Subscribe to NoveList Newsletters To Stay in the Know

I am very honest and open about my love for NoveList. Technically I am a contracted freelancer for them, but I mostly do just special projects now.

I use NoveList as an example in all of my training programs, and while I check if the library subscribes before I mention them, there is plenty of information you can use from NoveList without a subscription. 

One example is the free PDF of their "Story Elements"--a list and explanation of all the appeal terms and themes they use. I also always have the link in my 10 Rules of Basic RA Service. Rule 4,  the word "adjectives" links to it. 

You can use this PDF to help you to articulate the appeal of a book yourself or to help ask patrons questions about what they are looking for in a book. I cannot stress enough how useful this document is to all library workers who help all leisure readers. Seriously. I mean, I put it in my "10 Rules"

NoveList also has a blog with excellent articles, some of which they collect into their monthly newsletter. I prefer the newsletter to checking the blog because when the newsletter arrives, that reminds me to visit the blog for more great articles.

I got the NoveList News newsletter in my inbox yesterday, hence this post.

Here is the link to the current newsletter.

I wanted to highlight 2 of the articles because they are a great example of the overall content you can expect by subscribing to the newsletters. 

• 2021 Year in Review- an infographic about what was searched and used the most, including links to the most read blog posts. It is a mini distillation of larger trends.
• Don't Read What You Don't Want To: a great example of the RA Service articles they offer for free. They begin with a general discussion of how to talk with patrons on an RA related topic and then provide specific search strategies. This is a common article type. It helps any person working with leisure readers but helps those with a subscription a bit more.

At the bottom of the email newsletter, there is a link to subscribe to any and all of the NoveList newsletters. Pick some. Or just remember to check the blog regularly. 

What I don't want you to do is think that NoveList has nothing for you if your library doesn't subscribe. They know that individual library workers often have no say as to what databases the library purchases. They truly want to help you as much as they can even if you do not have access to the paid content.

Start here on the blog or here with the latest newsletter.