February 14th, 2008 Brian Herzog
Last week’s Reference Question was about me finding a new source for suggesting good books for patrons - the Mass Book Awards.
Liz’s comment on the post was a good one, and I thought it warranted a bit of research and a full post devoted to answering it. She said:
There are a few websites which allow you to enter some of your favorite bands and it pops out suggestions of similar bands you might like - wouldn’t it be awesome if they had a site like that for books?…
Here are some resources I found that let you search for a book/author you like, and then link from it to similar books:
- WhatShouldIReadNext.com - search for a book to see recommendations
- reader2.com - search for a book to see recommendations; also shows tags associated with each book
- AllReaders.com - search for a title or author, and similar books are listed at the end of each book description; also allows searching by plot, setting, or character
- StoryCode.com - lets you search for a title or author and suggests similar stories (based on user data); also has other features
- LibraryThing.com - offers book suggestions based on user-entered tags; you can also browse tags for books on a certain subject, or use their unsuggester to find books unlike a particular book
- GoodReads.com - seems a lot like LibraryThing, but puts more emphasis on recommendations of people in your friends network rather than cumulative data
- NoveList - the old standby, but you probably need to go through your local library for it
- Amazon.com - it is Amazon, so it’s primary focus is to sell book, not recommend them, but it does offer suggestions based on what people purchase and search by topic (as it were)
There are lots of other sites devoted to book suggestions. A few others I found that didn’t fit above but that are also useful are:
- Listal.com Books - search (hidden in upper right corner) for books and link to others via tags (seems to focus more on social connections)
- FictionFinder from OCLC - offers Subject cloud (like tag cloud) to find similar books; also allows searching, and each book has links to see other books with the same subjects, genres, characters or setting
- Find a Good Book from Hennepin County Library - search for an author to find recommended reading lists where that author’s books appear (plus links to other listings and resources)
- Staff Recommendations from the Skokie Public Library - search for a subject to find books their staff has reviewed and recommends
And here’s a few resources that are list-based - you click the subject you like, and you browse the list of books in that subject:
I’m sure there are tons of others - even my library also has a readers advisory webpage. If I missed one of your favorites, please share it with a comment below.
Tags: advisory, book, Books, libraries, Library, public, reader, readers, readers advisory, reading, recommendations, suggestions See Also
Posted under Books, Library, Resources | 4 Comments »
February 9th, 2008 Brian Herzog
This week’s question is one heard often:
“do you have any suggestions for a good book?”
Librarians either love of hate this question. I’ve talked about various readers advisory tools (and the old standard, NoveList), but I learned of a new one this week.
On Thursday, I went to the Massachusetts State House to attend the presentation of the 2008 Massachusetts Book Awards (photos).
Each year, the Massachusetts Center for the Book evaluates hundreds of entrants in the categories of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and childrens books, and selects a winner and two honorees in each category.
Part of the criteria is that the author is a Massachusetts resident or the work in some way is significant to Massachusetts. Their website has the list of this year’s winners as well as winners from past years, and I think this is a great resource for readers advisory. This year’s books included Nathaniel Philbrick (Mayflower), Noam Chomsky (Failed States), and Martín Espada (The Republic of Poetry), among others, so these aren’t local interest-only works.
What I also liked is that the Massachusetts Center for the Book is part of the Library of Congress‘ Center for the Book program. Which means, not only can I refer patrons to these few Massachusetts, but there are 49 other state programs, all evaluating and highlighting significant books.
I’ve used the Center for the Book for other things, but never the award winner lists for readers advisory. So not only was it a fun trip to Boston, but I learned something, too.
Tags: advisory, book awards, Books, center for the book, libraries, Library, ma, mass, massachustts, public, reader, readers, readers advisory, Reference Question, state house See Also
Posted under Books, Library, Reference Question | 1 Comment »
February 5th, 2008 Brian Herzog
Last week, we received a large package from the U. S. Census Bureau. In it was a copy of Census Atlas of the United States and a letter that read (in part):
I am pleased to be able to present the Chelmsford Public Library with a copy of the recently-published Census Atlas of the United States, a volume which I cooauthered with several colleagues at the Census Bureau here in Washington, DC.
…I wanted to personally send a copy to the Chelmsford Public Library as a way of expressing my profound gratitude to the library for the role it played in helping me discover my career as a demographer.
I grew up in Chelmsford…and as a kid spent many rainy Sunday afternoons at the Adams Library. When an elementary school research project required me to incorporate census data, I found myself in the top floor of the old library, poring through Census volumes with the assistance of the reference librarian. I didn’t know it at the time, but those afternoons looking through old census volumes were my introduction to population statistics and to the Census Bureau, and a preview of what is now a rewarding and enjoyable career as a demographer and statistician for the federal government.
…Who knows - maybe [this donated volume] will inspire a future career path for some youngster spending quality in the library on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
Not only is this a wonderful story, and a nice sentiment, but the atlas itself is pretty incredible. It is large, 12-1/4″ x 15-1/4″ - and almost every page is a glossy, full-color map of a particular population breakdown. Definitely a nice addition to our reference collection, and probably one that I wouldn’t have purchased.
So, the moral of the story is, once again, a patron’s library experience is critical to the health and longevity of a library.
donation, donations, experience, libraries, library, patron, patrons, public
See Also
Posted under Books, Library | 2 Comments »
January 8th, 2008 Brian Herzog
Lewis Carroll’s Alice stories are among my all-time favorite books. And Tim Burton has made some movies that I have really enjoyed. So I should be happy that he’s going to direct a film adaptation of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, right?
Well… Alice is one of those stories that I like so much that I get nervous any time I hear someone meddling with it. I’m sure Burton will produce a highly watchable movie, but how true it will be to Carroll’s tale has yet to be seen.
Burton, if you recall, took some liberties with another favorite story, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He got the name right, which has also plagued the Alice books, but the movie over all was about as close to Roald Dahl’s book as was the Gene Wilder version of the story. Both good movies, yes, but neither entirely faithful to the original book.
So, I guess we’ll see. It could be great, or, well, or it could be another Alice flop. But either way, it won’t be as bad as Whoopi Goldberg playing the Cheshire Cat.
via BoingBoing
alice in wonderland, alice’s adventures in wonderland, film, lewis carroll, movie, tim burton
See Also
Posted under Books, Library | No Comments »
January 3rd, 2008 Brian Herzog
This post is somewhat in the New Year’s spirit of “out with the old, in with the new…”
Although I’ve worked around books for a long time, two things happened last week that have never happened to me before:
Books, Coming:
I was chosen to be a LibraryThing Early Reviewer! I’ve been trying ever since they started, but this is the first time I’ve gotten to participate.
A copy of Tim Dorsey’s Atomic Lobster showed up on my doorstep right after Christmas ‘07, even though it’s not being published until 1/22/08. I’ve never read anything by him, let alone the preceding books in this series, but I’m always open to reading new things.
Thank you, LibraryThing and HarperCollins. I’ll read and review it as soon as I finish one of my Christmas presents, Water for Elephants.
Books, Going:
Faithful readers may remember me mentioning the idea of an Airport Public Library, and then using BookCrossing to kick it off.
Since then, every time I’ve flown somewhere, I leave books in airports. My trip to Ohio for Christmas resulted in the APL’s first circulation - someone “captured” and registered one of my books on the site.
What a good week for books.
airport public library, apl, book, bookcrossing, books, early reviewer, early reviewers, library, librarything, lt, thing
Tags: airport public library, apl, book, bookcrossing, Books, early reviewer, early reviewers, Library, librarything, lt, thing See Also
Posted under Books, Library, Random | 1 Comment »
