Getting to Know Urban Literature

Hip-Hop lit. Ghetto lit. Gangsta lit. No matter what they're calling it - your patrons are asking for it. Urban Literature has become immensely popular among patrons of all ages since rapper and political activist Sister Souljah wrote The Coldest Winter Ever a decade ago. And while some may question its literary merit, the genre deserves recognition for bringing a new generation of reluctant readers into the library. Readers are drawn to the realistic characters in urban settings and the slang-infused dialogue that depict situations similar to what they, or their friends, are experiencing.
Many librarians have yet to include this genre in their Readers' Advisory repertoire, maybe because they don't know enough about it, or simply don't get its appeal. That's why Adult Services Librarian Jessica Zellers has written "Getting Up to Speed in... Urban Lit" to help you understand the who, the what, and the why of Urban Literature. This in-depth genre outline describes the three main sub-genres -- Street Lit, Urban Drama, and Urban Erotica -- and offers background information on some of the most popular authors and titles. For a more general overview, check out "Hot Topics: Street Fiction" by librarian David Wright, in which he discusses the genre and provides annotations for Urban must-reads.
On the other hand, you might shun Urban lit because you are familiar with the genre and are uncomfortable with the explicit descriptions of sex, violence and drug use. While the majority of Street Lit does deal with street life and use urban talk, not all titles are shockingly graphic. Urban Dramas, for example, tend to be less scandalous, focusing on the emotional interactions among characters. Even the bawdiest authors don't glorify street life, but are careful to depict the grim reality of it.
However, the underlying message may not be strong enough to justify handing some titles - especially Urban Erotica - to young patrons. There are authors who write cleaner, less violent titles appropriate for the age group. NoveList contributor Autumn Winters has compiled a list of series and titles to consider in "Serving Teen Urban Fiction Readers in Your Library." Here, she suggests possible titles for libraries, and illustrates how Urban Literature can be used to reach out to teen readers.
You can find all three feature articles mentioned in this newsletter by entering the title in the Find box on the NoveList home page, selecting the Title radio button, and clicking Search. So the next time a young patron asks about rapper 50 Cent, you'll know that they're looking for his Urban Lit books and a not his new CD.

NoveList K-8 Adds Interface Enhancements

Over the past year NoveList has spent a lot of time listening to their customers. What they have told them is that we want even more of the great resources they provide, and we want to be able to get to those resources quickly and easily.
As you may already know, they have been working on enhancements to the NoveList and NoveList Plus interfaces, but they are also working on updates and enhancements to K-8 and K-8 Plus.
Design for the K-8 and K-8 Plus interfaces is underway and the release is scheduled for later this summer. While there won’t be a Beta version for these interfaces, you can still see what’s coming by using the NoveList or NoveList Plus Beta.

The new versions of K-8 will search, browse, and make recommendations just like the new NoveList, with a few slight differences:
The new K-8 will use a different color palette and larger font than NoveList.
The K-8 homepage will be slightly different, most notably with the addition of juvenile-related links in the menu on the right.
The K-8 Search box will include Reading Level limiters.
You can see what the new K-8 will look like by visiting their Support Center. On the preview page, you’ll see screenshots of the new interface, and you can find additional information and promotional materials for the new K-8 under the FAQ and Promotion tabs.

NoveList Notes January 2010: Cultural Identity

Have you wanted to find titles by authors with a certain cultural identity for all reading levels in different genres? NoveList now helps you do that. Using the the example below for finding titles by African-American Authors, the step by step instructions should help.

To create your own lists by conducting an Advanced Search:

1.Click Advanced Search from the homepage.
2. Select the desired Reading and/or Grade Level from the limiter options.
3. Scroll down towards the bottom of the page, and select “African-American” from the Author’s Cultural Identity limiter.
4. Click Search.
5. From the result list, you can Narrow Results by selecting any of the subjects listed.

For titles in a specific genre, amend this search by entering the genre, i.e “mystery,” in the first Find bar and selecting GN Genre from the adjacent drop-down. For the most recent additions, sort your result by Date Descending.

April News from NoveList

Quick Print and Other Enhancements Coming Soon!

We have been busy gathering feedback about the new NoveList interface from our users and are working hard to bring you some enhancements so that NoveList can better serve your needs.

#1. Easier Printing:

A number of you have requested that we add the ability to print directly from the Result or Series List. We have made this a high priority for our development team and plan for this enhancement to be available in early May. With this enhancement you will be able to select a Quick Print link from the Result or Series List display to access a printer-friendly version of your list. Using the Quick Print function will significantly reduce the number of steps it takes to print your list, and it will also reduce the number of pages needed. If you would like more printing options, you will still have the ability to go through your folder and the Print Manager to print your list.
Here is how the Quick Print function will work:
1. Perform your search to pull up the Result or Series List that you want to print.
2. Click the Quick Print link to the right of the Sort By drop-down menu.
3. If your browser's Print window does not automatically display, click the Print icon on your browser toolbar and select Print from your browser's File menu.

#2. Additional Enhancements:

In addition to the Quick Print functionality, we are also bringing you several other enhancements based on your feedback:
• Newest Features Added. Want to know what Author Read-alikes or other features have been added recently to NoveList? You can now find all the new feature content at the "What's New" link in the Spotlight section of the homepage. This "What's New" area will be updated regularly to bring the newest NoveList features to your fingertips.
• Browsing by alpha link for an author's last name. In the previous version, you could browse features such as Author Read-alikes and Book Discussion Guides by clicking an A – Z link to jump to an author's last name. We are currently in the process of grouping these features by author last name, so that users can quickly and easily browse straight to the author they are looking for. We expect this enhancement to be available by early May.
• Easier navigation to most recent What We're Reading postings. We will significantly reduce the number of clicks it takes to navigate the What We're Reading postings. This enhancement will be available by early May.
• Ability to enlarge book jacket images. We understand that many users do like to look at the book cover when selecting their next read, so we will be adding the ability to enlarge book jacket images. This enhancement will allow you to select the image from the title detail record to view the enlarged book cover. We expect this enhancement to be available in early May.
We are also working on fine-tuning our search capabilities to help you find what you need much faster and more easily. We expect that the performance of the Basic Search bar will be enhanced in early May.
To keep up with all these enhancements as well as future updates, visit the New Release Notes FAQ. This help page is linked from the Spotlight section of the homepage or you can click here.
As you continue to learn your way around the new interface, keep in mind that we offer training and support materials to assist you. Click the Tour NoveList link at the homepage to access the Training page in Help, where you can find a brief animated tour of the new interface and a Quick Start guide. Also available are Help Sheets on searching, printing, and some of the other features of the new interface.
Please feel free to use the Send Feedback link to let us know of any other training or support needs that you may have. As always, we are listening to your feedback and, with your help, will continue to improve NoveList.

NoveList and NoveList K-8 User Interface Redesigns

The popular NoveList and NoveList K-8 user interfaces have received new looks. In conjunction with the redesigns, many new features have been added to these trusted readers’ advisory resources.

NoveList:
The new NoveList home page facilitates searches for new titles, and provides instant access to all of NoveList's content rich features. Here is an example of the new home page design for NoveList:

A new, single Find field lets users simultaneously search by author, title, subject, and/or series, for example.
Note the removal of the tabs, which means that all of the content is accessible directly from the new home page. Users can browse Author Read-alikes, Book Discussion Guides, BookTalks and awards lists, etc. without searching under tabs first. Access to hundreds of book lists will be available through the Recommended Reads link.
On the right side of the new home page, there is an expanded, completely revamped Readers' Advisory section.
The Result List has been enhanced to include appropriate books and customized content, sorted by tabs for ease of retrieval. Note that in the example shown here, the Result List from a search for legal thrillers yielded a combined total of 525 book titles, Author Read-alikes, Recommended Reads and Series.

NoveList K-8:
The new look for NoveList K-8 is even more intuitive, and includes all of the great new features in NoveList's new design.
The Working with Kids section from the Browse panel enables teachers, media specialists, childrens' librarians and parents to find quality content linked to curricular topics, organized by grade levels and filled with great ideas for young readers to explore.

You can find NoveList and NoveList K-8 on the Find a Good Book section of the Databases & Websites area of the library;'s Website - hcplc.org.

NoveList Notes - November, 2007

New and Revised Explore Fiction Lists in NoveList

NoveList and NoveList K-8's ready-made book lists are great sources for eager readers and busy librarians. NoveList is now pleased to announce that all of our genre-based Explore Fiction lists have been completely revamped and updated. In addition to the updated lists, we have added several new genre lists, including Historical Fiction and Graphic Novels at the Adult level, based on requests from our users.
All of the popular genres, including Mysteries, Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy and Historical Fiction, are covered in the Explore Fiction lists. Each genre contains a number of lists covering popular sub-genres, for example "Contemporary Romances" and "Romantic Suspense" under the Romance genre. Each list contains 15 to 20 titles, carefully selected by experienced librarians.

Run out of book discussion group ideas? Looking for an easy way to find a good book to read? Use Explore Fiction lists as a quick source for a book display on Classic Science Fiction titles. Create bookmarks with our new Adult Historical Fiction Explore lists to pass out to your readers or place in the historical fiction titles on your new books shelf. This will not only pull your patrons into your collection, it will keep them coming back for more.

Here's how to access NoveList's Explore Fiction lists:
1. Select the Browse Lists tab.
2. Under the Explore Fiction heading, select the appropriate reading level link. To find the new Adult Historical Fiction list, select the "Adult" link.
3. You will see a list of genres to choose from. Select the "Historical Fiction" link.
4. A listing of sub-genres will display. Choose a topic of interest, for example "Immigrant Experience," to see the full list of titles.

At the end of each Explore Fiction list, you will find a description that will give you more information about the books on the list or how you can find more books like those listed. Please note that at each list, you can select a title to link directly to the book record for an annotation, reviews, and links to other resources.

When you are all out of book display ideas, looking for a new way to promote the use of your library, or just in need of a ready-made book list to keep your speedy readers satisfied for awhile, turn to NoveList's Explore Fiction lists for help.

NoveList can be found on the Find a Good Book section of the library's Databases & Websites page.