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First impressions

  • Does the title accurately and completely reflect the content?

Scope

  • What time periods and/or geographical areas does it cover?
  • How is inclusion into this source determined?
  • What other limitations are mentioned in the front matter?

Coverage

  •  Is it meant to be all-encompassing?
  • An overview or survey?

Arrangement

  • Alphabetical? Chronological? By some other means?

Special Features

  • Index or indexes? What kind?
  • If there is no index, does that make the book more difficult to use? Table of contents? Bibliography? Appendices? Illustrations?

Authorship/Authority

  • If the book consists of individually written contributions, are the articles attributed?
  • If the book was written or compiled by one or more authors, are their credentials given? Does the author(s) seem qualified to write on the subject, based on the credentials?

Audience

  •  Who is the target reader for this book: scholar, casual reader, undergraduate?
  • Is the audience very specific (opera singers, jazz musicians, violinists) or general?

Timeliness

  • If it’s an older edition, does that make the content less useful? Why or why not?