Book appraisal assesses a book’s suitability for publication, research, and university libraries. Publishers evaluate books before publishing, while libraries have formal evaluations. Outdated information can result in removal from libraries. Reviews by professional critics can determine a book’s financial success.
A book appraisal is an assessment of a book’s suitability for a particular purpose. Most books are reviewed by a publisher before they are deemed suitable for publication. Books from major publishing houses and those selected for research and university libraries can be rated multiple times. Evaluation of a book includes analysis of the author(s), publisher, subject matter, and bibliographic material. Older books are often evaluated to ensure that the information they contain is still up to date.
All books begin as manuscripts created by an author and submitted to a publisher. If the author has an agent, the agency can ask an in-house publisher to rate the book before submitting it. If not, the book will first be reviewed by an employee of the publishing house. If deemed suitable for the needs of the house, it will be passed on to a publisher or series of publishers. These publishers will prepare a more in-depth book evaluation to determine if the work is worthy of publication.
Once the book has overcome these obstacles, it is published and marketed to both the general public and a specialized audience. For many books, especially fiction, there is only one level of final evaluation, reviews by professional critics. In many cases, a review is a critic’s subjective, emotional response to a work rather than a formal evaluation of the book. These reviews can determine a book’s financial success, particularly if they appear in an influential source, such as Publisher’s Weekly or the New York Times Book Review.
Works selected for a university or public library are subject to further book evaluation. This evaluation is very formal and systematic; takes into account the editorial data available and compares them with the needs of the institution. In a university library, for example, books are often used as references for academic research papers. If an author, book, or topic is deemed inappropriate as a reference material, this may result in the book being removed from the library.
Often, this happens because the information in the book is out of date. Academic materials, particularly in the sciences, need to be updated frequently as new discoveries are made. That’s why researchers follow academic and scientific journals documenting these new discoveries. If the information in a book is outdated, the book may be removed from the library to avoid errors by students or researchers. Whether a book is accepted or rejected, the book’s rating is kept on file, so information about its eligibility is available for future ratings.
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