For this exercise, I looked up bookstores in my area and reviewed their online presence.
Doing a Google search for "Bookstores 77054," I retrieved a list of stores. The closest are Half Price Books, Brazos Bookstore and Inner Harmony. Half Price has a general website that lists their locations. This store is my favorite bookstore b/c 1)they're discounted books and 2) they have a wide variety of topics including my favorites: art, fiction and graphic novels. Brazos' site is aesthetically pleasing but hard to navigate and takes too long to upload pages. I am impatient; if I'm going to browse, I'd rather do it in person. As for Inner Harmony, no site or online reviews are provided.
To test the search features, I chose to look for The Dictionary of Failed Relationships. Brazos does have this title online and provides a short synopsis of the book. I searched HCPL's catalog and Bartleby, both do not own copies. Amazon does have this title as an eBook for as little as $8.80. Luckily, I went to Half Price recently and stumbled across this book in their CLEARANCE section for $2.00! Although it is convenient to purchase online, I do enjoy visiting real locations b/c it is rewarding when you find great deals. I use Abebooks.com frequently which has books as little as $1 and most sellers will lower their shipping and handling for multiple purchases.
I briefly reviewed the book swapping sites and I am weary to try those b/c I would have to pay for shipping and there is still a chance that someone may not honor your service.
Another part of the exercise is to explore eBooks. I downloaded the required software to read ebooks from Harris County Public Library's Overdrive and started reading a non-fiction book. This isn't my preferred method of leisure reading (on my computer screen) but it is convenient for when I have to be online for long spurts and am interested in testing out a book before I buy it.
I don't ever intend on purchasing ebooks b/c I enjoy having a book at hand and getting the tactile experience. I don't know if its being old fashioned or resisting change, but reading the traditional bound book is more appealing than reading an electronic version.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Still Exercise 52- Pt. 3
A customer tells you that he's read every book written by Dean Koontz and asks you to find an author who writes similar books. Using two of the sites listed above, find three new authors to recommend to your customer. Post the sites you used and the results in your blog.
Dean Koontz is renowned for his suspense novels and there are many authors like him. I used What Do I Read Next and Novelist's Read-alikes to find suggestions. Other authors the patron might enjoy include Clive Cussler, W.E.B. Griffin and John Saul.
A customer has read Alanna: the First Adventure by Tamora Pierce. She would like to read the other books in the series in order. Using one of the above resources, post the series title, the order of the books in the series, and the resource you used.
This one took an extra step to find b/c it does not specify if the series is for adults, teens or children. I used Mid-Continent Public Library's series finder. I searched by author and found the series Song of the Lioness which is comprised of four books:
Alanna: the first adventure, In the Hand of the Goddess, The Woman who Rides like a Man, and Lioness Rampart.
Dean Koontz is renowned for his suspense novels and there are many authors like him. I used What Do I Read Next and Novelist's Read-alikes to find suggestions. Other authors the patron might enjoy include Clive Cussler, W.E.B. Griffin and John Saul.
A customer has read Alanna: the First Adventure by Tamora Pierce. She would like to read the other books in the series in order. Using one of the above resources, post the series title, the order of the books in the series, and the resource you used.
This one took an extra step to find b/c it does not specify if the series is for adults, teens or children. I used Mid-Continent Public Library's series finder. I searched by author and found the series Song of the Lioness which is comprised of four books:
Alanna: the first adventure, In the Hand of the Goddess, The Woman who Rides like a Man, and Lioness Rampart.
Friday, February 6, 2009
#52 What to Read- Pt. 2
Using one of the resources listed above find two books suitable for a fourth grade girl interested in animals and another two books for her thirteen year old brother who is interested in ghost stories. Post which resource you used and the books you located.
I used Novelist Plus because it allows you to search by subjects, age level and other terms. This comes in handy because patrons do not always have a specific title or author in mind. I used their advanced search which allows me to search by subject (animals), determine age and grade level (older kids + 4th grade) and choose what types of titles to pull (books, series and reading lists). I found a number of options but I chose A Dog's Life: the autobiography of a stray and Urchin of the Riding Stars which borders on Fantasy Fiction.
For the teenager, I used Ghosts as my subject search and chose The Restless Dead that is short stories and Restless: a ghost's story.
I used Novelist Plus because it allows you to search by subjects, age level and other terms. This comes in handy because patrons do not always have a specific title or author in mind. I used their advanced search which allows me to search by subject (animals), determine age and grade level (older kids + 4th grade) and choose what types of titles to pull (books, series and reading lists). I found a number of options but I chose A Dog's Life: the autobiography of a stray and Urchin of the Riding Stars which borders on Fantasy Fiction.
For the teenager, I used Ghosts as my subject search and chose The Restless Dead that is short stories and Restless: a ghost's story.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Books, Readers and Beyond: #52 What to Read Pt. 1
I am back exploring the infinite where cyberspace and libraries coexist. For this exercise, I played around with Reader Advisories.
I am a huge fan of Novelist, an online database that helps find books by author, title, genre, etc. I used it frequently to find new stuff to read. For this exercise, comparing databases and what they retrieve, I used Steve Martin's Shopgirl as my test subject....
In Novelist Plus, the top three results were Shopgirl (tsk tsk), Undead and Unemployed and Wolves in Chic Clothing. On my current reading list is Undead and Unemployed, which is the book preceding Undead and Unemployed. However, I don't see a direct resemblance between Shopgirl and the latter.
My second test involves What Should I read Next? The results were odd because it retrieved graphic novels. I enjoy graphic novel but I don't see any correlation between Shopgirl and graphic novels unless it was made into a comic book, in which case I would be thrilled! It was not a complete failure as I have found a book within these results that caters to my taste: The Dictionary of Failed Relationships.
Finally, I tested Library Booklists and Bibliographies with the same novel. This site appears to be the more difficult of the three to navigate but I like how titles are divided by themes and the themes are divided into more themes! Searching Steve Martin's name brought me to a list of Humor lists but not all links worked. I tried Dark Comedy, Contemporary Humor and a third that were not accessible. The general Humorous fiction did work and a few titles suggested included Jennifer Crusie whose novel I have read and enjoyed.
All in all, these sites are very entertaining and more engaging for the users. I think using these sources for patrons to use will allow them to get a better variety and a higher exposure to lesser known authors.
I am a huge fan of Novelist, an online database that helps find books by author, title, genre, etc. I used it frequently to find new stuff to read. For this exercise, comparing databases and what they retrieve, I used Steve Martin's Shopgirl as my test subject....
In Novelist Plus, the top three results were Shopgirl (tsk tsk), Undead and Unemployed and Wolves in Chic Clothing. On my current reading list is Undead and Unemployed, which is the book preceding Undead and Unemployed. However, I don't see a direct resemblance between Shopgirl and the latter.
My second test involves What Should I read Next? The results were odd because it retrieved graphic novels. I enjoy graphic novel but I don't see any correlation between Shopgirl and graphic novels unless it was made into a comic book, in which case I would be thrilled! It was not a complete failure as I have found a book within these results that caters to my taste: The Dictionary of Failed Relationships.
Finally, I tested Library Booklists and Bibliographies with the same novel. This site appears to be the more difficult of the three to navigate but I like how titles are divided by themes and the themes are divided into more themes! Searching Steve Martin's name brought me to a list of Humor lists but not all links worked. I tried Dark Comedy, Contemporary Humor and a third that were not accessible. The general Humorous fiction did work and a few titles suggested included Jennifer Crusie whose novel I have read and enjoyed.
All in all, these sites are very entertaining and more engaging for the users. I think using these sources for patrons to use will allow them to get a better variety and a higher exposure to lesser known authors.
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