Magazines

By Clayton A. Couch -- Library Journal, 9/1/2006

Living Bird. 1991. q. $40. Ed: Tim Gallagher. www.birds.cornell.edu/Publications/LivingBird. ISSN 1059-521X. Illus. adv. Aud: GA (Subject: Ornithology. Issue examined: Vol. 25, No. 1, Winter 2006)

Produced by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Living Bird is aimed at amateur bird- watchers. The issue examined features stunning full-color photographs of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and the Rosy Starling of Turkey. A piece about the use of digital cameras in bird photography is a must-read for any backyard birder. Recommended for most public libraries and some academic libraries.

As knowledge of the universe is increasingly plagued by isolated, subject-specific academic discussion, there is a need for more publications that encourage interdisciplinary exchange, like the Journal of Consciousness Studies (JCS). Consciousness studies, a relatively new subfield within cognitive science, draws its founding ideas from neurophysiology, philosophy, and psychology, among others. To encourage lively debate within JCS's pages, the editors emphasize clarity of thought over jargon-laden language, which makes this journal one that ought to be on the shelves of most academic libraries.

With interest rates growing, raising capital is one of the biggest challenges home business owners face. Home-based entrepreneurs do, however, have a publication that's on their side. Whether a reader is a visual artist who wants to learn how to market paintings, or the owner of a web site design business looking to attract new investors, this helpful publication will provide the information required for success. Highly recommended for most libraries.

Readers who work in the construction industry or want to restore an older home will learn that The Journal of Light Construction (JLC) is nearly indispensable, providing information on adding a cantilevered bay to a concrete foundation and renewing the luster toof wood floors without sanding. Although JLC iit'Is a magazine designedbuilt for moderately experienced builders and repair persons, most public libraries will find itthis a good buy.

Although it doesn't obviously stand out from the rest of the literary journal crowd, The Chattahoochee Review (CR), the literary quarterly of Georgia Perimeter College, is worth reading. ItCR's editors seem to have a knack for finding quality fiction and poetry, as evidenced bywitnessed in the profiled issue, featuring the works of Bruce Holland Rogers, Urs Frei, Melissa Henderson, and George Szirtes. The special section on contemporary U.K. poets, introduced by Szirtes, is also highly recommended. For libraries with large contemporary literature collections.

Stylish and confident, the multidisciplinary Centro Journal studies Puerto Rican culture in all of its expansive manifestations. The Fall 2005 issue features a stunning special section on Puerto Rican visual artists in the United States, focusing on the aesthetic results of social displacement and fragmented identity. Additional articles include Juan José Baldrich's piece on the Americanization of Puerto Rican tobacco from 1847 to 1903 and Richard Perez's look at the current state of Latino/a literary theory. For most academic and large public libraries.

Presented as the “ultimate beauty guide for women of color,” Jolie seems rather slight for a bimonthly popular magazine. Nearly half of the profiled issue's 66 pages are made up of photographs (this publication's preeminent feature by far) and advertisements, which leaves precious little room for text. If the writing can achieve a level of parity with the high visual standards, Jolie's chances for success at the newsstand will improve immensely. Recommended for large public libraries.

Now that the side effects of American industrial/postindustrial civilization are beginning to intrude upon the lives of average individuals, a new, overarching ethic of conservation seems more necessary than ever before. The editors of Conservation in Practice are working toward just such an ethic. Articles like “Are We Consuming Too Much?,”, which investigates a future where ecology and economics are conjoined, bring the possibility into much clearer focus. Recommended for most libraries.