OPLIN has announced that the statewide subscription to EBSCO NoveList will be canceled when the current contract ends on June 30, 2009. Although this is well over six months away, KIN24x7 agents should be aware of this...
OPLIN reports that their "budget has been cut 14.7% in the last 9 months. In our next fiscal year (starting July 2009) we simply cannot afford to purchase NoveList any longer. We are well aware of the popularity of this database, and this decision was not taken lightly. NoveList is our only remaining database purchase that is not part of our partnership with Libraries Connect Ohio (OhioLINK, INFOhio, State Library); our only other choice would be to start cutting our contributions toward the cost of the general EBSCO databases or our general encyclopedia (World Book), which would jeopardize the heart of the LCO collection."
The report continues: "OPLIN and the State Library are looking into alternative readers advisory tools, and OPLIN has met with EBSCO and OHIONET to see if Ohio public libraries can get deep discounts on purchases of NoveList. We will immediately inform you of any developments in regard to NoveList discounts." (Source).
In light of this, I would like to recommend some online readers advisory tools with which KIN24x7 agents may want to become familiar:
- BookHive
- http://www.plcmc.org/bookhive/
- From the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, NC, for children through 6th grade. This site has a wealth of suggestions using its "Find a Book" feature.
- WhichBook.net
- http://www.whichbook.net/
- Allows for setting levels on several "gauges" (happy-sad, gentle-violent, conventional-unusual, etc.) and finding books that exhibit those characteristics.
- Stop You're Killing Me!
- http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/
- An excellent resource for mystery readers
- Soon's Historical Fiction
- http://www.histfiction.net/
- This site has a lot of information on historical fiction for all time periods. Click on "Books" at the top for an assortment arranged by timeline.
- Fiction_L Booklists
- http://www.webrary.org/rs/FLbklistmenu.html
- The ever-popular Fiction_L list of lists.
- All About Romance
- http://www.likesbooks.com/
- A good place for romance readers to find the perfect match.
- Fantastic Fiction
- http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/
- Good for information on series.
