Recently, I was in search of a new-to-me author – one I had never read, and, perhaps, had not heard of?!?!
Several months ago, a new feature appeared in our catalog – suggestions of books readers might like. Off to check the Minerva catalog I go. I know I enjoyed Gail Carriger’s Steampunk series, The Parasol Protectorate, so I do a search for Gail Carriger. Once I bring up the first title in this series, I scroll to the bottom of the page – several book covers are displayed, with author, title, and “Why this match?” I hover my cursor over the question and am given an idea of “Why this match?” I see why this title is shown.
Clicking on the title of a book sends me right to the title in the Minerva catalog, and I am able to request a new author!
Being a bit curious, and pretty sure that this in generated through the MARVEL database NoveList, I decide to check out NoveList.
I do the same search of Gail Carriger and am offered the same titles. That was easy!
While I’m here, I decide to poke around NoveList, and see what new features are available.
Back to the NoveList home page I go. Across the top of the page I see Home ; Browse By ; Especially For; Quick Links and How Do I? Hmmm . . . I’m pretty sure that Home brings me to the Home page, and hovering my cursor over the other options gives me ideas of what they might be used for. Under the Browse By heading I see a couple of interesting ideas – Award Winners and Audiobooks to be specific.
I click on Award Winners. WOW – there must be fifty or more listed as Popular Awards, and at the bottom of the page is a link to Browse All Award Winners and Notable Books. Again, WOW! There are PAGES of award books to look through!
Next, I look at the Audiobooksheading. There are not as many choices on this page, however there are several interesting Recommended Reading Lists on the right hand side of the page. The site separates the lists as Adult Lists and Children & Teen Lists. Among the Children & Teen Lists there is a list called Famous Voices: Celebrity Readers – interesting! Clicking here brings me to a page with, you guessed it, audiobooks read by celebrities! I really like this concept, as certain voices translate to audio better than others, but I wish there was a list like this for Adult titles, as well!
Back to the menu bar across the top of the page I go. This time I hover over Quick Links. There are a couple of links that look to be especially interesting to School Librarians and Teachers – Common Core and Curriculum Connections. A link of possible interest for the next book discussion is Book Discussion Guides. I am not able to search the Discussion Guides by title, but it might be helpful when searching for a title for a discussion group.
I do click on the Books to Movies link. I am taken to a page titled Books To Movies – 2016. This is an alphabetical list of some of the books that are being filmed this year. I see a short bit of information about the books, but nothing about when the movie might be available, or actors, etc. This actually makes sense, as I am looking at a book site, but as usual, I’m curious!
I go back to the menu bar again and look at How Do I? As you might imagine, this is a link to those FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) we see on many websites.
Back on the Homepage, I notice on the left side tabs stating Fiction and Nonfiction. Beneath the tabs there are choices – Adult, Teen, Ages 9-12 and Ages 0-8.
As I am seeing the Adultlists first, both the fiction and the nonfiction have several genre related categories, as well as Best of 2015lists. These lists would be a great way to gather items for specific book displays. A tool to remember.
Moving through the age categories, they each appear to be genre lists as well. There are a few lists, however, that I find intriguing.
All Kinds Of Livesis truly that. These are book lists of a variety of backgrounds. These include such ideas as Life On The Autism Spectrum, Teen Homeschoolers’ Lives and LGBTQIA. What a great place to start when I have someone looking for Christian Lives,or The Disability Experience.
Another link I find of interest is For Fans Of . . . This one appears to be of interest for someone who is a particular fan of specific television programs, movies or even music bands. The Downton Abbey link gives several suggestions – Velvet Undercover, by Teri J. Brown and A Countess Below Stairs, by Eva Ibbotson, are just a couple.
Okay, it looks like I need to use NoveList on a MUCH more frequent basis and in many more ways than I have been in the past!
Ann Russell, Technology Librarian