Digital Resources: Are Graphic Novels Giving you a Headache?

Regardless of whether you’re at the elementary, middle school, or high school level, chances are you’ve been asked by more than one student to purchase a graphic novel. In fact, you’ve probably received lists of titles from students...and then cleverly hidden them away in a file only because you have no idea what’s good, what’s bad, or even what the difference is between shojo and shonen.

If that’s the case, and your knowledge of graphic novels is limited to Spider-Man or The Incredible Hulk, then it’s definitely time for an upgrade. Luckily, one is available and it’s designed with a librarian in mind.

Grades 5–12+

Cost Wilson’s Graphic Novels Core Collection starts at $255 for one simultaneous user for academic and public libraries and $205 for K–12 schools with less than 25 professional staff members. Special introductory site-license pricing at a flat rate is also available. For additional information, contact H.W. Wilson at insidesales@hwwilson.com.

The Big Picture Graphic Novels Core Collection features over 2,000 recommended titles with descriptions, annotations, and cover art for some of the most popular graphic novels published. Through the WilsonWeb interface, subscribers can search the database by author, title, subject, genre, and grade level.

Annotations provide users with a brief description of the content, review excerpts, and any awards that the title has won. Ratings by age appropriateness within the entry are strictly applied, which allows librarians to quickly determine placement within the collection. Additionally, cover art displayed within each search entry can also provide insight regarding suitability.

Look & Feel Wilson’s Graphic Novels Core Collection provides users with an easy-to-access interface that quickly provides results from over 2,000 entries. Using either the Basic or Advanced Search in the search banner, students, teachers, or librarians can locate specific titles or browse for Core Collection contents. By using the Advanced Search, viewers can also limit or expand queries by Recommended Levels, Document Types, Year of Publication, DDC Range, Categories (such as fiction, nonfiction), and Grade Level.

Through the Browse option, users can employ 18 different search options to locate titles, including by author, subject, series, and even reading level. A Search History allows users to review previous searches and return to them, if needed. The option to print, email, and save results makes sharing them with students even easier. Finally, the Export feature allows users to send search results to RefWorks and EndNote software, while the Citation option provides five different citation styles including APA and MLA formats.

How It Works By selecting the Advanced Search option in the Graphic Novels Core Collection database, librarians can easily locate titles for specific grade levels or interest levels. For example, by selecting from Advanced Options the option listed as Recommendation Level and then Narrowest: Short list, librarians can quickly locate the most highly recommended graphic novel titles. By adding Year of Publication and Grade Level, professional can also narrow their search results to specific content.

One great feature within the Advanced Search is the What’s New Since option, which allows users to enter the month, day, and year to a search to see what new titles have been released. This provides librarians with the ability to stay current with specific series titles or to locate new materials that may have just been released. Additionally, for those just starting to add graphic novels to their library or classroom collection, through the Core Collection option they can build collections by material types, genres, reading levels, interest levels, publication dates, and even titles within specific Dewey ranges.

With titles ranging from Babymouse and Owly (for the elementary crowd) to Edu-Manga (that’s “educational manga” such as biographies and classics-turned-manga for the “must-be-educational” types) to Gundam for high school GN-fans, this database will not only provide a wealth of insight into the hottest new format to hit library shelves, but will also provide librarians with a tool to select the best-of-the-best (even if their only exposure to graphic novels is limited to DC Comics and Batman).

As with most Wilson databases (and in this case, professional selection tool), the search results provide not only an abstract that details the contents of the book, a photo of the book’s cover, information regarding specifics such as grade level/interest level, and the price, but most importantly, they include the professional journals where the title was reviewed (if available).

To see a preview of what the content looks like within the database, go to www.corecollections.net/graphicnovels_copy(1).htm.

For Students and Teachers Teachers and librarians will breathe a sigh of relief to know that this database even exists! For those librarians just beginning to collect the most popular titles requested by teens (and even the little tykes), locating professional resources that provide information about the content within many graphic novels can be more than overwhelming. However, Graphic Novels Core Collection provides the quality of content that most librarians have grown to appreciate and respect, while showcasing the latest publications for students at all levels.

Finally, this database will be a secret shared by librarians with those teens who love—and live for graphic novels. Because the database is easy to use and provides a wide variety of search options, students can easily locate materials of interest and even (dare we suggest?) help guide their hesitant librarians toward their favorite titles for possible placement in the school library.

Overall, for students and teachers/librarians, H.W. Wilson’s Graphic Novels Core Collection will help move professionals from the misunderstanding that a graphic novel is “just a comic book” to appreciating graphic novels as a unique medium that is loved by many of our students while missing from many school libraries.

Report Card Even though graphic novels have been around for years, there has definitely been a void in professional resources that can help librarians better understand this unique form of education and entertainment. However, with Graphic Novels Core Collection, there is finally a standard tool that can be used to help guide professionals to select the best graphic novels for their students, and to begin building collections to meet the needs of those students who knew long before we did that this medium was something very special.

For creativity and genius in the production of a remarkable collection development tool for librarians (as well as a fun database to share with students and teachers), Wilson’s Graphic Novels Core Collection receives an A+.