Database Overview

EBSCO’s NoveList Plus ( is a database of over 200,000 book titles. Most are fiction, but some are what EBSCO calls “readable” nonfiction. This category includes biographies, memoirs, anecdotes, essays and poetry.

The database contains books for all ages and is divided into age ranges—younger kids, older kids, teens and adults. Searches can be limited to specific age categories. Although adults would find this database helpful in assisting children, older elementary students could use NoveList Plus to find titles for their own leisure reading.

In addition to the book title database, the site offers book lists, discussion guides for book groups and book talks. It also includes book reviews and some feature articles. NoveList Plus covers 9,000 fiction and nonfiction series.

For librarians, there is a section on reader’s advisory, which contains training, genre outlines, bookmarks and marketing tools. For teachers, some curriculum materials are included. The database also has the ability to search by Lexile scores, which would aid teachers and parents.

The purpose of NoveList Plus is to assist people find books to read for pleasure. They can use the database to find books by authors who write similarly to one of their favorite authors. They can also discover the order of titles in a series. Although some of this information can be found by searching a library’s online catalog, NoveList Plus makes certain searches easier.

Historically, patrons had to rely on librarians for leisure recommendations. No one person can know all the books and genres. Although the advent of print resources improved this service, a database makes it more easily accessible. NoveList Plus can assist librarians in making recommendations; however, this database allows patrons to meet their own specific reading desires.

The biggest strengths of NoveList Plus are the extensive database and the ease of accessibility. The search bar doesn’t require people to choose a specific type of search, e.g. author or title. However, a search can easily be limited as to type or age group. People can also search by plot, which is very helpful when they don’t know specific bibliographic information. The “Advanced Search” allows searching by Lexile range and publication date. Searches can also be limited to gender, nationality or cultural identity of author. The tutorial does not cover advanced searches because this would have limited appeal to children.

One weakness could be the perception that it is intended for librarians and teachers, not for the general user. With that in mind, it isn’t particularly attractive to children. Therefore, it might take some promotion to encourage kids to use it. Another weakness is that it doesn’t suggest alternate spellings so search terms must be spelled correctly.

Tutorial

The tutorial is written for students in fourth to sixth grade. It is a PowerPoint presentation that would be available on the computers in the children’s department. To see the database tutorial, check out the “Database tutorial.ppt” file.

Database Activity

Children’s Book Week is May 9th - 17th. To celebrate it, you get to read a book to a kindergarten class. Use the NoveList Plus database to pick a book to read. To learn how to use the database to pick a book, check out the “Picking a Picture Book.ppt” file. You need to have your book selected and approved by May 1st.

In addition to reading the story, you need to prepare an introduction. You should tell the kids your name. Then you should introduce the book in some way. You could tell why you picked the book or tell something about the author. You could share a fact about the subject of the book. You could even find a poem or fingerplay to go along with the theme. Be creative! Make sure you tell the kids the title of the book and the name of the author and illustrator during the introduction.

You need to make a small poster to go along with the book you pick. The front of the poster should have the following:

Picture of the book cover (see instructions below)

Title of the book

Author’s name

Illustrator’s name

Publisher’s name and publication date

Type or write your introduction on the back of the poster. To see a sample poster, clickhere.

How to Get a Copy of the Book Cover for Your Poster

  1. Look up your book in NoveList Plus.
  2. Click on the title.
  3. Click on the cover picture.
  4. This will open a larger copy of the picture. Right click on this picture.
  5. Choose PRINT PICTURE or SAVE PICTURE.

Applications and Ideas

  • Lower elementary teachers could use the Picture Book Extenders to develop units based on literature.
  • The articles in NoveList Plus could be used to introduce classroom units. For example, there are articles about books on each of the 50 states. There is also an article about using picture books to teach writing.
  • NoveList Plus has what they call “Grab and Go Book Lists.” Social studies teachers, for example, would find lists on such topics as “American Colonial Era to 1774” and “Civil Rights and the Vietnam Era.”
  • Teachers, public and school librarians could use the BookTalks provided to encourage reading.
  • NoveList Plus has book lists that deal with specific character traits, which would be helpful to parents, teachers, Sunday School teachers and social workers.
  • Parents would be able to use the Lexile information to help their children choose books at the appropriate reading level.

Susan M. DaileyPage 13/21/2009