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Letter from the book review editor
letter from the Book Review Editor
CHRIS KUEHL* Baker University
This issue of the Social Science Journal marks the first in which I am serving as Book Review Editor. Much of what I want to accomplish in this capacity will depend on the readers and the interests of WSSA’s membership. In this essay I want to explore some of my ideas with you and encourage your comments and criticisms. The reviews contained in this issue represent a somewhat traditional format in which a recent book of note is commented upon in order to provide others with some sense as to whether it should be read and its general quality. I would like to continue offering these but I think there is room for other, less traditional approaches.
TEXTBOOK
REVIEWS
Each semester finds members of the teaching profession sorting through a welter of texts which we have requested for review or have arrived unannounced with effusive praise from publisher’s representatives and one paragraph blurbs from notables who declare their undying love for the text in question. The problem is that the information rarely tells us what we want to know about the book as a teaching tool. On what level is it written? What is the political/economic slant of the book? What major issues are dealt with and how? What issues are given short shrift? How am I supposed to use this in class and what areas will I need to elaborate on, etc.? I would like to encourage some ambitious readers to look at a few texts in their field and try to provide that kind of analysis for the rest of us.
*Direct all correspondence 594-645 1.
to: Chris Kuehl, Baker University,
Baldwin City, Kansas 66006. Telephone:
The Social Science Journal, Volume 30, Number 2, pages 209-210. Copyright @ 1993 by JAI Press Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. ISSN: 0362-3319.
(913)
210
THE SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL Vol. 30/No. 2/1993
As we become increasingly inundated with the many and varied ways we can employ our computers, it becomes more difficult to separate the useful program from the gimmick. I would like to encourage readers to comment on the software they are currently using and I would further like to encourage readers to conduct some investigations into software offerings in a comparative format. Comparisons of simulations, word processing systems, grading systems, statistical packages, information retrieval systems and dozens of others would be highly appropriate in this journal. The emphasis would be on the actual utility of the software rather than on its technical merit or complexity. The reviews that appear in computer publications too often fail to address the needs of the less technically oriented end user, an audience we would like to address.
“POPULAR”
BOOKS
Most of the books we are interested in are not going to be read by the general public and as a result they rarely enter the general discussion of even the informed layperson. I am interested in professional examinations of the books which are part of this national disclosure. I am interested in the books which appear on the New York Times Bestseller List and deal with the subjects of sociology, political science, history, economics and the many other social sciences. By commenting on these books we can become more involved in the “opinion shaping” that these books represent. In addition to these categories, I am interested in essays built around several books, critical examinations of books that have been infhtential for some time as well as all the traditional review formats. I am interested in creating a responsive, informative and lively section which will meet the needs of the broad and varied audiences we serve through the journal. I welcome comments on this goal and I certainly welcome your contributions and inquiries regarding reviews for future issues.
CHRIS KUEHL* Baker University
This issue of the Social Science Journal marks the first in which I am serving as Book Review Editor. Much of what I want to accomplish in this capacity will depend on the readers and the interests of WSSA’s membership. In this essay I want to explore some of my ideas with you and encourage your comments and criticisms. The reviews contained in this issue represent a somewhat traditional format in which a recent book of note is commented upon in order to provide others with some sense as to whether it should be read and its general quality. I would like to continue offering these but I think there is room for other, less traditional approaches.
TEXTBOOK
REVIEWS
Each semester finds members of the teaching profession sorting through a welter of texts which we have requested for review or have arrived unannounced with effusive praise from publisher’s representatives and one paragraph blurbs from notables who declare their undying love for the text in question. The problem is that the information rarely tells us what we want to know about the book as a teaching tool. On what level is it written? What is the political/economic slant of the book? What major issues are dealt with and how? What issues are given short shrift? How am I supposed to use this in class and what areas will I need to elaborate on, etc.? I would like to encourage some ambitious readers to look at a few texts in their field and try to provide that kind of analysis for the rest of us.
*Direct all correspondence 594-645 1.
to: Chris Kuehl, Baker University,
Baldwin City, Kansas 66006. Telephone:
The Social Science Journal, Volume 30, Number 2, pages 209-210. Copyright @ 1993 by JAI Press Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. ISSN: 0362-3319.
(913)
210
THE SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL Vol. 30/No. 2/1993
As we become increasingly inundated with the many and varied ways we can employ our computers, it becomes more difficult to separate the useful program from the gimmick. I would like to encourage readers to comment on the software they are currently using and I would further like to encourage readers to conduct some investigations into software offerings in a comparative format. Comparisons of simulations, word processing systems, grading systems, statistical packages, information retrieval systems and dozens of others would be highly appropriate in this journal. The emphasis would be on the actual utility of the software rather than on its technical merit or complexity. The reviews that appear in computer publications too often fail to address the needs of the less technically oriented end user, an audience we would like to address.
“POPULAR”
BOOKS
Most of the books we are interested in are not going to be read by the general public and as a result they rarely enter the general discussion of even the informed layperson. I am interested in professional examinations of the books which are part of this national disclosure. I am interested in the books which appear on the New York Times Bestseller List and deal with the subjects of sociology, political science, history, economics and the many other social sciences. By commenting on these books we can become more involved in the “opinion shaping” that these books represent. In addition to these categories, I am interested in essays built around several books, critical examinations of books that have been infhtential for some time as well as all the traditional review formats. I am interested in creating a responsive, informative and lively section which will meet the needs of the broad and varied audiences we serve through the journal. I welcome comments on this goal and I certainly welcome your contributions and inquiries regarding reviews for future issues.