What are some tips for creating fiction booklists?

Annotated book lists are an important tool for readers’ advisory work. They are an excellent way to promote and market your library’s collection and to provide reading suggestions to library customers. Here are some tips to get you started:

• Choose a topic for your list that reflects reader interests. Identify the intended audience.
• Choose a topic that is broad enough so that you have an adequate number of titles for the list.
• May sure that you have enough copies of any title that you are considering for inclusion on the list.
• Annotations should focus on the story line and on the book’s appeal to the reader.
• They should be written in the active rather than the passive voice.
• Annotations should be brief, concise, and descriptive. They should pique the reader’s interest in the title.
• Eighteen to twenty-four titles is a useful number of titles to include.
• Include no more than one book by an author.
• If you own a title in print as well as in other formats like CD, Playaway, or downloadable e-book or audio Mention the variety of formats that you have available in the annotation.
• For each annotation include the author, title, publication date, number of pages, and the call number or location in your collection. Arrange the annotations in alphabetical order by author.
• Choose a catchy title for your list that will arouse the reader’s interest in the books that you’ve chosen.
• Proofread your list carefully. Enlist the aid of a co-worker who hasn’t seen the list previously.
• Use your completed list as a basis for a book display. Include the list with the display.
• Make sure to include your list on your library’s Web site to increase the audience for the list.

You can find an extensive list of booklists, both fiction and non-fiction, on the Pratt Library website under Pratt Recommends Booklists.

I have a customer who wants to do research in old newspapers. How can I find out what is available at the State Library Resource Center?

The web page of the Periodicals Department of the State Library Resource Center (SLRC) is a good place to start!

Scroll down the page until you see the heading "What We Have." Under that heading click on "Newspapers." If you are doing local newspaper research scroll down the page until you see the heading "Local Newspapers on Microfilm." You can search Baltimore City Newspapers by title or dates of publication. These tables are completely up-to-date and accurate. You can search the SLRC collection of other Maryland papers from around the state by title, by county, and by city. These tables are currently being updated. They are for the most part accurate, but I would give a call to the SLRC Periodicals Department (410-396-5451) before arriving there just to verify that a particular paper in a particular date range is indeed on the shelf.

If you are doing research using historical papers from out-of-town, look under the heading "Out-Of-Town Newspapers on Microfilm."

The SLRC Periodicals Department has microfilm reader/printers that you can use to read these papers. The staff will be happy to teach you how to operate these machines.

I’ve never read a science fiction book. What do you recommend to get to know the genre?

Science Fiction is such a popular genre that staff members of the Fiction and Young Adult Department have created a How-To Guide, Out-Of-This-World Reading: Science Fiction and Fantasy, on that subject!

In the guide we discuss the different subgenres of both science fiction and fantasy and give links to the websites of authors writing in them. We also include links to web resources for authors and series, readalikes, online fiction, book reviews, and directories of where stories and novels can be found. The “Best Books” section is especially helpful for people beginning to read in the genres. In that section there are lists of award winners, the classics in the genres, and reading suggestions for everyone from the novice to the science fiction expert.

Happy reading!

A student needs to write a book report. What resources are out there to help them format it correctly?

Book report writing can be pretty daunting for the students new to it. There are a number of Web sites to help them. Remember that Maryland AskUsNow! offers help for students 24/7!

The Student Guide to Book Reports created by the Lakewood (Ohio) Public Library gives a clear, step by step explanation of the book report process. Also, the OWL (Online Writing Lab) at Purdue University has a section designated helping students in Grades 7-12 with their writing.

How to Write Book Reports by Dawn Sowa is an excellent paper resource on the subject.

Review Thursday: Non-fiction Audiobook

The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women & a Forty-Year Friendship by Jeffrey Zaslow (2009, unabridged, 11 sound discs)

Jeffrey Zaslow is a Wall Street Journal columnist and co-author of the Last Lecture. In 2003, he wrote a column titled Moving on: Staying in Touch: One More Thing That Women are Better at Than Men. He received hundreds of responses but one email sparked his interest and inspired him to explore the 40 year friendship of 11 girls from Ames, Iowa.

Zaslow’s book captures the trials and tribulations of their enduring friendship while interspersing factual/statistical information regarding the differences between male and female friendships, father-daughter relationships, and the purpose of relationships.

Although the book has photographs, the girls are easily distinguishable with Andrea Gallo’s voice giving each one her own persona. The narrator is clear and even paced with a pleasant tone.

For audiobook clubs, I would recommend listening to both Rebecca Well’s The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women & a Forty-Year Friendship for an interesting comparison and discussion.

This audiobook may be previewed on Audible.com or Barnes & Noble.

Sailor Database Review: Gale Virtual Reference Library

Gale Virtual Reference Library makes available online the full text of 25 great reference sources. The list of sources available in the Sailor database are:

• Africa: An Encyclopedia for Students , 4v, 2002
• American Decades , 10v, 2001
• American Decades Primary Sources , 10v, 2004
• American Eras , 8v, 1997 history
• Ancient Civilizations Reference Library , 3v, 2000
• Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians Since 1990 , 2v, 2004
• Chemical Elements: From Carbon to Krypton , 3v, 2006
• Colonial America Reference Library , 6v, 2000
• Countries and Their Cultures , 4v, 2001
• Early Civilizations in the Americas Reference Library , 4v, 2005
• Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion , 3v, 2005
• Encyclopedia of Food and Culture , 3v, 2003
• Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World , 2v, 2004
• Encyclopedia of Religion , 2nd ed., 15v, 2005
• Encyclopedia of World Cultures , 10v, 1996
• Encyclopedia of World Cultures: Supplement , 2002
• Endangered Species , 2nd ed., 3v, 2004
• Environmental Encyclopedia , 3rd ed., 2v, 2003
• Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World , 4v, 2002
• Middle Ages Reference Library , 5v, 2001
• Middle East Conflict Reference Library , 4v, 2006
• Renaissance and Reformation Reference Library , 6v, 2002
• UXL Encyclopedia of Biomes , 3v, 2000
• UXL Encyclopedia of Drugs and Addictive Substances , 5v, 2006
• Witchcraft in America , 2001

The entire list may be searched by keyword or the search maybe limited to a specific source. A description of each source is available by clicking on the title. For each source, you also have access to an e-index—just click on the appropriate entry and you will go directly to the page with that information.

This database is perfect for those customers who are searching for information on a specific subject and cannot get into the library to access these sources normally available only in print form.