From: Lynn Rutan <lynnrutan_at_charter.net>
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:46:12 -0500

I think most reviewers would agree with you, Marc. I am sure that most of us wish for more time to read, reread, and reflect. The problem is that we have very short deadlines as well as very few words. I'm a contract reviewer for Booklist and I have three reviews due in two weeks. That isn't a lot of time when reviewing is something you do on top of other full-time jobs.

The journals are trying to review as many books as possible in a timely fashion and still provide thoughtful meaningful reviews. I think everyone takes their roles very seriously but the constraints pose big problems. What changes would you suggest? Do you think that the upsurge of blogs is helping to addressing the issue? Blogging is still quite new and most bloggers are independent reviewers separate from the professional journals so I'm interested in how you and other authors see the blogging community.

I'm a blogger as well as being a journal reviewer and I'm interested in how blogs in general are regarded in comparison to professional journal reviews by those who read them for collection development, by authors and by publishers.

Lynn Rutan Librarian Bookends Holland, MI lynnrutan_at_charter.net
Received on Sun 15 Nov 2009 09:46:12 AM CST