Find Something New In The Catalog
For years, Mercer County Library System has subscribed to the NoveList Plus databases and offered NextReads newsletters to help you find the latest books by your favorite authors or explore new options based on the titles you liked to read or listen to. Now we will be bringing both of these wonderful resources to you right in our catalog. While we will still offer the database and newsletters, you now have the convenience of seeing the same content in our catalog while you search for books and audiobooks. Here is a primer on how to get started using the new features.
Like the NoveList Plus databases, the enriched content on the catalog page will direct you to authors, titles, and series that are similar to the item you searched for. It is essentially a way to get suggestions based on a title you have already read and liked, or to suggest alternatives if the title you are looking for is checked out. To get started, visit our catalog page and search for a book. If there is an author or title you really liked and would like to see similar authors or titles, search for the one you already read. The new content can be found on the detail display page for any book as the last item in the accordion. It is labeled Reading Recommendations, Reviews, and More. Keep in mind that when you search, the first set of results you often see are the list display. Clicking on one of the titles will get you the detail display for that title. Note, you want to select the book or book-on-CD record, not a hoopla or eLibraryNJ record, as the extra content will not show up for our digital copies.
Depending on the title, you may see up to five tabs of added content. The top tab will be series information if the book is part of a series - you will see the cover art for the entire series, in order. While it is not activated yet, in the coming weeks you will start to see the library holdings for each title, with the number of copies we own and the number of copies checked-in showing up below the title for each series entry,
The next tab, or the top for non-series titles, will be the read-alikes. If you have used the NoveList Plus database, this area will be familiar to you. It is where you will see suggestions for similar authors, titles, and series (if the title is part of a series). All of the items listed are hot links so you can jump right to that title for more information or click on an author to see what books may be available. The series pages also list all of the titles in the suggested series, along with some information about that series.
Like the NoveList Plus databases, the enriched content on the catalog page will direct you to authors, titles, and series that are similar to the item you searched for. It is essentially a way to get suggestions based on a title you have already read and liked, or to suggest alternatives if the title you are looking for is checked out. To get started, visit our catalog page and search for a book. If there is an author or title you really liked and would like to see similar authors or titles, search for the one you already read. The new content can be found on the detail display page for any book as the last item in the accordion. It is labeled Reading Recommendations, Reviews, and More. Keep in mind that when you search, the first set of results you often see are the list display. Clicking on one of the titles will get you the detail display for that title. Note, you want to select the book or book-on-CD record, not a hoopla or eLibraryNJ record, as the extra content will not show up for our digital copies.
Depending on the title, you may see up to five tabs of added content. The top tab will be series information if the book is part of a series - you will see the cover art for the entire series, in order. While it is not activated yet, in the coming weeks you will start to see the library holdings for each title, with the number of copies we own and the number of copies checked-in showing up below the title for each series entry,
The next tab, or the top for non-series titles, will be the read-alikes. If you have used the NoveList Plus database, this area will be familiar to you. It is where you will see suggestions for similar authors, titles, and series (if the title is part of a series). All of the items listed are hot links so you can jump right to that title for more information or click on an author to see what books may be available. The series pages also list all of the titles in the suggested series, along with some information about that series.
The next tab is Story Elements, which provides an interactive area where you can click on aspects of the book to generate similar titles that fit that type. This is where you can really do some outside the box types of searches. If you have used NoveList Plus before, you will see the familiar options like character type, plot pace, writing style, etc. If you are an audiobook fan, you will see additional options for searching, such as pace or style of the reader. As you click on the different aspects in the lists, you will see the results list below change as the database makes suggestions based on the criteria you selected in the elements area. To clear an element, simply click on it to deselect it.
The fourth tab is a ratings and reviews tab that links to Goodreads, but for children's books you will also see Lexile and Accelerated Reader scores. This area is also interactive, as you can adjust the scores if need be or just hit the search button to get titles with a similar score. If you are unaware of how to use the Lexile or AR scores, there is a link for more information. This link brings up a pop-up that explains the scores and shows the charts used to match the score to a school grade reading level.
The last tab is the related content tab. Currently it displays award winners and NoveList Plus reading lists, but we are working on adding our databases and LibraryAware content. Once this is set-up, you will see links to our newsletters, databases, and information about upcoming library events that may relate to the title. The award winners area shows all the literary or audiobook awards the title has won. The NoveList Reading Lists are created by librarians who work for NoveList and are usually best of lists, such as Best Fiction 2018 or Best Memoirs So Far This Year.
We hope you enjoy using the new content in the catalog and discover some great new authors or titles you can love as much as your old favorites. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask a staff member for assistance.
- Laura N., Information Technology
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