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font-size: 12pt; color: #000000;">Customers pay close attention to
reviews. That makes intuitive sense, and <a
href="http://screenwerk.com/2011/09/02/two-studies-affirm-power-of-reviews/">various
studies</a> 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.
<h2 id="amazonbookreviews">Amazon Book Reviews</h2>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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?</p>
<p>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 <a
href="http://literarileigh.blogspot.com/">RA blog</a>, post them to your
website or on your shelves, take RA to the people. They’ll thank you
for it.</p>
<ul>
<li>Nathan Swartzendruber, SWON Technology Educator</li>
</ul>
<hr>
<h1 id="brandnewfromswon:teenreadersadvisoryguide"><em>Brand New from
SWON</em>: <br>
Teen Reader’s Advisory Guide</h1>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>You can download a sample or buy your own copy of the Teen Reader’s
Advisory Guide as a PDF today: <a href="https://gum.co/TeenRAGuide">https://gum.co/TeenRAGuide</a>.</p>
<p>(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 <a
href="mailto:nathan@swonlibraries.org">nathan@swonlibraries.org</a>. )</p>
<hr>
<h1 id="level-uplab:html">Level-Up Lab: HTML</h1>
<p>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: <a href="http://tiny.cc/html-lab">http://tiny.cc/html-lab</a>.</p>
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style="font-weight: bold;" data-mce-style="font-weight: bold;">Calendar
excerpts from the next two weeks. (</span>Please register for online
classes at least two days before they take place.)
<ul>
<li><strong><a
href="http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=794&lib=">Unraveling
the Year Ahead</a></strong> - (1/14/2014) - Online</li><li><strong><a
href="http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=727&lib=">ROYAL
Book Review (SIG) Meeting</a></strong> - (1/14/2014) - SWON Meeting
Room</li><li><strong><a
href="http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=728&lib=">ROYAL
Book Review (SIG) Meeting</a></strong> - (1/14/2014) - Boone County PL,
Main Branch</li><li><strong><a
href="http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=708&lib=">Technical
Services (SIG) Meeting</a></strong> - (1/15/2014) - Cincinnati Art
Museum</li><li><strong style="font-style: italic;"><a
href="http://swon.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=789&lib=">Level-Up
Lab: HTML</a></strong> - (1/16/2014) - SWON Meeting Room</li>
</ul>
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<span>SWON
Libraries - <a href="http://www.swonlibraries.org" target="_blank"
data-mce-href="http://www.swonlibraries.org">http://www.swonlibraries.org</a></span>
<div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size:
small;">10250
Alliance Road, Suite 225<br> </span></div></div>
<div><div><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size:
small;">Blue Ash,
OH 45242</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"
data-mce-style="font-size: small;">phone (513) 751-4422 - fax (513)
751-0463</span></div></div>
<span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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