Interlibrary Loan delays

Interlibrary loan requests submitted over the holiday break (effectively December 19, 2008 - January 4, 2009) will not be processed until Monday, January 5, 2009.

Please plan accordingly for delays. If you have questions or concerns about possible delays, please contact the library or email Sonja Timmerman.

Have general questions about ILL? Check out the updated ILL page on the library website.

A reMinder for Moodle

Although it may seem premature to be thinking about J-Term with fall semester just drawing to a close, remember to get your e-reserves for January to the library as soon as you can. The quicker I get 'em, the quicker they get posted! If you're really ahead of the ball game, I'm also able to post spring semester readings, too.

If you're the adventurous type with lots of time on your hands, you can always upload or reactivate your readings yourself. If you do so, please be observant of copyright law. Visit this library page for more detailed information on e-reserves, Moodle, and copyright.

Curious about the name 'Moodle?' Moodle's creator Martin Dougiamas reports:

It's a verb in English but not very well known ... I had heard of the word even though it only appears in larger dictionaries.

When coming up with a name for my system I remember sitting down one evening trying to come up with a word that:

1. was an acronym (because I like hidden meanings)
2. was a word you could say easily
3. was not common on the internet (so searches could find it)
4. had a domain name free

So now you know!

Faster Wireless

Wireless access to the network is so popular in the library, it has been a victim of its own success. At peak times lately, connections have been on the sluggish side.

Now GTS has set up another wireless option. If you're in the library, choose gaclibrary for your connection. We hope this will provide fast relief.

Le Clezio on Literacy

Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio's Nobel address is now available on the Nobel Prize website. It is a stirring tribute to writing and bearing witness, and ends with a plea for making stories available to all as a human right.

Literacy and the struggle against hunger are connected, closely interdependent. One cannot succeed without the other. Both of them require, indeed urge, us to act. So that in this third millennium, which has only just begun, no child on our shared planet, regardless of gender or language or religion, shall be abandoned to hunger or ignorance, or turned away from the feast. This child carries within him the future of our human race. In the words of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, a very long time ago, the kingdom belongs to a child.

Come On! See Posters at the Hillstrom!

There's a wonderful exhibit (actually two wonderful exhibits) at the Hillstrom Museum of art, just down the hall from the Book Mark. One of them, Come On! American Posters from World War I, is close to our hearts for two reasons. One, the posters are from the College Archives. Two, the exhibit brochure, commentary, and general arrangement are the fruit of a Presidential Faculty-Student Collaboration Grant undertaken by Laura Behling (English) and student Chelsea Kramer - and we're always excited about research done by our students and faculty.

Take the time to experience these posters and to read the informative commentary. As the exhibit brochure says,

though these posters may seem but a quaint reminder of a different time, for a United States that now finds itself engaged on the battlefields of Kabul and Kandahar, Basra and Baghdad, they can offer us perspective. They ask their audience to consider the rhetoric and practice of humanitarianism within war, and to examine the nature of sacrifice and democracy. They ask us to regard the relationship between art and politics, and to bear in mind the enormous expenses of battle - measured in money and life . . . On balance, these American posters from World War I give us liberty to contemplate our patriotism, our nationalism, and our humanity.

Building Bridges Book Drive

The library is serving as a collection point for the Building Bridges Book Drive - an effort to support the Invisible Children Foundation. Bring books (in good condition, please) to the lower level of the library. Lots of people already have - as you can see!

Your donations will be sold and the proceeds will benefit our sister school, Gulu High School in Uganda. Support Building Bridge's efforts - and help a school in Africa.

As a benefit, you'll have room on your shelves for more books .

Explore trial databases

Be a library pioneer and explore some of the trial databases we're featuring this month at our Trial Databases page. And let us know why you think any of these databases would be useful for teaching and student research. While we can't make any promises about adding new databases, we're looking for your input as to whether any of them would be valuable additions to our collection. Send comments to e-resources@gac.edu.

*If you have problems linking directly, go to the library's homepage and click on "Trial Databases" at the bottom left of the page.*

Patricia Lindell Scholar

The Library is now accepting applications for the 2009 Patricia Lindell Scholar! The scholarship is open to all junior and senior students and includes a $1,200 award. The recipient will also work with Professors Julie Gilbert and Dan Mollner during spring semester to examine leisure reading on campus, specifically by investigating barriers to recreational reading and determining how the Library can better address and overcome those barriers.

The recipient will have an opportunity to conduct independent research and help give direction to the Library's future endeavors regarding reading promotion. The scholarship is especially appropriate for anyone who loves to read and would like more experience conducting in-depth research.

Applications are available at the circulation desk in the Library. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact Julie Gilbert (jgilber2@gustavus.edu) or Dan Mollner (dmollner@gustavus.edu). The due date for submission is December 8.

New Spaces for Students

Our renovations are finally complete. The interlibrary loan office has moved in with circulation, the front desk is now wheelchair accessible, and several spaces have become public areas.

This office, near the electronic classroom, is now open for group study. It's equipped with a large-screen monitor, a Mac Mini, and two keyboards for collaborative work on projects. This space can be reserved. Contact Sylvia Straub (x7556) or ask any of the library staff.


We also have freed up the space where the interlibrary loan office once was. This is the future home of our open course reserves and of many conversations and the occasional nap.



In the back of the library, an office has been vacated to create a roomy student study area. And nearby, our student research display has been refreshed with abstracts from the May 2008 first annual Celebration of Creative Inquiry.



Have any suggestions for other changes? Let us know!

Spring Course Offered

Once again, the library will offer a .5 credit course, NDL 301: Information Fluency, in the spring semester. This course is focused on how information is produced, how it is handled by libraries, and how different disciplines use it. It is intended for students planning on graduate school, or who are simply interested in honing their research skills. Last year's syllabus information can be found in the links on the right-hand side of this class blog:
http://infofluency.wordpress.com/

It meets Mondays from 2:30 to 4:30, but can also be taken by arrangement if that time doesn't work. For more information, contact Barbara Fister (x7552 or fister@gac.edu).

Google Settles

Today Google settled with publishers and authors who sued them over their library digitization project. Google will pay a $125 million settlement and will develop a registry that will enable publishers and authors to receive payments for use of their work - payment based on, among other things, libraries paying for access.

What it does not do is resolve the underlying copyright issues, according to The New York Times.

Jeffrey Toobin predicted this outcome some time ago in The New Yorker. And in his analysis, it's not good news for the rest of us.

“If Google says to the publishers, ‘We’ll pay,’ that means that everyone else who wants to get into this business will have to say, ‘We’ll pay,’ ” [Lawrence] Lessig said. “The publishers will get more than the law entitles them to, because Google needs to get this case behind it. And the settlement will create a huge barrier for any new entrants in this field.”

In other words, a settlement could insulate Google from competitors, which would be especially troubling, because the company has already proved that when it comes to searches it is not infallible. “Google didn’t get video search right—YouTube did,” Tim Wu, a professor at Columbia Law School, said. (Google solved that problem by buying YouTube last year for $1.6 billion.) “Google didn’t get blog search right—technorati.com did,” Wu went on. “So maybe Google won’t get book search right. But if they settle the case with the publishers and create huge barriers to newcomers in the market there won’t be any competition. That’s the greatest danger here.”

The full settlement agreement - which is pending judicial approval - is available here.

Folke Bernadotte Library's Ghostly Connections

Are you a Halloween fanatic? Is it your favorite holiday? For some this is an obsession. The anticipation of truly scaring someone else, or themselves, is cause for exorbitant enthusiasm.

Our library has a past with a few ghost stories. http://weekly.blog.gustavus.edu/2008/05/09/ghostly-gustavus-a-look-at-the-ghastly-ghoulish-and-grisly-history-of-ghosts-at-gustavus-adolphus-college/

Although the article above claims that there hasn’t been a sighting since the tornado in 1998, a library student employee (class 2008) claims to have seen the ghost in the south stairwell of the library.

Think about this in the wee hours of the morning as you move from 3^rd floor to second through the dimly lit stairwells.

UPDATE: Database Access Work

We've completed our transition to a new system for providing off-campus access to our electronic resources. You should now be able to access resources through our web site from off campus. If you encounter any problems with remote access or need assistance in changing any outdated links to our resources that you may have on your web browser or on your web pages, please contact e-resources@gac.edu.

Database Access Work

On Monday, October 20, during Reading Days, the library will be switching to a new system for providing off-campus access to our electronic resources. We anticipate some intermittent disruptions to off-campus access while we make the transition. We'll post a message to let you know when the transition is complete. Thanks for your patience!

Laptop Search & Seizure

File under "Information in the News..."

Today the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) issued an alert about internal policies in the Department of Homeland Security regarding border crossing. Under previous policies, Customs and Border Patrol agents were authorized to seize any electronic and print materials if they had probable cause of illegal activity. Under current internal policies, agents have the authority to retain print and electronic materials indefinitely at the borders regardless of probable cause.

AAUP notes special concern for professors conducting research and traveling across borders, citing possible threats to those conducting research (or collaborating with colleagues) around the world. The policies are also alarming for libraries, information professionals, and anyone concerned with protecting privacy rights and defending civil liberties.

Read more:

“Expanded Powers to Search Travelers at Border Detailed” Washington Post, 9/23/08

“Search and Replace” [editorial], Washington Post, 8/13/08

“US Border Agency Says It Can Seize Laptops” PC World, 8/3/08

“Travelers' Laptops May Be Detained At Border: No Suspicion Required Under DHS Policies” Washington Post, 8/1/08

Scandinavian Crime Wave

In the last decade, a number of talented crime fiction writers have appeared on the Scandinavian scene, following on the heels of the mega-popular Kurt Wallander series by Henning Mankell (which is currently being made into a BBC television series with Kenneth Branagh in the lead role). Fortunately for readers in the U.S., this coincides with a trend to publish more works here in translation, so many of them are being translated into English.

We've compiled a Website that lists authors and their works by country, with a bit of biographical information and links to reviews. We plan to add to it as more books become available - and in between, we have a companion blog to keep up with new reviews, interviews, and events.

Though why mysteries are so popular in countries with such low crime rates remains something of a mystery.

Why Should Oprah Get all the Fun?

The library is trying an experiment this year. We've created two "book bags" - canvas bags with five copies of a book and some discussion materials that can be checked out for a group read. For this pilot project, we chose two books on China to add another dimension to the Global Insight Year of China project.

One of the books is John Pomfret's Chinese Lessons. Are you an upperclass student who didn't get in on the common reading this summer? Did you attend Pomfret's talk and think you'd like to read his book? Check it out - and invite your friends to join in.

The other book is a fascinating family memoir of China, Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Wang. It chronicles the lives of three women from the era of concubines and foot binding through the Communist revolution and into the Cultural Revolution and beyond. It's a totally absorbing history of China in the 20th century seen through the eyes of the author, her mother, and her grandmother. We thought it would be a great book for discussion, and a good complement to our common reading this year.

We know that for many students, faculty and staff at Gustuvus it's hard to find time to read just for fun. But it's worth it - and we think you'd enjoy getting together with friends to talk about these books.

And we're back!

The move of the Interlibrary Loan office went so smoothly that we are already up and running! Your interlibrary loan requests are being processed again after only a day long delay. Thanks for your patience - stop by and visit our new location (next to the Circulation desk) soon!

We're Moving!

Well, Interlibrary Loan is, at least! The big move starts Thursday, September 25 and continues into the beginning of next week. The Interlibrary Loan office will relocate to a separate space behind the circulation counter (formerly the print reserves area). The move will provide one-stop shopping for patrons picking up and returning items.

The move will provide a brief disruption in Interlibrary Loan services. Requests sent by patrons to borrow materials from other libraries will be delayed for a few days. Please continue to request items but know that we won't have a chance to process your requests until early next week. (The delay is due to wiring work that needs to be done in the new space.)

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience. Stop by and see the new space!

Get Your Own Library Carrel

A lucky first year student will win a chance to have his or her very own office in the library this spring. With a desk and shelves and a key and everything.

First year students - don't miss out! To enter the drawing, take the online library research survey that was sent to you via e-mail. It only takes a few minutes to get a crack at your very own library carrel.

The results of the survey will give us valuable insights into student research skills and attitudes. It's part of a national study being undertaken by two higher education organizations, NITLE and HEDS. We'll use what we learn in our information literacy program.

good news, bad news

The good news is that we're converting some office spaces to student areas. In particular, the well-lit space where the interlibrary loan office has been will be converted to an open reserves/reading area. Interlibrary loan services will move behind the circulation desk for a more seamless service area. Two smaller offices will also be converted from librarian offices into public spaces. (We're also moving Hector and Helen, our two group computing facilities, to the main floor where they'll be more visible.)

The bad news is that all of this will take some construction. The library will be a slightly noisier, dustier place for a time, through August and probably into September. But we think that will be a small price to pay to open up some prime space to students who, after all, live in the library much of the academic year.

Interlibrary Loan unavailable 5/27 - 6/2

Got a bunch of articles to request via ILL? Now's the time! Due to software upgrades, ILL requests submitted from Tuesday, May 27 - Monday, June 2 will not be processed until Monday, June 2. You'll be able to place requests via the usual methods May 27 - May 29, although requests will not be processed until the following Monday. On May 30, all systems will be offline to complete the upgrades - you can make requests in person at the ILL counter. Visit our Interlibrary Loan page for more information.

Our MnPALS consortium decided on these dates for the upgrade in order to avoid halting services during the semester. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this disruption may cause you. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us!

Biff! Pow! On Sale!!

The library has a sale going on of donated comics and Science Fiction magazines, many of them classics. Stop by until May 23rd to get your own superhero.

Quite the Saga

Jan Jensen, manager of the Lund Music/Speech Library, held a Viking Feast for a set of special guests - those who had bid on the dinner at last fall's Royal Affair, a fund-raiser held by the Gustavus Library Associates. They were met on campus and taken to a secret location, where they were instructed to leave their weapons and horses outside. Everyone enjoyed a delicious meal that was historically accurate (well, mostly accurate).

Thanks to Jan for her imaginative and well-planned feast, to Ginny Bakke and her husband who helped out, and to Mike Haeuser who lent a hand and got into the spirit of things in costume.

Lindell Prize Competition

The Patricia Lindell Prize for Research Papers is open for submissions. Awarded every other year, the prize of $400 is funded by our stellar friends group, the Gustavus Library Associates Papers written during the 2006/07 and 2007/08 academic years will be accepted for the current competition. By “research paper,” we mean a paper written on any topic for any Gustavus course that clearly demonstrates the use of primary or secondary print and/or electronic resources. A panel of faculty will select the winning paper in the Fall of 2008, with announcement of the winner to be made at the annual St. Lucia luncheon next December.

The competition is open to Gustavus students from all disciplines who have written for a Gustavus course. Members of the faculty are asked to encourage their students to enter their work. Application forms are available at the Library Circulation Desk.

Previous prize winners include Adrienne Donath for "Silence in the Cloister: A Study of the Future of the Sisterhood in the American Church" and Daniel Pioske for American Protestantism and its Impact Upon the Desire of its Members to Seek Congressional Office."

Fefu in the Library

In conjunction with the final theatre production of the year, Fefu and her Friends, the library has a small exhibit near the reference desk related to the play. We hope to do this regularly in the coming year to help remind us all of the rich performance offerings available on campus.

Fefu and her Friends runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 pm this weekend, and also on Sunday at 2 pm. If you think you don't have time to take it in - hey, that's why you're at a place like Gustavus! to have a rich and varied cultural experience. You'll be glad you went.

Celebrate Student Creativity

A reminder that the first ever Celebration of Creative Inquiry is today, May 2nd, from 5-7 pm in the Jackson Student Center. Research and creative projects by 125 students (wow!) will be on display. Come browse, chat, have refreshments, and take in some of the exciting work that Gustavus students are doing all across campus.

Periodicals Unlimited

Thanks to your suggestions from the library suggestion box, the library is extending the loan period for periodicals (journals and magazines) from 24 hours to *one week* and from 3 items to *unlimited* (or as many as you can stuff in your backpack). Effective immediately! Periodicals are located on the first floor of the library and can be checked out at the Circulation desk on the second floor. Happy reading!

Native Waters MAYDAY! Exhibit

In connection with this year's MAYDAY! Peace Conference on "Troubled Waters," the library is hosting an exhibit on the library's lower level - "Native Waters: Sharing the Source." Created by Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), the interactive exhibit is designed to help both children and adults explore the importance of water in their lives. Bring your kids or your little brothers / sisters! Thanks to Edi Thorstensson, Ginny Bakke and MAYDAY! committee members for bringing the traveling exhibit to campus and getting it set up.

Join us at the reception for the exhibit on Monday, April 28, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on the library's lower level.

Uncommon Reading

The book for next fall's Reading in Common program has been chosen, and it fits really well into the Global Insight focus on China for next year. John Pomfret's Chinese Lessons personalizes the country's recent history by focusing on five students who were classmates at Nanjing University in 1982.

Meanwhile, Michelle Twait has created a resource guide on China for the Global Insight project. Future Global Insight years will focus on Mexico, Food and Nutrition, and a Circumpolar Year (focusing on Scandinavia, Northern Canada, Greenland, and Russia).

Immigration Teach-In

Today, April 17th, there will be a teach-in on immigration in the Heritage Room, Jackson Student Union. Here's the run-down:

2:30 Suzanne Wilson, “Myths of Immigration”
2:50 Bob Douglas, “Old and New Immigrants in Minnesota”
3:10 Sujay Rao, Mexican Immigration in historical
perspective”
3:30 Byron Nordstrom, “”How They Coped: Swedish Immigrants in Minnesota”
3:50 Deb Pitton, “Stories from the Border”
4:10 Richard Leitch, “An Analysis of Japanese Emigration”
4:30 Mayra Taylor and student panel, “Witnessing Immigration in Southern Minnesota”
4:50 Mary Solberg, “Immigration: a Personal Perspective”
5:10 Student experiences - OLAS members

Meanwhile, in the new books area, we have a sampling of new publications on the topic. So - drop by to hear interdisciplinary perspectives on the issue, and later you can curl up with a good book!

You Asked For It

. . . and here they are: extended hours during finals week. Here's when we'll be open.

Thurs., May 22^nd – 8am – 1am
Fri., May 23^rd – 8am – 2am
Sat., May 24^th – 8am – 10pm
Sun., May 25^th – 8am – 2am
Mon., May 26^th, 8am – 2am
Tues., May 27^th – 8am – 4:45pm

Many thanks to the student employees who are willing to stay late so you can study!

Celebrate New Books

Every year, the Book Mark and the library host an author tea to celebrate Gustavus folks who have new books out. This year it will be held on April 29th at 3:30 in the Courtyard Cafe and added to the Gustavus bookshelf are . . .

Esbj! by the late Robert Esbjornson (religion) and Dennis Johnson (college relations, retired.)


Covenantal Conversations: Christians in Dialogue with Jews and Judaism, edited by Darrell Jodock (religion)


Le Premier Regard (The First Gaze), by Laurent Déchery (French)


Controversies in Political Theology, by Thia Cooper (religion)


In the Wind, by Barbara Fister (library)



Renaissance Medals (The Collections of the National Gallery of Art, Systematic Catalogue) by Don Myers and others (Art/Art History)

Throughout the week of the 29th, many books by Gustavus authors from this and previous years will be available at a 20% discount. The library also will have a display of books by Gustavus faculty near the library entrance.

Print Green

The library's hardest working printers - Romeo and Juliet - are now taking reservations. From now on, when you print to these printers, you will need to go through a couple of simple steps to release the document to print.

This should help reduce the enormous amount of wasted and abandoned print jobs. As a measure of how hard these two printers work, each one on average prints in a week as many pages as the library's main floor photocopier has printed since it was installed last May.

Ethan Sommer of GTS has provided this background information on this change, which the library supports wholeheartedly.

---
Printing use at Gustavus has been growing at an astounding rate over the past few years. To give you a sense of scale, during the seven days before spring break 117,145 pages were printed in the public labs.

Gustavus Technology Services has been asked to try to reduce the amount of public lab printing, both because of the environmental impact and because it costs the college a lot of money which eventually has the effect of raising the cost of tuition.

The first step in our efforts is to install "Print Release Stations" on some of the busiest printers on campus. A few weeks ago we installed one in the Olin computer lab and starting today after chapel you will need to use one for the printers at the circulation desk in the library
(Romeo and Juliet.)

In order to use a print release station just follow these simple steps:
1. Print your document as you normally would.
2. Next to the printer there is a LCD computer monitor. Go there.
3. Use the mouse to select your document.
4. (optional) Use the mouse to select a printer.
5. Click "Print"
6. Enter your e-mail username and password.
7. Your document will print.

At this point you will not be charged for printing, however, if you are one of the top few users of printing on campus we may want to talk to you about how best to meet your printing needs.

Based on other college's experiences, we believe that by using print release stations we will decrease the number of abandoned print jobs. By tracking how much each user prints, we can get a better idea of how fairly tuition dollars are being used.

GTS will have staff in the library to help out for the next few days.

photo courtesy of dailydog

Exciting New Law Database 3/31/2008

The library is pleased to debut a one-month trial of a fantastic legal database, HeinOnline. The database contains complete back files and current issues of leading legal journals as well as collections of treaties, US attorney general opinions, presidential papers, and US Supreme Court documents. You will need the trial subscription username and password to explore these resources; please contact the Reference Desk at x7567 or folke@gustavus.edu. Click here to learn more about HeinOnline.

Peeple of Interest

Peeps are everywhere during the Easter season. These Edward Hopper peeps seem a little down, but for some classic peep silliness, see how the peeps learned to use the library.

Celebration Abstracts Due Today

Yipes, it's already here - the deadline for submitting your creative and scholarly work for the first ever Celebration of Creative Inquiry. It's not that hard. Just line up a faculty sponsor (they want to help, really) and fill out a simple form. Join all the other students who are sharing their work, and sharing the excitement.

And no, you don't have to be a mad scientist to participate. Really. All kinds of work - research, creative projects, things an organization has been working on - are welcome.

photo courtesy of jm3

Archives Storms the Library!

The college archives has placed an exhibit about the tornado of 1998 on the main floor, between the new books and the reference desk just in time for the 10-year anniversary. It's certainly an event to remember - and luckily, the archives is all about preserving our memories.

MnLINK Takes a Holiday

MnLINK, the union catalog for Minnesota public and academic libraries, will be offline during a server move starting Friday evening, March 14th. It should be back online Sunday afternoon, March 16th. This will not affect our catalog, or the MnPALS shared system, which is a different thing altogether.

We do, however, wish we had more imagination when it came to naming catalogs.

Prepare to Celebrate!

The college is launching a new Celebration of Creative Inquiry this year to share all the amazing research and creative work of Gustavus students. These may include -

• a class assignment or project.
• off-campus projects or internships.
• student-faculty collaborative research or creative projects.
• independent student research or creative projects.
• the work of extra-curricular student organizations.
  

Sign up by March 19th to be part of it! The celebration itself will be held the evening of May 2nd, the day before honors day.

Love Your Library (2-26-08)

The Gustavus Library is many things - study space, laboratory, meeting place, and provider of countless sources of information. But right now it's also looking a little rumpled. Dirty caf dishes are left in study carrels. Reams of pages are printed and then abandoned or stuffed into trash cans. Library books are returned filled with pen and highlighter marks on almost every page.

Even one ruined book or dirty plate gives us cause for concern. Damaged books result in loss of shared property. Wasted paper has a profound impact on the environment. And, quite simply, no one likes to stumble across dirty, abandoned dishes. For this reason, the library is reviving our Love Your Library Leave No Trace campaign. The rules are simple: Return your dishes to the Marketplace. Take notes about library books - not in them. Be mindful of the amount of paper you print. Remind your friends to do the same. Essentially, leave the library how you found it.

The library belongs to all of us. Be comfortable and be respectful. Enjoy your library and help others do the same.

Happy Birthday, Charles Darwin!

Today is Darwin Day - and you can celebrate his 199th birthday. We have a small display of books at the front of the library that you are welcome to check out - and even more in the stacks.

Extra Credit

There are still a few seats open in the spring term .5 credit class, Information Fluency. This course is designed to give students who are thinking about going on to graduate or professional school (or who simply want to know more about research) an immersion in the literature of their chosen field, exposure to research tools, and an opportunity to explore where information comes from and how it can be found and used. We also will have a chance to think about information and society - tackling issues relating to ethics, policy, and culture.

The course meets Mondays from 2:30 to 4:20; if that doesn't fit with your other courses, it can also be taken by arrangement.

Read What You Love (1-28-08)

Ever find an author you love and want to read more by him or her? Ever put down a book and wish you could find more just like it? Ever wish you could easily find books that are perfect for you?

Now you can! The library is pleased to announce the debut of two new services to help you explore the world of fiction in amazing detail. They’re almost as much fun as reading itself!

NoveList

This amazing database contains a wealth of information about fiction for all ages. Search for your favorite author or title, then click Find Similar Books to explore a range of related titles. NoveList also contains reviews, book discussion guides, recommended reading, author read-alike lists, and award winners. Access NoveList from the Databases drop-down menu on the library’s homepage.

Fiction Connection

This wonderful not-so-new resource is provided through Books in Print. Search for your favorite books to explore similar titles. Fiction Connection also lets you easily search by genre, time period, character type, and setting. Our favorite setting option so far is “Human Colony Planet.” Fiction Connection also has a fantastic visual search option. Check it out for yourself! Access Books in Print from the Databases drop-down menu on the library’s homepage. Click Fiction Connection in the far right column.

Once you find books, search the MnPALS catalog to see if we own them or request titles via ILL and have them shipped directly to our library.

You can’t escape great fiction! Then again, why would you want to? Happy Reading!