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EXCEL: A certificate programme in
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E19-Readers' Advisory Services
ASSIGNMENT 5
The Morton Grove Library (Illinois) has an interesting readers’ advisory service called MatchBook which tells the patron (who has signed up for the service) about new books in the library that might be of interest. There are four component to their program each focusing on a unique aspect of our collection.
For this assignment, we are going to try to use this model, and locate some titles in your collection to match a profile. We are going to use Morton Grove’s “MatchBook Classic” component. This is the description of the MatchBook Classic program – and the patron profile has 70 categories from which the patron will choose. As an aside, the categories and the description of what might be “benchmark authors” within that category is an interesting read as you try to sort out genres.
“MatchBook Classic consists of lists of all new purchases to the Morton Grove Public Library, with some titles having brief annotations. You pick the subjects that interest you: antiques, hobbies and crafts, or sports; your favorite authors or fiction categories: mysteries, romances, historical fiction, and many more. Fill out a MatchBook Classic Patron Profile and we'll create a list every month of new books in the Library that match your profile exactly! Your profile will be mailed or e-mailed to you each month.”
Our imaginary (male) library patron has completed the patron profile form, and has decided on three categories.
- Fantasy
- Historical Fiction
- Military Fiction
In the MatchBook materials, background information for these three categories is provided – and here is the description from the Morton Grove Library:
Fantasy
Benchmark authors: Piers Anthony's Xanth books, Robert Jordan, Guy Gavriel Kay. As Orson Scott Card said, "If the cover has foliage or animals, it's fantasy." Fantasy focuses on characters, creatures and events that are not explainable by known science. There is often a strong element of adventure or romance. Settings may be near Earth-normal, as in Patricia McKillip's Winter Rose, or elaborately off-world, as in Mercedes Lackey's Storm Rising series.
Historical Fiction
Benchmark authors: Bernard Cornwell, Judith Tarr or Jean Auel. The rule of thumb for historical fiction is that events take place at least one generation ago; therefore, fiction set during the Vietnam War is considered historical. Settings tend to be near periods of great conflict: civil war, revolution, or in famous courts such as Peter the Great or Henry VIII. Includes adventure fiction in other times, such as Patrick O'Brian, W. E. B. Griffin and Philip McCutchan.
Military Fiction
Benchmark authors: W.E.B. Griffin, Tom Clancy, and Dale Brown.
Technology and military culture are the most important elements, as the
setting may vary from the Napoleonic War (Patrick O'Brian) to the
present (Stephen Coonts).
With this background information in hand, you now need to create a
list of titles which might be of interest to this patron. The list
can include books, feature films, audiobooks and CDs which fall into
these chosen categories. This patron has asked that the list be limited
to 15 titles, and that the titles include only the newest titles from
the library (because they think that they have read almost every book in
the library in these categories). The titles must be from your library
collection.
As the list can either be picked up by the patron (the lists need to
be completely confidential, kept in sealed envelopes at the Service
Desk) or sent by e-mail to the patron, so it does not have to be fancy
but should contain the name of the library on the message so that the
patron realizes who is responsible for this value-added service. Here's
a sample of what the list might look like – but don’t feel limited by
this style of list. Submit your list of at least 15 titles, with
annotations where necessary, to your tutor at the time specified on your
list of contact sessions.
Biography
Delta style: Eve wasn't a size 6 and neither am I
Burke, Delta. 791.45092 BUR
Testament: at the creation of the state of Israel
Levin, Aaron.956.940922 LEV
My secret mother, Lorna Moon
DeMille, Richard. B Moon
Outside Passage: a memoir of an Alaskan childhood
Scully, Julia. B SCULLY
Paradise fever: growing up in the shadow of the New Age
Tompkins, Ptolemy. B Tompkins
Legal Thrillers
Legal briefs: stories by today's best legal thriller writers
A collection of eleven short stories for fans of courtroom
drama.
Dead even Meltzer, Brad.
Married attorneys are pitted against each other in the
courtroom, with each being secretly threatened with their spouse's death
if they win the case.
Breach of promise O'Shaughnessy, Perri.
Lake Tahoe attorney Nina O'Reilly takes on a high stakes,
high profile palimony case that puts her in the center of a murder
investigation.
Reckless endangerment Tanenbaum, Robert.
Karp and his partner investigate the double murder of the
owners of a kosher deli in Manhattan
Audiobooks
Cold Mountain Frazier, Charles VF FRAZ CM F-08
Come the spring Garwood, Julie. VF GARW CS F56
Switcheroo Goldsmith, Olivia. VF GOLD SWI M64
The book of Ruth Hamilton, Jane.VF HAMI BR R52
Starship Troopers Heinlein, Robert. VF HEIN ST W98
*End*
2007 Edition