Week Three Prompt

Week Three Prompt:

Hello all! I feel slightly better today, for those of you keeping track. I have stopped laying on the couch snoozing through old episodes of Futurama - at least for now. I thought I would go ahead and post this week's prompt response during this window of lucidity.

So two things this week- first, I would like you to use Novelist. Answer the following questions using Novelist as much as you can - just to familiarize yourself with it if you aren't already using it. Again, email me if your public library doesn't have access to it. Explain why you chose the books you did.

1. I am looking for a book by Laurell K. Hamilton. I just read the third book in the Anita Blake series and I can’t figure out which one comes next! 
2. What have I read recently? Well, I just finished this great book by Barbara Kingsolver, Prodigal Summer. I really liked the way it was written, you know, the way she used language. I wouldn't mind something a bit faster paced though.
3. I like reading books set in different countries. I just read one set in China, could you help me find one set in Japan? No, not modern – historical. I like it when the author describes it so much it feels like I was there!
4. I read this great mystery by Elizabeth George called Well-Schooled in Murder and I loved it. Then my dentist said that if I liked mysteries I would probably like John Sandford, but boy was he creepy I couldn't finish it! Do you have any suggestions?
5. My husband has really gotten into zombies lately. He’s already read The Walking Dead and World War Z, is there anything else you can recommend? 

Second, after you get a chance to do the readings and explore Mary Chelton's list of tools, I want to hear about how you find books to read. It could be a site or a resource you've just discovered or one you've used for years, one you use for yourself or for your patrons or family and friends.

Personally, I use Novelist for work, and for family and friends if they ask me, but for myself I generally find books I want to read in magazines like Locus or Library Journal, also on websites like EarlyWord or through author websites or blogs.

I look forward to reading your prompts! Any questions get in touch with me however is easiest for you. Thanks!

*Edited to fix embarrassing spelling mistake 1/28/14

Welcome to Week Three

Hey guys,

Welcome to Week Three! I am really excited to read your Suspense and Thriller annotations. I’ll be honest and tell you I am really under the weather today – and I’m irritated about it because I got a flu shot and everything! I rarely get sick so when I do I’m terribly whiny and wimpy. Luckily I have a saint of a husband who is out right now getting honey for my tea.

So, the point of me telling you that was that I don’t really feel like sitting up at the computer for too long today (irony? Since it’s taking me so long to tell you? English majors?) so this will be short and sweet. I've posted a power point about the genres in Week Three Resources. Please review that and read your classmates annotations. Feel free to start a discussion here, on your blog, or on a classmates blog about things you've noticed about Suspense and Thrillers. We are all learning from each other here – and I think I benefit more than a lot of you since I do readers’ advisory at work.

Second – this week we are reviewing the tools of the trade. Quite possibly the most useful and popular tool is Novelist. This is a database that most public libraries subscribe to. IndyPL does, and with your IUPUI registration, you are eligible for an IndyPL card, but I know a lot of you don’t live anywhere near Indianapolis. Please email me if your public library does not subscribe to Novelist and I will let you use a card number from my library.

Once you find Novelist in your library’s list of databases, there are plenty of tutorials on how to use it. Directly to the right of the search box should be a button that says “How to Use Novelist.” Review Also, above that are several tiny links, one of which is Help. That has also proven very useful to me.

IUPUI has a RA database as well – Reader’s Advisory Online. I don’t find this quite as intuitive as Novelist but some people think it is easier to use. There is a Help link at the top of the page which gives you a quick overview of how to use it. The Tour and Video buttons up there go nowhere – I don’t think they ever have. It’s up to you what you prefer. Both Novelist and RA Online allow you to search by appeal, rather than just genre or age group which is what is really important. So play around and get used to those, or just one of them if you find one you immediately prefer.

There is also quite a comprehensive list in Oncourse Week Three resources of some great RA resources, put together by Mary Chelton – whose name you may recognize from other readings.

So, by the end of this week, I will need from you:

• Suspense and Thriller Annotations (for those who are doing Suspense and Thriller)
• Prompt Response

Please also remember that by the end of Week Four I will need to have your Secret Shopper Assignment! That one takes some planning so be looking ahead! With that, here is a great video about conducting a RA interview. This is from the perspective of a children’s librarian, but most everything is still relevant.
I will post the prompt response later today (Monday). Thanks!

Great Annotations

Just wanted to tell you all that I am really enjoying reading your annotations. Really impressive work!

Genre Selections

Hi all,

Just want to clarify a couple of things I've noticed after receiving your genre selections:

1. Please let me know which genre you are choosing, not which week. For example, even though we are discussing science fiction and mystery in the same week, please indicate which one of those you will be reading. (Several of you have done this, so don't think I'm picking on just one of you!)
2. Please don't forget to let me know in which genre you will be reading a classic.

If you have questions about the genres, feel free to ask me but really, Saricks explains them better than I can in the text. She has a section in each chapter (Offset as a figure) that very clearly discusses the characteristics of that particular genre. There are also sections in the text of each chapter labeled Key Authors and Sure Bets. These have great ideas for books that typify those genres if you are stumped in choosing one.

Thanks for being patient as we figure out this online format. Please be sure to let me know if things aren't clear - I've been involved in this class so long sometimes I think things are obvious when they aren't.

Prompt Response One

This week, I’d like to talk in more detail about appeals. Understanding appeal is probably the most important thing you will get out of this class. So, for this week, I would like you to choose a book that you have read and enjoyed and do a practice annotation. Assign your book a genre based on the appeals and characteristics Saricks talks about in the text –pacing, characterization, storyline, tone/mood, style/language, and frame/setting - and then talk about the appeals and characteristics of your particular book. You can go right down the line, following Saricks’ format in the text or you can use a more narrative style, it’s up to you. Also please include a short plot summary – you can find tips for that in the readings - and find three read-a-likes based on appeal. Read-a-likes can be found in many different ways; we will discuss more resources for them later in the semester. My favorite source is Novelist – a database you have to access through a library. Your local library may have access to it. Let me know if it doesn’t.

If you have any questions or worries that you aren’t doing it correctly, just post it early enough in the week that I have a chance to look at it and message me with your concern. I will let you know if it’s not what I’m looking for. Feel free to use the handouts from week one as a guide; also feel free to post questions or comments about this assignment here in the comment section if you think your classmates will benefit. Remember, you will need to post this and respond to two of your classmates blog posts by the end of the week, Sunday January 26th.

This should be a fun exercise - reading each others’ annotations is a great way to find new suggestions for patrons or for yourselves! Always feel free to post interesting books, articles, interviews, or observations on your blog to share with me and your classmates, since we can’t just chat about them during class.

Welcome to Week Two!

Hello everyone!

View from Bozeman Public Library a couple weeks ago. 

Hope you are having a pleasant start to this semester. I have enjoyed reading all of your intros and getting to know a little about all of you. Please let me know if you have any questions about the syllabus or assignments. I know there is a lot of reading this week – bear with it, it’s all for a good cause.
By the end of this week (January 26), I will need from you:

1. Your Blog URL and name. Please get this to me as early as possible.
2. The five genres you will be reading and annotating for this class. Annotations will be due in the week they are assigned, and will be turned in on your blog. Please indicate which genre you will be reading a classic in, and let me know if you are unsure if a book you have chosen constitutes a classic! We will figure it out. You do not have to know what books you are reading yet, just what genres.
3. Your first prompt response. I will post a prompt here on the blog very shortly. Remember you also will need to reply to two of your classmates responses as well. Please refer back to the assignment description in week one if you have any questions about these.

I also posted in Week One some sample annotation handouts from a class a few years ago; forgot to mention those. Obviously we aren’t doing handouts in this class, since it is online, but those should help you understand some of the things I am looking for in an annotation for the purpose of this class. Feel free on your blog to talk about your personal feelings about the book as well. If you are doing a suspense or a thriller, get reading! Those annotations will be due by the end of Week Three.

I have also posted In Week Two the PowerPoint describing what you should be looking for during your assignment for Week Four, the Secret Shopper. I wanted to make sure you had plenty of time to complete this assignment, because I know that for some people it can be difficult to get to a library where they are not well known. After doing the readings for this week you should have a pretty good idea of what makes a good readers’ advisory interview. I will also post some video examples in Resources – feel free to post any you find on your blog during the next couple of weeks.

As always, let me know if you have any questions, and I look forward to reading your prompt responses!

Welcome to Week One

Image by Simon Cocks

Hello Everyone,

I am very excited to meet you and get this class going! My name is Carri Genovese, and I will be teaching this course. I taught it in person last year and was Andrea Copeland’s TA for it the year before – but those were in person. This will be a new experience for all of us so please let me know if things aren’t working or if you have any issues.

This class is fun. We read fun things and generally have great discussions. However it has a lot of reading. If you are interested in doing Readers’ Advisory you likely enjoy reading anyway, but I want to make sure at the beginning that all of you are aware that you will be responsible for readings in the textbook, relevant articles, and reading five novels in different genres throughout the class. If you do not think you will be able to handle this much reading you may want to drop this course. I will expect you to allude to the readings in your weekly prompts. I am sure that will not be a problem for most of you; after reading the early introduction posts it sounds like there are a lot of readers in this group!

This week I want you to concentrate on learning a bit about the history of readers’ advisory, meeting each
other in the Oncourse forum, reviewing the syllabus and forum, and thinking about what genres you will be interested in learning more about. By the end of Week Two, you will need to tell me what five genres you are interested in reading and annotating for this class. I strongly recommend that you choose at least one genre that you never read, for your own benefit and learning experience, and one genre you are an expert in or that is your favorite, for our benefit and learning experience.

Also by the end of Week Two, you will need to create a blog. Most of our communication in this class will be via blog. I feel this is a more organic way to communicate than Oncourse forums, plus you can keep it after you graduate. I have posted a Youtube tutorial on creating a blog on Blogger in Week Two Resources. Once you give me your blog URL, I will post it in the blog roll on this blog. That way you can see all of your classmates’ blogs and easily comment on them, follow them, however you want to keep track – it’s up to you. It has proven a great way to start or add to your social network of librarians. Feel free to use your current blog if you have one – just please label any assignments clearly.

I will expect you to comment on each others’ blogs. Reading about what other people are reading helps A LOT in readers’ advisory. I know this probably goes unsaid but just in case, there is one ground rule – this is a safe place. No teasing each other – if someone says the only book they have ever loved is a sparkly vampire romance they are to be treated with respect, just as a patron would. The definition of a good book, for the purpose of RA, is always one that is enjoyed by the reader.

I have posted more detailed assignment descriptions in Oncourse resources. Please review them this week and let me know if you have any questions.  I will post a general discussion forum on Oncourse for any questions or observations about the readings and assignments, and I will monitor it but you will not be graded on anything you post there. Please check this blog periodically.

You may ask me questions anyway is easy for you – comment on this blog, the Oncourse forum, you can text or email me. Thanks, and I really look forward to getting to know all of you!