Assignment #1: Read articles. Yep; done that. Watch YouTube vids. Yep, done that too.
Assignment #2 I like book trailers. Well, actually, I like the IDEA of book trailers better than many that I have watched, but still, I think that they have a future. I really do.
Just because the current generation isn't responding to them doesn't mean that book trailers can't become more popular. As one of the articles pointed out, talking heads aren't very fascinating. Mary Roach can hold our attention because she is funny; most other writers are way too reticent and awkward to be effective. So the publishers will eventually figure out that they need to create mini movie-like trailers that pique our visual interest in the same way that book jackets have in the past. The trailer for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is an excellent example of a really well done trailer. (I mean, who wouldn't be drawn to a grandfather telling a bedtime story to his grandson about strange people in a far off place and time? Worked for The Princess Bride...)
As the publishing industry changes to keep up with the digital age, I think book trailers could become a marketing product that helps them stay current. I suspect that those who follow their favorite authors on their blogs, Twitter feeds, or publishers' websites also watch lots of random YouTube videos, so that venue is a natural for promoting books to them. Upcoming generations are more comfortable with video imagery, so as long as the book trailers are high quality, they should do fine. As the NYT article mentioned, teens already buy their books based on book trailer come ons. I feel confident they will continue to do so as adults. Consequently, future librarians will probably rely more heavily on book trailers for RA. For now, however, I think we can hark back to the first RA article assigned, and trust that the one to one human relationship is the best way to recommend books to our customers.
WHY CAN'T BCPL RUN BOOK TRAILERS ON THEIR BIG SCREEN TVS???? We could contact publishers and offer to run their current crops for a modest fee....
Assignment #3
Overall, I really, really enjoyed this project. I feel 100% more comfortable and enthusiastic about RA. Yay, you guys rock!
I wish I could say that I now spend an hour every day perusing all of the fabulous resources that you introduced to us, but frankly, summer has swamped the branch and I am mainly thinking on my feet. And the good news is: I'm OK doing that! Because of those sites, I am more currently and widely read, so I have a much larger repertoire of material to offer to people.
I now have a better sense of how to recommend a book. I am more mindful of using the appeal factors when I talk about a title. I am also more comfortable just saying a couple of sentences and then stopping. When I've given a book a powerful pitch, I don't need to oversell it.
For me, the one weak spot in the training was the week we were supposed to find fan sites. Frankly, I think that that was a waste of time. I would have much rather been asked to write more recommendations to colleagues based on their genre interests. That week also featured the Genre Prezi. While the material itself was of very good quality, I thought the Prezi format was a complete fail. Really, sometimes a list is still more than adequate. I love Prezis, and there is a time and a place for them, but when I was scrambling for time to complete assignments with 7 other colleagues vying for a shot at the computers, simple and straightforward would have been more effective.
My biggest suggestion would be to ask staff to write more recs to other staff. Short of working with a customer, I can't think of a better way to strengthen RA skills than by practicing on a captive -- and receptive -- audience.
Thanks for all of your hard work.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Week 8: Stranger than Fiction....
Assignment #1 - Articles to read
I read the two articles on nonfiction RA. June Brannen's article "Borderlands" was a well written rationale about the appeal of narrative nonfiction and its importance in my RA repertoire. I was more interested in her comments about how to entice fiction readers to read nonfiction than to get nonfiction readers excited about fiction, since our readership is heavily into fiction.
"Reading Nonfiction for Pleasure: What Motivates Readers," was another well written article that reminded me of the great crossover appeal inherent in certain forms of nonfiction. One of my most important takeaways from these articles and the video was that STORY is a key element in the appeal of both fiction and nonfiction. Narrative or literary nonfiction is the term for this type of title.
Assignment #2 - Video to watch
I watched the Pratt nonfiction RA Power Point. I've eaten drier toast, but not by much. Still, another good reminder of the appeal factors and "genres" of nonfic.
Assignment #3 - Finding narrative nonfiction in the stacks. My four NF genres: Contemporary Social Issues, Medical, Travel, and Food.
For Contemporary Social Issues: 970.0049 T, Rez Life, by David Treuer. Treuer is a novelist and reviews state that this memoir/exploration reads like a novel with many colorful characters. Would suggest that Louise Erdrich fans pair this with The Round House.
For Medical: 338.43 S, Blood Feud: The man who blew the whistle on one of the deadliest prescription drugs ever, by Kathleen Sharp. I'd recommend this to my mother in law, a former nurse, who liked The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
For Travel: 945.6 M, Summers in Supino, by Maria Coletta McLean. I'd recommend to my father in law, a pureblood Italian. Seems like a fun summer read.
Food: 641.824 R, American Pie, by Peter Reinhardt. I'd recommend to customers planning a trip to Italy, someone who likes to cook, as a light summer read, or to someone who likes the food network shows.
Assignment #4 - Brief Book Talks
1) Medical: Fans of thrillers and true crime will be excited by Blood Feud: The man who blew the whistle on one of the deadliest prescription drugs ever, by Kathleen Sharp. It's the story of two former Procrit salesmen who became whistleblowers on Johnson and Johnson's fraudulent practices and the dangers of the drug, and the prosecutor who took on the high profile case against Big Pharma. Kathleen Sharp is an award winning journalist who packed this book with juicy details and chilling, meticulous reserach. Knowing that real lives were at stake makes this title truly suspenseful, and its fast pace and mix of sympathetic and nefarious characters would satisfy both nonfiction and fiction tastes.
2) Food: American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza is a fun mash up of food and travel; it could be a travelogue as easily as a foodie read. It's the lighthearted adventure of an award winning baker, Peter Reinhardt, who decides to track down the origins of Italian pizza and then search the US for the Holy Grail of American pizza. Reinhardt travels to iconic pizza cities like Naples and Sicily, gathering recipes and anecdotes along the way. Then he crisscrosses the United States, seeking pizza nirvana from Phoenix, Arizona, to New Haven, Connecticut, and unlikely places in between. Reinhardt's gift for storytelling makes him the perfect tour guide; his acumen as a baker makes him a great companion in the kitchen. Readers wanting authentic or noveau recipes would be thrilled, while other readers could enjoy glimpses of Italian food meccas, quirky American cafes, and the thrill of the hunt.
Assignment #1 - Articles to read
I read the two articles on nonfiction RA. June Brannen's article "Borderlands" was a well written rationale about the appeal of narrative nonfiction and its importance in my RA repertoire. I was more interested in her comments about how to entice fiction readers to read nonfiction than to get nonfiction readers excited about fiction, since our readership is heavily into fiction.
"Reading Nonfiction for Pleasure: What Motivates Readers," was another well written article that reminded me of the great crossover appeal inherent in certain forms of nonfiction. One of my most important takeaways from these articles and the video was that STORY is a key element in the appeal of both fiction and nonfiction. Narrative or literary nonfiction is the term for this type of title.
Assignment #2 - Video to watch
I watched the Pratt nonfiction RA Power Point. I've eaten drier toast, but not by much. Still, another good reminder of the appeal factors and "genres" of nonfic.
Assignment #3 - Finding narrative nonfiction in the stacks. My four NF genres: Contemporary Social Issues, Medical, Travel, and Food.
For Contemporary Social Issues: 970.0049 T, Rez Life, by David Treuer. Treuer is a novelist and reviews state that this memoir/exploration reads like a novel with many colorful characters. Would suggest that Louise Erdrich fans pair this with The Round House.
For Medical: 338.43 S, Blood Feud: The man who blew the whistle on one of the deadliest prescription drugs ever, by Kathleen Sharp. I'd recommend this to my mother in law, a former nurse, who liked The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
For Travel: 945.6 M, Summers in Supino, by Maria Coletta McLean. I'd recommend to my father in law, a pureblood Italian. Seems like a fun summer read.
Food: 641.824 R, American Pie, by Peter Reinhardt. I'd recommend to customers planning a trip to Italy, someone who likes to cook, as a light summer read, or to someone who likes the food network shows.
Assignment #4 - Brief Book Talks
1) Medical: Fans of thrillers and true crime will be excited by Blood Feud: The man who blew the whistle on one of the deadliest prescription drugs ever, by Kathleen Sharp. It's the story of two former Procrit salesmen who became whistleblowers on Johnson and Johnson's fraudulent practices and the dangers of the drug, and the prosecutor who took on the high profile case against Big Pharma. Kathleen Sharp is an award winning journalist who packed this book with juicy details and chilling, meticulous reserach. Knowing that real lives were at stake makes this title truly suspenseful, and its fast pace and mix of sympathetic and nefarious characters would satisfy both nonfiction and fiction tastes.
2) Food: American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza is a fun mash up of food and travel; it could be a travelogue as easily as a foodie read. It's the lighthearted adventure of an award winning baker, Peter Reinhardt, who decides to track down the origins of Italian pizza and then search the US for the Holy Grail of American pizza. Reinhardt travels to iconic pizza cities like Naples and Sicily, gathering recipes and anecdotes along the way. Then he crisscrosses the United States, seeking pizza nirvana from Phoenix, Arizona, to New Haven, Connecticut, and unlikely places in between. Reinhardt's gift for storytelling makes him the perfect tour guide; his acumen as a baker makes him a great companion in the kitchen. Readers wanting authentic or noveau recipes would be thrilled, while other readers could enjoy glimpses of Italian food meccas, quirky American cafes, and the thrill of the hunt.
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