Find a Favorite Title: Step-by-Step
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Using a Favorite Title to Find New Books to Read

When do I use this search?
If you enjoyed a particular book and would like to find another like it, use these steps in NoveList.

Scenario
A reader is looking for a mystery she read last year titled Storm Track, by a woman author whose name she doesn't remember. She would like to read the book again and also find other books like it. This reader particularly liked that the book was a mystery with a woman protagonist and was set in North Carolina.

Here's How in NoveList:

  1. From the home page, click on the "Search Our Database" tab.
  2. Select a search strategy - "Find a Favorite Title" in this case - by clicking on its link (circled in the picture above).
  3. Enter the search criteria - the title of the book - in the find box and limit your results, if desired, before clicking the "Search" button. In this scenario, Storm Track is entered. [Show me a picture] Click the SEARCH button to perform the search.
For more information about step 3: Tips to Enter Titles
Tips for Limiting Your Results

What You See (the search results):
NoveList displays your title OR a list of titles that contain the words you typed in the find box. In this scenario, the title record for the book you are looking for is displayed. [Show me a picture] This is everything NoveList "knows" about your title.

Now, you can: Or, you can:

4. Select the clickable subject headings at the title record that interest you. [Show me a picture]

5. Click the Subject Search button to get a new list of books relevancy ranked by their matches to the subject headings that you "checked."

4. Click "Find Similar Books" (the button just below the book jacket image) to find other books like this one. You can use Limiters with this feature.

5. After clicking the Find Similar Books button, click "Search" to get a new list of books relevancy ranked by their matches with the subject headings for your title (or follow alternative steps below).

The reader can browse either of these results lists to find new books to read.

Alternative Steps for a More Focused Search:
To limit the results of your search for similar books, follow steps 1-5 above (Find Similar Books) and continue with these alternative steps:

  1. After clicking the Find Similar Books button, remove all checks from the Desired column by
    clicking the "Clear" button.
  2. Select the subject headings that most appeal to you (or to the reader you are assisting). In our scenario, the reader selects "Mystery stories, American" and "Women detectives" as Required subject headings; this means the search will retrieve ONLY titles containing both these subject headings. Our reader also selects "North Carolina" as a Desired subject heading. All titles containing at least one of the headings checked in the Desired column will be retrieved. [Show me a picture of the reader's selections]
  3. Click "Search" to get a new list of books relevancy ranked by their matches with the subject headings chosen by the reader. Notice that titles including both "Mystery stories, American" and "Women detectives" (Required subject headings) as well as "North Carolina" (Desired subject heading) appear at the top of the list.
For more information: Finding Similar Books