The NoveList Database

Like EBSCOhost, NoveList is a content aggregator of information on fiction. NoveList is also a creator of information about fiction. We work with many different organizations and agencies to bring you the best and most information on fiction available. NoveList staff and editors also create content for the product.

NoveList's fiction database contains over 125,000 titles. Information is stored about each book in the database allowing you to search, compare, and list titles based on how you "query" or ask the database about the information. Understanding what fields are stored and how they are used will provide insight into how you successfully search the database to find books for yourself or your patrons.

Records and Fields in the NoveList Database...

The main NoveList database consists of bibliographic records similar to the catalog in most libraries (e.g., author, title, publishing information, subject headings, series information, etc.). To these records, we append additional fields such as reviews, annotations, a Lexile (readability) score, and links to related content (both within the product and at other web sites).

Most significant to searching for books are the following two fields:

• Subject Headings: Fiction has received only minimal subject heading treatment in the past. The use of a controlled vocabulary that brings subject analysis to the major components and topics of a title is one of NoveList's strengths. NoveList uses several thousand subject headings to describe the books in its database. It provides many more points of access than other services for finding books.
  
• Reviews: These evaluative descriptions of books enable readers to determine whether or not they would enjoy reading a title and how a particular book compares with related titles. NoveList contains reviews from several major reviewing journals. Examples of the type of reviewing sources included in NoveList are Booklist, Library Journal, School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly.
  
  The real power of reviews in NoveList, however, is the ability to search through the review. This allows you to search for books that have received a "starred review," books that are good "read-alouds" or are "fast-paced" or first books (using "debut"). There are many additional possibilities for searching, when reviews are searchable as they are in NoveList.

In addition to the bibliographic database, NoveList contains other, related content:

Lists: In addition to individual title records, NoveList also contains pre-constructed booklists. Lists are an easy way to get reading recommendations quickly. NoveList contains lists on major genres and on many themes and topics for younger readers. These lists are accessed using the Best Fiction and Explore Fiction links on the Browse Lists tab of NoveList. They are also accessible from the title record of any title contained in a list.

Additional Content : Sometimes readers want a more thorough treatment of a work or topic than is found in a review or a bibliographic record. NoveList addresses this need by working with editors to create author read-alikes, articles, booktalks, school content/support (picture book extenders, annotated book lists, curricular materials) and book discussion guides on popular topics and titles. NoveList also provides a feature called "What We're Reading," which showcases the current reading lists and favorite authors of well-known personalities in adult, young adult and children's Readers' Advisory services. In addition to content created by NoveList staff, we also include selected articles from review journals and other sources.

Web-links: The web is a tremendous source of information on authors and their work. NoveList staff is constantly scanning the web, searching for the author web-sites that we feel will be useful for our users. NoveList staff examines each site before it is included in the product.

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