I use this feature ALL THE TIME! I have an assortment of patrons who like to read certain genres and rely on me to have books ready and waiting for them, and it's been a lifesaver when we reach the end of a particular series and my patron(s) want a new series just as good as the one they just finished. So "author readalike, "series readalike", and "title readalike" are all very familiar to me.
I will usually use Novelist to search for a readalike author, then go to that author's website to get the chronological list of books ( because yup, all of my patrons like to read their series in order); sometimes, though, the authors' websites are not as user-friendly as I would like, so I was eager to try the series title feature, and I love it. Clicking the series radio button for the search puts it all into chronological order, and I like that the readalikes are offered to the right, as well as the appeal factors. (One note: the assignment tells us to search by series and then explore the "sort by" and "view" features; these features are only available when you click "all" for the search, which is definitely not as user-friendly as searching "series".) Since I usually go to the "author" search, I was familiar with many of the features, but I didn't ever realize it was a magnifying glass to the left of the readalikes' names. I love the hover ability, so much easier than clicking through all those pages.
When exploring a little more, I found the "grab and go booklists" feature. Previously, I had found the "picture book extenders" feature, which has been very helpful when creating programs for school-age children; I think I will try the grab and go booklists when creating Storytime. The "subjects/appeals" tab will be useful for creating themed displays. And the book discussion guides is great, much more detailed than Good Reads. We'll use this for book club.
So, I learned a few new things, and I'll certainly continue to explore this terrific tool!
No comments:
Post a Comment