Rating Changes

I agonize over the star ratings in my reviews. I don’t even know if anyone out there cares what the rating is, but I do. If I’m going to rate something, I want that rating to reflect my opinion as accurately as possible. The good thing is that the more reviews I do, the better I’m able to compare books with each other. But looking back, I’ve found that I no longer agree with some of my ratings.

Here are the changes that I’ve made:

  • cover of A Field Guide to Warblers of North America (Peterson Guide) A Field Guide to Warblers of North America (Peterson Guide)
    by Jon Dunn and Kimball Garrett
       

    REVIEW. This was one of my original reviews, and is much shorter than one I would write now. I need to just rewrite it. But in the meantime, I went ahead and changed the rating because I was too harsh initially. I could go with either 4 or 4.5, but went with the higher because this guide is incredibly useful.

    My complaints about it involve size (too small, thus making it too thick and reducing picture sizes), and the printing quality of the plates. However, it is full of useful information and illustrations. I think this is one of the few family-specific ID guides every North American birder absolutely needs. It’s still the first resource I turn to for warbler questions.

  • cover of Birding For Everyone: Encouraging People of Color to Become Birdwatchers, by John C. Robinson Birding For Everyone: Encouraging People of Color to Become Birdwatchers
    by John C. Robinson
       

    REVIEW. My initial rating was based on my opinion that this is an important book for the future of birding. My opinion regarding that has not changed. However, based strictly on the content and organization, I would have given it a much lower score. I think 3.5 to 4 stars is a good range, considering everything.

  • cover of Raptors of North America: Natural History and Conservation Raptors of North America: Natural History and Conservation
    by Noel and Helen Snyder
       

    REVIEW. I’m not sure what I was thinking here. After reading many more bird family books, I find that I keep comparing them to this one. The photography and text are both outstanding. It’s still not the place to turn to for identification or a quick summary of natural history information. But it’s a great read, and lets you really get to know these birds.

  • cover of The Sound Approach to Birding The Sound Approach to Birding
    by Mark Constantine and The Sound Approach
       

    REVIEW. This is a revolutionary book that will increase your understanding and enjoyment of bird sounds. It fully deserves the highest rating.

  • cover of A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All A Supremely Bad Idea: Three Mad Birders and Their Quest to See It All
    by Luke Dempsey
       

    REVIEW. I really enjoyed this, but comparing it to some other ratings, I think I need to drop it down a notch.

  • cover of Audubon VideoGuide to 505 Birds of North America Audubon VideoGuide to 505 Birds of North America
       

    REVIEW. This will be less and less relevant as time goes on. The internet is already a better source of bird videos and (especially) photos. And now we have portable applications such as iBird. There may still be a market for a disc-based collection (DVD, or better yet, blu-ray). But this is not that collection – it would need to be completely overhauled and updated.

  • A Guide to Bird Watching
    by Joseph J. Hickey
       

    REVIEW. No, this classic won’t make modern birders “better” at their craft. But it is still worth reading for many reasons, foremost among them Hickey’s still-pertinent plea that bird watching be more than simple ticks on a checklist. Definitely worth reading.

There are a few more ratings that I’m less than confident about, but I’ll let them stand for now.

Does anyone find these ratings useful?

Posted by Grant McCreary on October 30th, 2009.

Category: Other

Tags: , , , , , ,

One Comment

  • John Riutta says:

    In my own case I opted not to use a graphic rating system as I found it to be too rough a scale in relation to the subtleties I wrote in the reviews themselves. I think your own reviews carry the weight of your message without needing the additional rating system. We live in a world with too much “short-hand” symbolism; trust your words to convey your meaning – they do so quite well.

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