Diving Headlong into the World of Books

If you've read the statistics, you know that there are nearly 300,000 books printed every year and no matter how fast a reader you might be, there are only so many hours in the day. So if you're having a hard time keeping up (or have already quit trying), then you might want to consider one of the reader advisory tools that can make locating "just the right book" not only educational, but also socially interactive. This month we look at EBSCO's NoveList K-8 Plus. Next month we look at Gale's Books and Authors.

Grades K-12

To determine the appropriate pricing for your school library or district, please contact your EBSCO representative.

EBSCO's NoveList K-8 Plus could easily be viewed as the "Big Brother" of NoveList K-8. Not only does it provide the power-packed resources found in the original NoveList K-8 program, but it also offers over 30,000 nonfiction titles and educational articles for teachers and librarians to use for developing instructional content. This makes it an extremely useful program for book lovers in both elementary and middle schools. By providing students, teachers, and librarians with thousands of books for Pre-K through 8th grade—and by covering a wide variety of genres, reading levels, thematic units, recommended reading lists, and more—NoveList K-8 Plus lets students quickly locate both fiction and nonfiction books while providing teachers and librarians with quality resources that can easily be tied to curriculum standards. Author Biographies provide a brief summary of the authors' life and works, allowing for author studies to be an additional component of classroom or library research assignments while Book Discussion Guides provide additional content for use with book clubs, reading groups, or classroom discussions. To learn more, an online tour is available at: support.epnet.com/training/flash_videos/K8PlusTourFiles/NovK8PlusTour.htm

NoveList K-8 Plus has an intuitive home page filled with colored boxes that allow users to easily distinguish among the different search points within the program. The Basic Search box allows for a single query while still providing users with the ability to select additional criteria to increase search success. For example, students can search for materials by Author, Title, Series, or (often the last resort) Describe a Plot. Users can also limit their search by interest levels such as teens, older kids, and younger kids.

The Advanced Search box allows users to incorporate database limiters to provide more detailed information relating to their specific inquiry. For example, users can search different fields including Dewey number, genre, or publisher, as well as by title, author, keyword, and more. They can also select specific types of search results that might include books, book discussion guides, series, or grab and go book lists. Additional limiters include reading levels, grade levels, lexile reading levels, and the author's gender and nationality.

The Spotlight section in the middle of the home page provides key content information and recommended books that might be of interest and changes on a regular basis. The My NoveList section directly above the Spotlight box provides the ability to learn more about how the database functions and ways to create folders to save research articles or create book lists or email alerts when new materials are added to the database.

The Browse Panel on the left-hand side of the page provides users with book lists, articles, booktalks, curriculum connections, recommended reads, and more. Divided by age levels (teens—ages 13–18; older kids—ages 9–12; and younger kids—ages 0–8), the Browse Panel can provide both students and teachers with a quick way to access the content by simply clicking the search topic. The Working with Kids section at the bottom of the Browse Panel provides teachers and librarians with resources such as book discussion guides, booktalks, curriculum standards, curricular connections, picture book extenders, and grab and go book lists.

NoveList K-8 Plus makes searching and browsing easier for users by providing both the Search box and the Browse box as quick access options for avid readers. By simply typing the term in the Basic Search box, users can quickly locate information by author, title, series, or plot. Selecting the age group of the reader continues to narrow the search to more specific titles and by using the radio drop-down box, users can limit their query by fiction or nonfiction books.

For example, a search for author Mo Willems returns 74 results. By clicking the desired tab, users can immediately access content information. For example, by clicking the Books tab, my search was narrowed down to 24 titles written by Mo Willems. Upon locating one of my favorites, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, I discovered that I immediately have summary information about the book, a Lexile level to determine readability, an indicator color that shows that this book is for Younger Kids and that it is a Fiction title, and a Popularity ranking (in this case, students rate this one as a definite four star book). I also noticed that the results box displays Links that provide information about this book, such as the fact that it is an Award Winner, that it is one of the Recommended Reads, that it is on the Grab and Go Book Lists, and that there are Curricular Connections that can be used with the title. Another definite plus is the Reviews link, which is available for each title in the results box, allowing librarians, teachers, parents, or administrators the ability to read professional reviews.I can also add this title to My Folder (which travels across all EBSCO databases that are currently subscribed to by my school), allowing me to access this information at a later date.

Students will absolutely love the ability to quickly find titles by their favorite authors or search for books by specific genres or even series. The grab and go book lists will also be a favorite for students who like to read a wide variety of books on a particular subject but can never find enough material. Because EBSCO's NoveList K-8 Plus provides both fiction and nonfiction content, students and teachers can take advantage of the wealth of resources available and extend fiction reading to nonfiction without difficulty.

New librarians (or those "more experienced" librarians with too much to remember already) will appreciate the variety of book lists that can easily be created, saved, and shared with students on a wide range of books at every grade level. By using the recommended reading lists within each age level section on the home page, librarians can quickly determine books that fit the needs of each reader. An additional plus that should not be missed is the ability to determine the gaps within the library's collection and the ability to quickly create a book list to purchase those missing titles simply by selecting the works and then saving them to the My Folder section with the EBSCO database.

Librarians and teachers will also find that the curricular connections, book discussion guides, and booktalks can save hours in lesson preparation and development. Through the discussion guides, booktalks, and curricular connections, NoveList K-8 Plus provides additional resources and links to materials related to the subject. Book discussion guides and picture book extenders also provide educators with the ability to broaden lesson plans by providing in-depth discussion questions for older students or curricular tie-ins for other subject content areas such as science, history, and math through books for elementary students.

EBSCO's NoveList K-8 Plus is much more than just a reader's advisory program for school librarians and teachers. It is a database of quality resource information that magnifies and extends instructional curriculum while providing educational support and encouragement to both avid readers and those just beginning to learn to read. Because the database provides intuitive search options while returning extensive content that reflects both current titles and well-loved favorites, NoveList K-8 Plus could be used by students at all levels and abilities. For making what was already a great database even better, NoveList K-8 Plus receives an A+.