[OPLINLIST] Reviewing Book Reviews

[SWON Info]

Customers pay close attention to reviews. That makes intuitive sense, 
and various studies 
<http://screenwerk.com/2011/09/02/two-studies-affirm-power-of-reviews/> 
agree. With the internet around, people check reviews against other 
reviews. So the last review they read before buying or checking out a 
book can be especially persuasive.


    Amazon Book Reviews

Are you frowning already? Good, we’re on the same page. Some book 
reviews on Amazon are terrible. Really, really terrible. Sometimes they 
trash a book you like, and sometimes they give embarrassingly high 
praise to a book you thought was poor. But when a review shows up next 
to a “Buy” button, it has a lot of power.

Libraries often put “Staff Picks” on a prominent shelf. Knowing someone 
likes a book is nice, but the most important question I think it can 
answer is this one: Who would like this book? Who is likely to enjoy the 
book by Sue Monk Kidd or Malcolm Gladwell that’s currently on the 
bestseller list?

Posting that answer by each of your “Staff Picks” or on your website 
isn’t an ideal way to deliver Reader’s Advisory. But if we don’t take 
that opportunity, people might keep turning to Amazon’s book reviews, 
not knowing what librarians can offer. Whether you start an RA blog 
<http://literarileigh.blogspot.com/>, post them to your website or on 
your shelves, take RA to the people. They’ll thank you for it.

  * Nathan Swartzendruber, SWON Technology Educator

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  /Brand New from SWON/:
  Teen Reader’s Advisory Guide

For SWON’s Teen Reading Challenge in 2013, participants reported the 
books they’d read and included reviews and ratings at the same time. I 
collected all of these into a Teen Reader’s Advisory Guide that reports 
on about 2,800 different books.

I’m excited about the Guide because it gets to that question of who a 
book might appeal to. From the outset, they were choosing books they 
thought teens would like. When they reported books, they added notes 
about genre and whether it might be especially of interest to older or 
younger teens, boys or girls, etc. These are subjective, of course, but 
they’re a good place to start.

You can download a sample or buy your own copy of the Teen Reader’s 
Advisory Guide as a PDF today: https://gum.co/TeenRAGuide.

(Reading Challenge participants can buy the Guide at a special rate. If 
you’d like to participate, the 2014 Teen Reading Challenge will be 
announced soon! Questions? Contact Nathan at nathan at swonlibraries.org 
<mailto:nathan at swonlibraries.org>. )

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  Level-Up Lab: HTML

This Lab is a take-it-from-the-top approach to HTML. We won’t be 
building websites. You’ll learn the basics of how HTML works and how to 
use HTML to apply basic formatting to text and pictures. Don’t treat the 
web like Microsoft Word. Join us in Blue Ash on January 16th to get 
started with HTML: http://tiny.cc/html-lab.

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Connect to SWON online: Website <http://www.swonlibraries.org/> : 
Calendar <http://swon.evanced.info/signup/eventcalendar.aspx> : Facebook 
<https://www.facebook.com/SWONLibraries?sk=wall> : Twitter 
<http://twitter.com/swonlibraries>
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Calendar excerpts from the next two weeks. (Please register for online 
classes at least two days before they take place.)

  * *Unraveling the Year Ahead
    <http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=794&lib=>* -
    (1/14/2014) - Online
  * *ROYAL Book Review (SIG) Meeting
    <http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=727&lib=>* -
    (1/14/2014) - SWON Meeting Room
  * *ROYAL Book Review (SIG) Meeting
    <http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=728&lib=>* -
    (1/14/2014) - Boone County PL, Main Branch
  * *Technical Services (SIG) Meeting
    <http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=708&lib=>* -
    (1/15/2014) - Cincinnati Art Museum
  * *Level-Up Lab: HTML
    <http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=789&lib=>* -
    (1/16/2014) - SWON Meeting Room


SWON Libraries - http://www.swonlibraries.org
10250 Alliance Road, Suite 225
Blue Ash, OH 45242
phone (513) 751-4422 - fax (513) 751-0463
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