Introducing Becky's Favorite Resources-- First Up The Locus Recommended Reading List

I am starting a new feature on RA for All. I am calling it, “Becky's Favorite Resources.” Original, I know.

Why am I doing this? Besides the fact that it is my blog and I can do what I want. No, there is a real reason too.

As I close in on 2000 posts and my 8th anniversary, even I cannot remember everything I have posted, let alone expect you to be able to do it. For example, earlier today I spent some time searching for a post that I was sure I had written (it’s for tomorrow’s post), but I couldn’t find it. I think it is because it is something I use in lectures but have never put in a post, or it really is in here somewhere and I simply cannot find it.

*Sigh*

 Either way, I need a way to help you [and me] organize the information here on the blog in a way that you can use it to help patrons today, tomorrow, or 3 years from now.

So, much like how I am tagging all of the Library Reads lists so you can quickly pull all of them up with one click to browse and use as a resource in their entirety [something you still cannot do as fluidly on the Library Reads site as you can on RA for All], I am going to start tagging posts where I discuss my favorite resources with the easy to remember “Becky’s Favorite.”

Of course I have already had many of these types of posts over the years, but in the past I used only the “resources” tag. Except now I have 240 posts with that tag and most of them would not qualify as “favorites.” This helps no one!

That all changes right now with this post and the first “Becky’s Favorite”- The Locus Recommended Reading List. Why is it first? Simply because I was working on a review for tomorrow and I consulted this resource to identify a readalike option. In other words, I used it to answer a RA question because I knew it would help me.

What is it? Published each February, The Locus Recommended Reading List compiles the very best in speculative fiction for the previous year from the most trusted resource in the world of sf and fantasy.  So this past February [2015], this 2014 list was released.

Here is why I love this resource no matter the year:

1. It is a great collection development tool. You can use it to make sure your collection has the key titles from the past year.
2. It is a wonderful science fiction and fantasy training tool.  You can use the list to make sure that you and your staff are aware of who’s who in the genre today. 
3. All of the lists from the current one to those from years' past make for the perfect sure bet backlist reading list for speculative fiction fans. I recently showed the 2014 list to a friend who needed a suggestion for vacation, and she now thinks I am THE GREATEST LIBRARIAN EVER. [She checked out The Bees for her trip, by the way.] 

Look for more “Becky’s Favorite” posts going forward, and you too can be called the greatest librarian ever. Eventually, a simple click on the tag will pull all of these posts up on one screen for easier use by you as you help your patrons which is always my goal for everything I put here on RA for All-- making your life easier as you help your leisure readers.

Making you look like a rockstar is what I strive to do.