Book Review Guidelines

Libraries & the Cultural Record publishes reviews of current books relating to the broad history of collections of recorded knowledge in libraries, archives, and museums, and to the individuals involved in creating, organizing, preserving or facilitating access to these collections. Book reviewers should be prepared to comment on the work under review from this perspective. This is particularly important when the work is not devoted solely to those subjects within the journal's scope.

Reviewers should first browse the books available for review and then e-mail a request to LCR@ischool.utexas.edu. (If you have not previously written a review for L&CR, please include a CV and a writing sample.) You will be contacted regarding an assignment and deadline.

The journal welcomes suggestions for books to review; please specify whether or not you would like to be the reviewer. (Please note that suggested books occasionally are assigned to other reviewers.) Libraries & the Cultural Record is interested in works that explore the history of one or more of the following:

  • libraries and librarianship
  • archival and records enterprise
  • preservation and conservation of the documentary cultural record
  • history museums and museum administration

Manuscript Guidelines

  • 500-1,000 words in length
  • MS Word document in Times New Roman 12-point font
  • Text should follow The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition
  • Double-spaced, including long quotations and endnotes
  • One-inch margins on all sides
  • Page numbers in the upper right margin
  • All copy aligned left; do not justify
  • Paragraphs indented five spaces with a single tab
  • No extra space between paragraphs
  • One space only after each period mark
  • Include page numbers (in parentheses) for all quotations from the book being reviewed. For other works cited, include author's complete name(s), title, publisher, and place and date of publication.
  • Endnotes may be used for unusually long bibliographical references or for incidental explanatory points that, in the judgment of the reviewer, would seriously interrupt the continuity of the text. Endnotes should appear on a separate page and should conform to “Humanities Style” in The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition.
  • Include the first name and/or initial(s) of all persons in the first reference.
  • Use the full title of an organization in the first reference, with acronym in parentheses. Acronyms may be used in all subsequent references.
  • List your name and institutional affiliation, or city, at the end of the review.

Submission

  • On a separate page, provide your name, e-mail address, mailing address, and phone number.
  • Manuscripts should be received by the deadline assigned. Please notify us if you cannot meet the deadline. If reviews are received past the deadline, the editor may decline to publish the review.
  • E-mail manuscript as a MS Word attachment to LCR@ischool.utexas.edu.

It takes approximately nine months from the date of submission for a book review to appear in publication. Reviews may be edited for clarity or to meet space limitations. A review may be declined for publication if the editor determines it does not reflect the quality of writing and scholarly reflection the journal requires of published reviews.