Comparative Analysis of Professional Journals

Publishers Weekly

and

JMLA:  Journal of the Medical Library Association

a.  Publishers Weekly is aimed at people who are purchasing books.  This could be public librarians, but could also include publishers,individual booksellers, and/or large bookstores.  JMLA is compiled specifically for Medical Librarians.     

b.  Publishers Weekly publishes book reviews about the newest books, awards and prizes given out to books and/or publishers, financial information about book publishers and other general information about the world of book publishing.  JMLA publishes peer-reviwed articles relating to medical librarianship.  These articles could include case studies, editorials, research papers and some book reviews, that all relate to the field of medical librarianship. 

c.  Publishers Weekly is not peer-reviewed.  JMLA is peer-reviewed.  To be peer-reviwed in the case of JMLA means that the journal articles were examined by experts in the field of medical library science before they were published in JMLA.  This is very important in for medical journals.  I am asked many times a day by nursing students to help them locate "peer-reviwed" journal articles.  It is like fact-checking for these journals.  It is the best way to make sure articles are accurate and free of misinformation.      

d.  One thing I found interesting about the Publishers Weekly was their service called PW Select.  PW Select is a supplement to Publishers Weekly.  In it you will find information about the self-publishing community, including reviews of self-published titles and author interviews.  PW Select offers self-published authors the opportunity to promote their book through Publishers Weekly. 

 
Both journals are in some way marketed to librarians.  Publishers Weekly can be a great journal to find book reviews for public librarians who are looking to add titles to their library collection. JMLA also shares book reviews but they are specifically for medical texts.  JMLA largely consists of scholarly information while Publishers Weekly has a more "entertainment" look and feel to it.  These differences tell me that there the field of library science is wide and varied.  I hope to learn the general basics of the library science profession so that even if I do not find a career as a medical librarian, I will still have marketable skills that I can put to use in another type of library job.