children’s books. Subject
headings based on the Weine Classification Scheme for Judaica Libraries
are provided, as well as descriptive and bibliographic information.
The searchable database defaults to a key word search, but can perform
exact searches by clicking a small box next author, title, subject,
or value. Alternatively, click on value for a list of the values
or for a list of authors and titles, leave all fields empty and click
on "Search." Searches can be narrowed by grade level, date,
publisher, and award-winning status. The Book Bag feature allows
users to select results and prepare a printed bibliography of titles
of interest. Currently, there are 785 titles in ValuesFinder. Scope
and selection criteria clearly noted. Highly Recommended. Last visited:
03/2005.
- MyJewishBooks.com
- Here is an online Jewish bookstore partnering with Amazon.com for
purchasing purposes. The books included are often reviewed by the site
owners, but may just as often be excerpts from book jackets, newspapers,
or Amazon.com. Ofrah's Jewish Book Club appears to be the area
with the most original reviews. There is no statement on how books are
selected for review, but in correspondence with the site owners, they
indicate they review "any new book that we deem of interest to Jewish
readers." Not surprisingly, the descriptive reviews are not signed or
dated nor credentials noted, making it very difficult to distinguish
which reviews are authored and which are excerpts from other sources.
Books are arranged by subject and date, but the subject access is the
most helpful because a large variety of subject entry points are provided.
A search engine or author/title indexing would be helpful. Complete
bibliographic data is not provided because the owner's do not want to
duplicate their purchasing partner's efforts. Cover art available. Last
visited: 03/2005.
- Notable
Children's Books of Jewish Content
- A bibliography citing books chosen from those submitted to, and evaluated
by, the Sydney Taylor Award Committee. The citation includes ISBN, pagination
and cost complemented by cover art and a brief, 20 word summary. Last
visited: 03/2005
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