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Glossary
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- Clicking on one of the bulleted words below takes you to a short definition/explanation of the term.
- Clicking on the glossary term AT THE DEFINITION takes you to the section in the Training & Support Center for more information. To return to the glossary, click the back button of your browser.
NoveList Glossary
Alerts are automatic e-mails that are sent to a user to notify them when a new title that meets the criteria defined has been added to the NoveList database. For example, if you enjoy mysteries set in San Francisco, you can set up an alert to notify you when a mystery set in San Francisco is added to the database. You can also determine how frequently the message is sent to you and the period of time for which the alert is active. (return to top)
Annotated Book Lists (previously "Feature Articles")
Annotated Book Lists are article length treatments on various fiction topics, genres, and themes. They include thematic book lists, activities and quizzes, author interviews, and more. Our sources for these articles are as varied as the topics they cover. We have several editors with specialties in a particular genre (historical fiction, romance, adventure) who provide articles in their area of expertise. We also have arrangements with other publications and organizations to display their material on NoveList. To view this rich resource and view a suggested list of ways to use this material, click on the "For Readers" tab and then select the Annotated Book Lists link. For more information, click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
This is the newest type of search added to NoveList. Over the last five years, NoveList has added a large amount of supporting content to its database. Even though this material is periodically weeded out, it's volume still makes it hard to remember "where you saw it" or how to find it again. This search allows you to search through all of the content (not the database) by title, author or theme. You can now search to find all of the articles and lists that NoveList has on "reluctant readers" or "Lemony Snicket." You can also check for additional content on the Poisonwood Bible or Walter Dean Myers. To learn more about how to use this search, go to the "Searching the Database" module OR click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
Best Fiction contains complete listings of titles that have won awards or been identified as titles of outstanding quality. Complete lists for over 200 different literary awards appear in this section. You can view these lists by clicking on the "Browse Lists" tab and then selecting the Best Fiction link. For more information, click on the bolded underlined title of this definition.(return to top)
NoveList provides robust book discussion guides on selected adult and young adult titles. These guides include a brief author biography, a summary, questions with suggested answers, and a "further reading" list. To view a list of available guides, click on the "For Readers" tab and then the Book Discussion Guides link. To view a specific guide, click on the title link on the Book Discussion Guides selection page. Guides can also be accessed from the Lists/Articles/Guides section of individual title records. For more information, click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
NoveList provides booktalks for young adult and children's titles. We are adding several booktalks each month. These short teasers are designed to entice teens or young readers. To view the lists of available booktalks, select the "For Readers" tab and then one of the BookTalks links. To view a specific booktalk, click on the title link on the BookTalks page. For more information, click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
NoveList is a database. As such, its contents must be searched according to the rules of computer database searching. Much database searching is based on the principles of Boolean logic. Boolean logic refers to the logical relationship among search terms, and is named for the British mathematician George Boole. Boolean logic consists of three logical operators: OR, AND, and NOT. For more information, click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
The Boolean Search (a Guided Boolean) is another way to search the NoveList database. This search allows you to enter descriptive words such as genre (mystery, science fiction), themes (courage, moving, honesty), time periods (thirties, eighteenth century), locations (Boston, Alaska, England), characters (James Bond, Miss Marple) and combine it with Boolean operators (and, or, not). It also lets you specify whether the search should look through all fields or search only certain parts of the title record (e.g., subjects, reviews). To learn more about how to use Guided Boolean Search, go to Learning NoveList Basics OR click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
If you select this tab, you will have access to links for pre-made lists such as Best Fiction (awards lists), Explore Fiction (genre and topic lists). (return to top)
Describe a Plot is one way to search the NoveList database. This search allows you to enter descriptive words such as genre (mystery, science fiction), themes (courage, moving, honesty), time periods (thirties, eighteenth century), locations (Boston, Alaska, England), characters (James Bond, Miss Marple) etc. NoveList will look for these words in its title records and retrieve a list of records that contain the words you have entered, placing the titles with the most matches at the top of the list. Describe a plot can be accessed by selecting the "Search Our Database" tab. To learn more about how to use Describe a Plot, go to Searching the Database module in this Training & Support Center OR click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
Explore Fiction is one of the selections at the "Browse Lists" tab in NoveList. Explore Fiction allows you to view pre-defined lists of fiction titles by genre, sub-genre, theme or topic. Over 1200 different booklists are contained in this portion of NoveList. You reach a book list by continuing to click through the genres, sub-genres or topics until you reach a list. If you are an adult reader interested in science fiction, you would click on the Explore Fiction section at the search selection page, select the level that interests you (adult), select science fiction, then select the booklist topic that appeals to you (e.g., cyberpunk). For more information, click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
Find a Favorite Author is one type of search in NoveList. This search allows you to enter an author's name (or partial name) and will retrieve all titles in the database by authors that match what you have entered. This search WILL NOT find similar books for the author; it lists all titles by the author. To find similar books, you must select a title, click on it and then select the "Find Similar Books" button since finding similar books is based off a specific book. To learn more about how to use Find a Favorite Author, go to the "Searching the Database" module OR click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
Find a Series Name is one type of search in NoveList. When a character or world or story cannot be contained in only one title, the result may be a series. Series are popular features of many genres mysteries, science fiction, fantasy to name a few. For series readers, keeping up with a series and making sure that they have read all of the titles in a series is very important. Find A Series Name search allows you to enter the name of a series and retrieve all of the titles in that series (Horatio Hornblower, Dune, Spenser). The names of many series are determined by the names of the series' main character (Harry Potter) or the world in which the series takes place in (Pern). To learn more about how to use Find a Series Name, go to the "Searching the Database" module OR click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
Find a favorite title is one type of search in NoveList. This search allows you to enter part or all of a title of a book. NoveList will return the list of all titles that match what was entered in the edit box. To learn more about how to use Find a Favorite Title, go to the "Searching the Database" module OR click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
If you select this tab, you will have access to links designed for our readers including Author Read-alikes, Book Discussion Guides, BookTalks (for children and young adult), Annotated Book List and What We're Reading (current readings and favorite authors of some of the top names in the library field). (return to top)
For those users who are comfortable with constructing their own Boolean expressions, NoveList offers an edit window to enter Boolean expressions. There is also a Field Codes link that lists all field codes that are availabe in NoveList. To access this search option, access NoveList, click on the "Search Our Database" tab and select the Boolean Search link. The link for Freehand Boolean Search is under the Search and Clear buttons for the Guided Boolean Search. NOTE: THIS SEARCH ASSUMES THAT YOU ALREADY KNOW HOW TO SEARCH USING BOOLEAN EXPRESSIONS. (return to top)
Books that share a similar style, form or content are grouped together in a genre. Examples of genres in fiction include mysteries, adventure, science fiction, westerns and so forth. Genre is a critical factor in the reading of many readers. Some readers only want to read books from a particular genre (mystery, for example) and other readers will reject any title that has been labeled as belonging a particular genre (horror, for example). Genres are frequently divided into sub-genres. In NoveList, the fantasy genre is sub-divided into many sub-genres including urban fantasy and sword and sorcery. Genre is an important concept for NoveList users because genres can be used as search terms and several of the products browsing features are arranged by genre (Explore Fiction, Best Fiction and Annotated Book Lists to mention a few). (return to top)
The Home page is the first page you see when you access NoveList. The content on the Home page is updated monthly with information about new features or content as well as links to the new information. (return to top)
Key Field Lists (All Authors, Titles, Series Names, and Subjects link)
NoveList offers you a way to access the complete lists of authors, titles, series, or subject headings available in the NoveList database. You have the choice to access these lists alphabetically or by relevancy ranking. To access these lists, go to NoveList, click the "Browse Lists" tab and select the "All Authors, Titles, Series Names and Subjects" link. (return to top)
Lexiles (Lexile Rating)
The Lexile Framework™ for Reading is an educational tool that links text and readers under a common metric without subjective evaluation. The Lexile Framework is objective -- readers are not measured against other readers, instead they are measured against an invariant standard text. The Lexile Framework characterizes a reader with a measure (a Lexile) and characterizes text with a measure (also a Lexile), allowing educators to forecast the level of comprehension a reader will experience with a particular text. Teachers can evaluate their curriculum based on each student's ability to comprehend the materials. As Lexiles become available, they will be added to the title records contained in NoveList. Lexile measures can then be used to find other books that a young reader can understand. To learn more about Lexiles and how to use them within NoveList go to Learning NoveList Basics module OR click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. Note: You can also go to the general Lexile website for more information (http://www.lexile.com). (return to top)
For each of the searches listed at the "Search Our Database" tab (Find a favorite author, Find a favorite title, Find a Series Name, Describe a Plot, Boolean Search), the Limit Your Results box displays at the Search page. Limit Your Results allows you to narrow the search results by level (adult, young adult, children, easy), number of results to show on each page, pages of the book, Lexile score, publication year of format. NOTE that the default (if you do not check any of the boxes) is that NoveList will search through ALL fiction titles in the database with 25 titles on one page. (return to top)
Linking From NoveList to Your Catalog
You can respond to the question, “Is it in the Library?” by linking NoveList to your library’s collection. This means that you and your readers can use NoveList to discover the books they want to read and then check to see which ones are on your shelf. With NoveList, every hold request becomes an opportunity to draw readers to other titles that are sitting on your shelf waiting to be checked out.
This feature is available for all major integrated library systems. Although fairly straightforward to set up, the library must initatiate the set up because it is customized for each specific library. You can make arrangements to set this up by contacting EPTECH (1-800-758-5995). (return to top)
Personal List is a feature in NoveList that you can use to create a list of personally selected titles. You can select titles for the list either at the search result list (by clicking on the small folder next to the title) or within the title record itself. You can save, e-mail or print the list. You can view or clear the list as well. For more information, click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
Our new popularity sorting feature lets you find a list of mystery titles published in the last five years and then show your readers which ones have been the most popular. Even when you haven’t read the book, you now have a way to guide your readers to the most widely read books in any genre or on any topic.
Popular titles are starred to indicate high demand titles. Our popularity information is gathered from thousands of libraries and retail outlets nationwide and is based on ordering information received from Baker & Taylor. If the book meets popularity criteria, a series of one to four stars will be displayed to indicate the popularity factor for that title. (return to top)
Proximity searching is available in the Boolean searches. It allows you to narrow your search by requiring retrieved records to have the search terms you entered appear within a certain number of words of each other. NoveList's proximity operators are composed of a letters N (words near each other, in any order) or W (near each other and in the same order) and a number (to specify the number of words that can be between the words you entered). For more information, click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
When you click on the "Readers' Advisory" tab, you are brought to a page of training and support materials on Readers' Advisory. Each of these links contains training resources for staff members. Much of this material has been developed exclusively for NoveList by experts in the field and is free to our customers. Some of the materials can be printed using your browser, some have files that can be downloaded for printing from your own system, and some are materials you receive via e-mail or mail. (return to top)
When you use natural language searches (Describe a Plot, Find Similar Books), the results list of titles is relevancy ranked. NoveList searches the database and ranks the title records based on the number of matches in the record versus the what you entered. Those titles with the best and highest matches are "ranked" at the top of the list. (return to top)
NoveList allows you to save any personal list that you create. You must create a personal login in order to save a list but NoveList will prompt you with this information if you try to save a list and you have not created a login or logged in. (return to top)
NoveList allows you to save any search that you perform in NoveList. Every search (that retrieves at least one record) is put into the Search History for the session. If you want to save the search for future use, go to Search History and save the individual search. If you have not yet created a personal login (or logged in), NoveList will prompt you with this step. If you do not save the search, search history (and your searches) are deleted when your NoveList session is over. (return to top)
Selecting this tab will take you to all of the school related content now available in NoveList. This includes Articles for High School English Classes, Picture Book Extenders, BookTalks, Articles with Curricular Connections and more. (return to top)
Search page
(e.g., Author Search,
Title Search, Series Search, Describe a Plot Search, Boolean Search)
When you select one of the searches from the "Search Our Database" tab, the page displayed is the Search page which allows you to enter information on which to search the database. The type of information you enter is determined by the type of search that you have selected. Each Search page has a "Limit Your Results" input box to allow you to narrow your results, if desired. When the SEARCH button is clicked, a list of titles that meet the criteria that you entered is displayed. If there are no matches for the criteria you entered or if you misspelled a word or name a "No Books Found" message will appear. For more information, click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
Search History, tracks the searching actions you make for all searches on the "Search Our Database" tab. This feature allows you to save the search, create an alert for the search, if possible, revise the search (without "starting over") or delete the search. After at least one search is executed, clicking on Search History will display the search or searches that have been performed and allow you to click on the search to modify it. This feature allows you to fine tune your searches with fewer keystrokes. You can also use this feature to view the results lists of previous searches. For more information, click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
If you select this tab, you will have access to links designed to search the NoveList database including Find a Favorite Author or Title, Describe a Plot Boolean Search and the Article and List Search. (return to top)
The Search Results page is the page that is displayed after you enter a search. It displays all titles that meet the criteria entered at the Search page, including any parameters set in the Limit Your Results section. Depending on the type of search you perform, the titles may be listed alphabetically by author (Find a Favorite Title, if more than one title is retrieved, Boolean Search) alphabetically by title (Find a Favorite Author), by series order (Find a Series Name) or by relevancy ranking with the best matched books at the top (Describe a Plot, Find Similar Books, Subject Search from the title page). Links to the title record are provided. Note that regardless of the order that the search results are listed, you can resort the list using the Sort feature at the top of the Search Results page. For more information, click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
NoveList allows a user to create a personal login for use in NoveList. After you have established a personal login, you have the ability to save personal lists or searches as well as the ability to create alerts when a favorite type of book is added to the NoveList database. Sign In to My NoveList requires you to enter your name and a password which you must use at later sessions when you want to retrieve thoses lists or searches that you have saved. For more information about how to create a personal login, click on the Sign In to My NoveList link for this glossary item. (return to top)
Subject headings are used to describe the contents of a book. These headings not only help you learn about what a book is about, they are used by NoveList to find similarities among books. NoveList uses over 36,000 different subject headings to describe the books contained in its database. Aspects of a book that are covered by NoveList's subject headings include location, character names, character descriptions, genres, themes, time periods and much more. Some examples of subject headings that are used in NoveList are women detectives, fifties, new york, Alex Delaware, courage, ten year old boys, moving. For more information, click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
When a title is selected in NoveList, the title record for that title is displayed. The title record presents all the information that NoveList knows about the book including author, title, publication date, subject headings, description, reviews (if available), web links (if available), and links to articles, lists and guides that mention the title. The organizations and individuals who have contributed information to a specific record are identified in the credits section. For more information, click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
NoveList allows you to use the asterisk (*) as a wild card to truncate words that are being entered. If you can't remember if the character's name is Debbie or Deborah, you can enter "Deb*" to pull all cases. For more information, click on the bolded underlined title of this definition. (return to top)
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