Current awareness begins with some identification of wants and needs.
What
information does the reader advisor need to be able to continue to do
well? Typically,
this professional needs information about new works as well as
help in
identifying older works than have become standards. Standards change
with
the times so that new works and new authors gradually become part of
the "canon" of a
genre or a sub-genre. In some cases, an author whose works were not
that
popular when first released is "discovered" and becomes popular later.
Be careful not to focus on older standard authors that were popular
several years ago while negelecting more recent ones.
All librarians are familiar with the problems involved in trying to keep up with new materials. Keeping up with a single genre is difficult, but keeping up with several can be overwhelming. We need to know about:
Which of these might be most important to the reader advisor?
As noted elsewhere, a few libraries have placed a considerable amount of useful RA material on their websites. Waterboro Public Library in Maine is a good example with its clearinghouse for library created recommended reading lists. It is important to identify leaders in the field and keep up with what they are doing. Which public library would you want to monitor?
Many readers have favorite authors and enjoy reading, and sometimes rereading, all the works of a particular author. Other readers will want to read the standard or classic authors and titles. We need to know:
Which of these might be most important to the reader advisor?
FreeBooknotes.com
contains summaries for about 1600 standard classic works in the Cliff
Notes manner. This can be useful for standard fiction unless you
believe that such summaries are evil. Not useful for genre fiction.
For most of us, current awareness begins with Booklist and
Library Journal,
and perhaps Kirkus.
Traditionally, reader's
advisors kept up with new materials by reading a few reviews in a few
standard sources. Thus, Fiction
Catalog, Publisher's Weekly,and
Library Journal would handle both retrospective and
current
information needs. Today's reader advisor needs to be aware of a richer
variety of sources, including: periodicals (print and digital),
promotional
material prepared by vendors, publisher WWW sites, author WWW sites,
WWW
book stores, news groups, and discussion lists. We should also remember
that feedback from colleagues, both professional and nonprofessional,
and
patrons may provide very helpful information about new material. This
is
especially important if you are unable to review more specialized
sources
in hard copy or on the WWW.
Many websites are useful for new books. BookBrowser
includes reviews, lists, and the like. It is now part of Barnes &
Noble and I don't know if that will impact its utility. Overbooked is similar but seems
better organized to me. Strong coverage of new books. Starred reviews
are useful for selection as are the several reading lists. BookBrowse.com is an elegant,
thoughtful site that contains reviews, lists, and excerpts.
Publishers Weekly is probably the best general resource here. Not only does it review a fair number of genre titles, but the many publisher announcements contain a considerable amount of information about new and forthcoming titles. News notes columns also contain information. From time to time, thoughtful survey articles discuss the current state of the art in such genres as mystery, romance, SF/fantasy, and Christian fiction. In addition, the Bookwire website often includes useful complementary information. Beware of receiving a routed copy so that you are looking at the March issue in November. Once popular authors have been established, announcements are probably more helpful than reviews.
The big three library reviewing periodicals-- BookList, Kirkus, and Library Journal include genre fiction. Although a relatively small proportion of the output is reviewed, important works in trade paper or hard cover editions are likely to be covered. Titles reviewed in more than one of these periodicals are a good choice for the library with limited collections. Spend some time with a few recent paper issues of each of these titles to see how they cover general fiction and the several genres emphasized in this course:
Based on this experience, which of the three sources would you
use if you
could use but one?
With many older readers and those with visual problems,
you may also wish to browse in Large Print Reviews.
This source includes some sample text and also reviews audio books as
well.
If you are looking for book reviews on the WWW, the Vanderbilt
Acquisitions WWW site is probably the best place to begin. Fiction Digest is a solid,
general
resource that can supplement standard paper sources. The New York
Times has a good book site that allows you to sample selected newer
works [not good for genre fiction].
There are many review sites on the web. A good example is No Flying, No Tights
which reviews graphic novels for kids, teens, and adults.
Most genres have at least one specialist periodical (sometimes these are fanzines [amateur publications] and sometimes they are prozines [published by professionals to make at least a little profit] that include news about authors and publishers as well as announcements, advertisements, and reviews of new works. The standard periodical directories, including Ulrich's available via the UT Library database page, provide reasonably good coverage of these specialist periodicals, but it is usually difficult to tell which ones are relevant if there are many hits (339 for "science fiction" and CY=US). It may be better to go to a comprehensive genre WWW site. Can you identify at least one genre specific periodical for your favorite genre?
Locus is the best known of the
SF/fantasy/dark fantasy specialist periodicals and is a good model for
the
periodical devoted to genre news. It provides considerable news about
the
book trade (largely limited to the genre), commentary, reviews, and
listings, including books received and books forthcoming (US and UK).
The
reviews are generally excellent, but reviewers tend to be sophisticated
and
may poo-poo some work that is likely to be popular and crow over work
that is well-done
but may be much less popular. This can be a problem with specialist
reviewers.
There are also websites devoted to topics that cut accross genres. Dangerously Curvy Novels
features stories with "realistically proportioned heroines." Ignore the
popups, and check the "curvy links."
With larger collections, the announcements and advertisements in a specialist periodical may be all that is needed to order a new work by a known author (would include ordering from your lease plan). Often, these guide your own reading and the reviews may substitute for the works that you are unable to read. Use your favorite search engines to find the digital periodicals and web sites for some of the hard copy ones. Because of the nature of manufacturing and mailing a hard copy review periodical, reviews may be slow to appear. In my experience, website reviews tend to be much more current, but the authority of the reviewer may be in question, especially with the fanzine reviews. Can you find one good WWW site that includes reviews for recent works in your favorite genre?
Bookwire, the Publishers Weekly web site, provides one of the most comprehensive lists of publishers on the web and this includes access for some of the more popular genres. Yahoo!, via its literature page, also provides access to many genre sites, including some publishers and authors. Note that many publishers now include their URL in advertisements, flyers, and even on dust jackets. Can you find a WWW site for a leading publisher for your favorite genre? How useful is this site for reader advisory work?
With a few notable exceptions, genre fiction is published by large, multi-national firms and these usually have ambitious WWW sites. Some times, it takes a little effort to discover the parent organization. For example Del Rey Books is a Random house imprint. The Del Rey Books WWW site is typical. It contains sample chapters, a searchable catalog, links to author sites, and links to science fiction/fantasy resources. News about current books, awards, and the like is helpful. Information about forthcoming books and recommendations in sub genres may be helpful to the reader's advisor who is not familiar with the genre. I also enjoy looking at the jacket art on new books.
Some publishers, especially those that issue books for teens or books likely to be adopted for class room reading, provide discussion material on their website that can be helpful for selection, general RA work, and theme book talks.
Because the cost is relatively low, some genre publishers now distribute their newsletter by email and you can subscribe at their web site. This is a useful way to keep up with major publishers IF you do not receive similar printed material and have time to scan the newsletter.
Book stores usually have a substantial focus on the front list and new books are often displayed in a separate location. WWW book stores usually have a new book section or links for the major genres. The general and genre-specific bookstores on the WWW do a good job of listing and characterizing new works. Normally, this is much more inclusive, especially of mass market editions, than what you find elsewhere. reasonably omprehensive WWW sites devoted to a genre, for example the SF Site, also do a good job of listing and characterizing new and forthcoming titles. These sites may also include new and forthcoming books by smaller, specialist publishers as well as those published in Great Britain.
Book vendors, especially the larger ones, can be another excellent source of information about new and forthcoming books. Both Ingram and Baker and Taylor provide a variety of catalogs, flyers, and lists designed to keep the librarian aware of new materials. Major genres often receive special attention. This material should be available IF you order from the vendor.
Enthusiasts who read widely and deeply in a genre are often aware of new items because they continue to use the sources mentioned above to keep up with the genre. Especially if they are heavy library users, they may be willing to suggest new titles to be added to the collection.
While we are familiar with best seller lists in the New York Times and Publishers Weekly, these do not provide deep coverage of genre fiction. The large WWW book stores, Amazon.com for example, has the best selling status of each genre book in its inventory. Genre-specific periodicals, Locus for example, have best seller lists that focus on a particular genre or related ones. Although much less inclusive, genre-specific book clubs often do a good job of identifying popular titles and authors. Too, their "automatic" selections often stimulate considerable demand by those who do not select the book or may not belong to the club. Can you identify a book club for your favorite genre?
If communities are unique in their genre reading tastes, local book stores, especially those with automated inventory systems, may provide information about which titles are local best sellers. With the exception of some titles by a local author or with a local setting, I suspect that there is little variation in popularity from place to place within the U.S. Genre specific book stores usually cater to both a local and a larger regional or even national audience. Some of these stores maintain useful best seller lists. Can you find a WWW site for a book store that specializes in your genre?
Libraries, especially those with more sophisticated automated circulation systems, should be able to identify the "best circulators" and those titles with the most holds or reserves. Inadequate duplicate copies and the various costs associated with holds may make these lists problematic.
Library users are often interested in reading a book which has become a movie or they may wonder if a film has been made of a favorite book. Based on the Book is designed to answer these questions. The thoughtful readers' advisor will track new films likely to be popular in their community to see if they are based on a book and if so whether that book is in the collection.
The periodicals mentioned above, Publishers Weekly and the genre-specific ones, are often the best source of information about trends in editorial comment, news notes, articles, and letters to the editor. The Library Journal feature "Prepub Best Sellers" is a good way to identify genre fiction likely to be in demand from major authors in case a new title has been missed. Although not as likely, genres and genre author articles may also be found in more general mass circulation periodicals especially when an author is "hot." For example, the popularity of the Harry Potter books has resulted in a variety of articles in newspapers and popular periodicals on the appeal of fantasy. Although often not useful to the reader advisor, some literary scholarly periodicals provide thoughtful articles on the state of a genre.
Although probably too costly in time to be a useful resource for the reader advisor, discussion lists and news groups on the Internet can be a useful source of information or simply a waste of time.
Deja News allows you to search news groups looking for particular information, for example, a book review for a relatively unknown title or author. Note too the Interest Finder index that allows you to find news groups devoted to a particular topic. Most genre fiction news groups will be found in the rec. groups, but there are a few in the alt. group. Note that often only a few hits will be appropriate (only two of 36 hits on science fiction) and that the news groups listed here are not annotated so you would need to go elsewhere to learn more about particular groups and their traffic. The main advantage of a news group is that no messages clog your mail box. The main disadvantage is that you must make at least a small effort to go to the server and get the messages. Can you identify a news group that deals with your favorite genre and appears to be useful?
You probably have your own search engine for discussion lists. NeoSoft is one. Do remember that "Listserv" is a trade name and that there are many discussion lists that do not use the Listserv software. Thus, a search of Listserv lists will miss some important lists. As with the news groups, indexes are always problematic. A search on "science fiction" will probably yield some SF lists, but is likely to miss others. Both discussion lists and news groups may have a high proportion of low quality posts and you may decide that it is not worth the effort.
Once you have found a productive list, Dorothy-L for mysteries or Fiction_L for RA work, for example, you can use it to ask questions as well as learn from the contributions of others. For example, if you have difficulty in finding work for a theme book talk, a query to the list will often be helpful. Often, responses to queries are prompt. Can you identify some useful discussion lists for your favorite genre?
Thoughtful readers [certainly including library staff], and others in the community may be able to quickly identify trends and fads based upon their reading and reaction to current awareness reading.
There is a strong relationship between the mass media -- TV [network and cable] and film--and book popularity. While popular books are often made into films, popular films often create books. Star Wars and Star Trek are good examples. The thoughtful reader advisor will track film production and releases, relating this to likely demand on the book collection. For example, the new film version of the Lord of the Rings has created considerable interest in Tolkien and perhaps in heroic fantasy books].
While the sources mentioned above, especially the genre-specific periodicals, may contain announcements and reviews of new works about genres, sub genres, and themes, library review periodicals are often most helpful here as they review new reference works related to literature. American Reference Book Annual can be a particularly useful source for new books useful for reader advisory work. New periodicals are often difficult to identify, especially those launched by enthusiasts.
Comprehensive WWW sites for a genre or sub genre are an excellent
source for
"about information," including useful new WWW sites. There are many
good examples. Prehistoric
Fiction provides considerable information about this sub-sub-genre.
Some useful websites are mentioned in the lecture notes for specific genres.
Discussion lists, Dorothy-L for example, and news groups are also good sources of information about new resources, especially those not mentioned elsewhere.
The several volumes in Contemporary Authors [CT 220 .C59] and similar works often provide useful information for established genre authors. Gale now provides an index to the 40 major literature series it publishes via its WWW site. The index does NOT provide the entry but tells you which volumes contain entries on a particular author. Search by author or title. Quite a few genre authors may be found.
As genre fiction becomes more popular, more of its authors are included in these biographical compilations. and the various biographical indexes provide information about recent developments. For new authors, information sources are usually much more limited. Flap copy in books usually contains biographical information including mention of earlier and, perhaps, forthcoming works. Remember that author information in a published book is usually restricted to works issued by that publisher. Publisher catalogs, flyers, and WWW sites may provide author profiles for new authors. Increasingly, genre authors are creating their own WWW sites and these provide the most extensive source of information.
The best author WWW site indexes are those provided by publishers since
they are likely to be most current. Bookwire
has a
good list of author indexes and a good index to
author web sites. Yahoo! via its literature pages provides access to
many author pages. AuthorsOnTheWeb
is another useful website.
More authors today have their own web sites. Often, this is because publishers do not adequately promote their work or may only prom promote the recent title published by that house. C. J. Cherryh is a noted author of science fiction and fantasy. Her web site is perhaps more comprehensive than most. It includes a newsletter, information about forthcoming work, works that she has recently read and enjoyed, personal appearances, biographical information, how her works fit together (or don't), and favored links. Other author pages may contain a chapter in a forthcoming book. Clearly, it would be difficult to bookmark and visit a large number of author pages. Still, it can be helpful to select a handful of important authors and visit their site from time to time. When patrons keep asking about a sequel or a new book, the author site may be your best place to find realistic information. If you are developing a program or a book talk, author web sites may provide you with current, interesting content unavailable elsewhere.
Note that genre authors, for a variety of reasons, may publish under different names. Information about pseudonyms is needed to help readers who wish to read all the work of an author. While there are hard copy reference books, some databases, and WWW sites that provide this information, there are enough gaps to make this a continuing problem.
a.ka.a or also known as lists a large number of author pseudonyms, alias and the like. Some genre authors are included.
Publisher information is often easiest to find on their WWW site and in the various published materials that they distribute to the trade. Some genre publishers issue newsletters distributed via email or that appear on the WWW site. These are useful for information on new developments such as forthcoming books, changes in publication date, and author tours. The thoughtful reader advisor will identify major publishers for genres of interest and will:
Genreflecting is an example of a guide to the genre literature that does a good job of identifying guides, standard authors and noteworthy works for major genres. There are a variety of best book lists and guides for the various genres of interest to the readers advisor. Increasingly, you will find at least one genre guide that attempts to list and provide critical annotations for major works in a genre. Neil Barron has authored three such guides and they are good models for what the reader's advisor needs: Anatomy of Wonder [PN 3433.8 A5], Fantasy Literature [PN 3435 .F35] and Horror Literature [PN 3435 .H67]. Gale publishes a series of helpful guides--What Do I Read Next, What Do Young Adults Read Next, What Do Children Read Next and What Historical Novel Do I Read Next which are useful for reader's advisory work. These are available as a CD-ROM or a WWW collection as well as standalone hard copy series. Such guides are very useful for retrospective collection development and recommending the classics. Because they are not current, steps need to be taken to insure that newer works are recommended and not just the "tried and the true." By the time that a genre fiction title is established and visible to all, it may be of little interest to the active reader. WorldCat can help to identify a variety of these works and many can be found in Books in Print.
Although not always an indication of current reader interest,
genre-specific award winning works are almost always standard works.
These are important in genre fiction because they stimulate demand and
may
also indicate the best work in a genre. Smaller collections may even
limit
genre fiction selection to those that win a national award. Thus, a
list of
Hugo and Nebula award-winning novels is a relatively quick and easy way
to
develop a core SF collection. Both Bookwire
and
Yahoo! have good lists of sites that list awards and award winners. AwardWeb is a good
example of a site devoted to genre awards (with an emphasis on SF).
Most
genre specific sites will list award winners for the genre. Some of the
RA
sites in public libraries also provide access to award winners. Can
you identify "best" awards for your genre?
Thoughtful readers [may include library staff] who have kept up with a genre for a few years can usually identify at least a few of the standard authors and works. Lists found in the library literature are often dated and may focus on authors and titles popular several years ago.
Readaholics includes brief review from a few women who read heavily across several genres. Includes author profiles and links. This is a good example of the kind of information that can be gained from working with serious readers.
Although often idiosyncratic, many genre WWW sites contain lists of the best or classic works. Authors and titles found on several such lists are likely to be good candidates for the core collection.
Because the dividing line between general fiction and genres as well as sub-genres is often fuzzy, it can be important to be familiar with resources that attempt to cover general fiction. Historical and adventure fiction, for example, is often considered to be part of general fiction. Many fantasy novels could also be considered historical or adventure and the same is true of mysteries. Over time, you will develop a good sense of which genres are relatively well covered by genre specific resources and which are not.
Guides to the genre and best book lists usually provide this
information.
Enthusiasts and experts may not agree on which titles by a particular
author are the best. Again, it is a good idea to find more than one
list
select the titles mentioned by several. Representative or best title
information is especially important when developing a core
collection. Best lists are available for general fiction and most
genres, especially
on the WWW.
Many different best lists are available in print and on the web. Here are a few examples. The Library of Congress World of Books provides substantial information about interesting books published abroad that may be otherwise overlooked. These lists are especially useful for multi-cultural audiences. Library Journal issues a Best Genre Fiction of [year] each year with a few highly recommended titles for mystery, romance and SF/fantasy. The Reading Choices best lists are good examples. The YA list is most useful for use. Reader's Corner is disorganized but has considerable content with current reviews and some useful lists.
The best known of all the general fiction resources is the Fiction
Catalog [PN 3321 .H2] which is part of the H.W. Wilson
Standard Catalog
series. You need to be familiar with it. If also working with teens, Teenreads.com is most useful and
attractive.
One of the notable characteristics of genre fiction is the substantial number works issued in a series. For example, many fantasy novels in appear as a three volume set issued over a few years. In some cases, it may be difficult to fully understand volume two if you did not read volume 1. In other cases, the works can be read as stand-alone's [true of most of the Honor Harrington space opera novels] but readers will want to read them all and in the proper order.
There are a few hard cover guides to popular series, but they suffer
from
being incomplete and dated. They are, however, useful for older,
established authors. Sequels, an Annotated Guide to Novels in
Series
[PN 3448 S47 H88 1997] is revised every few years and is sometimes
useful
for a variety of genres. The Whole Story: 3000 years of
Sequels and Sequences can also be useful but is larger in
scope since it includes a wide variety of subjects and audiences. You
might also become familiar with What's Next: a
searchable database of novels in series. YA Books in Series
and Sequels
is useful because some YA titles will also appeal to adults. Guides
to the genre usually
identify major series. Comprehensive WWW sites may also include such
lists.
Author WWW pages, where available, are a good source. Publisher WWW
pages
and catalogs are often problematic because they only include series
volumes
which they published.
Genre specific sites may be quite helpful here. Scifan has an excellent
searchable database on series as well as quite a good introduction to
the series phenomon. Internet Book
List allows searching by series name, genre, and rating.
The ability to identify and share "read-alikes" is at the heart of the reader's advisory business. Since every published work is unique in some way, "read-alikes" cannot be an exact match. Still, we can identify similar appeal elements, especially when proper annotations are created. Databases such as NoveList and What To Read Next can be useful retrospectively, but I have not had good success with them. Guides to the genre are often helpful for established authors. However, the best source for current read-alikes are the published reviews. Reviewers will often compare a new work with an older one or say that this work will appeal to those who have enjoyed ........ This is true of reviews in print sources and also of reviews that appear on WWW sites. The thoughtful reader advisor will note these linkages, especially for new or unfamiliar authors.
Amazon.com remains the most visible and probably the most useful of the general book stores on the web. It provides separate listings for some of the major genres. Helpful features include annotated lists of audio books, best sellers (current and past year), new releases, new in paper, new in hard cover, editor's choices, classics, award winners, and series as well as some notable authors who recommend work that they have recently enjoyed. The link to their UK site is helpful because some genre books are in print there but OP here or are published much later in the U.S. When you select a title, you normally see the cover/jacket, a brief description, reviews or review excerpts, and then reader reviews. You will also be told that people who selected (purchased) this work also purchased other titles which are then named. This is may be useful if some one, for example, likes the Honor Harrington space operas and wants something similar.
Book Forager is a book recommendation system based on appeal elements. Not genre focused, but an interesting effort. FictionFinder allows readers to identify fiction with particular elements and can also be used by reader's advisors to find preselected items for the genre collection. Allreaders covers several genres and allows searching by plot, main character, main adversary, and the like. Information is provided by volunteer readers. Reader's Robot is a readers' advisory service by a Canadian library that allows searching by appeal elements.Successful reader's advisory work requires you to keep up with the field, especially with your peers in similar situations. The Public Library Association, a division of the American Library Association, is the professional organization for reader's advisors, and reader's advisory issues are covered, now and then, in the PLA periodical Public Libraries.
Library Literature is the most useful data base for this topic and the primary descriptor is READER-GUIDANCE. Typical modifiers include -AIMS-AND-OBJECTIVES, -BIBLIOGRAPHY, -EVALUATION, and -HISTORY. Most hits will be found under READER-GUIDANCE. Some related items may be found under the descriptor READER-SERVICES, but this is not as useful a term.
One of the advantages of the Internet era is the ability to search online public access catalogs for respected library collections or WORLDCAT. Normally, you can find what fiction reference works are available by using FICTION or the appropriate genre name, i.e. SCIENCE FICTION, and then adding appropriate descriptors. We often add the place modifier, i.e. FICTION, AMERICAN or SCIENCE FICTION, AMERICAN. There are other possibilities too and these may be used after the place modifier or instead. As a reminder, here are some typical modifiers. Each would begin with --:
Both librarians and some fiction specialists have long taken a somewhat negative attitude toward genre fiction published in mass market paper editions. These works and their authors are under-represented in most library catalogs. A genre like historical fiction with many hard cover publications is likely to be better treated than romances. Similarly, mysteries likely to be issued in hard cover are more likely to receive attention than those that only appeared in paper.
There are a few library oriented RA sites that do a fine job of providing access to genre sites. You should be familiar with these. BookBrowser is one of the best comprehensive RA sites.The Internet Public Library provides good access to new media fiction that includes a variety of genres, including adventure. This is also a good reminder that much interesting genre material appears in a variety of formats and several of these are likely to appeal to our users. Library Land is another comprehensive site with good coverage of mysteries, horror, SF, romances, and westerns. Note too links to awards, reading lists, d discussion groups, and organizations. Morton Grove Public Library has an excellent site with much useful information on RA work. Note the links to RA pages in other public libraries. Since this is the home of Fiction_L, you can find Fiction_L Booklists here too. These sites provide good links to genre specific web sites as does Yahoo! for the more popular genres. In general, mystery, SF/fantasy, and romance are most likely to have a variety of web sites. It is most difficult to find sites devoted to adventure and suspense, perhaps because of definitional problems or because it is part of general adult fiction.
Besides RA sites that direct you to other RA sites, you may wish to explore the list of U.S. public libraries with web sites to find peer libraries and see what they are doing with RA.
Several public libraries have excellent web pages for their reader's advisory work. The Overbooked site (Chesterfield County [central Virginia]) is a good example with its own reading recommendations and well-selected links to other useful sources. It is helpful to see what books are being recommended by your peers in their reviews and reading lists. Given time for exploration, you will soon find a few favorite sites whose reviews and reading lists are helpful for your work.
A few public libraries have polled their staff to identify those who read seriously in a particular genre or type of fiction. These individuals are then asked to regularly nominate or suggest items for purchase. In a larger system, such an approach can make a difference for the beleaguered reader's advisor.
Colleagues would also include your networking and contacts with those involved in reader's advisory work at other public (and perhaps school) libraries. One of the hall marks of a true professional is the ability to identify and develop productive relationships with peer professionals. The Fiction_L list is a community of reader advisors and may provide an opportunity to develop contacts.
The author of our text, "who usually reads a book a day," could
certainly
be considered a colleague. Her
web
site contains books of the week reviews, genre fiction links, and
library links.
Last major revision: August 2004.