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Using the library
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So I want to let each dc pick a topic of interest and get some library books. We’ll request online. My ds wanted one on alligators but when the search results come up it’s all fact/text books. I’m okay grabbing a few of these but how do you find a living book via online searches at the library? Any thoughts?
I sometimes look for a preview of a book on Amazon to see inside. Other times I just risk it and before the books are put out for the children I browse through and eliminate any that I decide are not living.
Our library system automatically lists the newest books first so I often start at the end of the list with the oldest ones. They are more likely to be good.
Nebby
A lot depends on how the materials were catalogued and how they are put online. We, for instance, do not have the same system for the online catalogue as we do for the staff in the library. So we can often find things that the patrons can’t find on their own on the online catalogue. Also, a lot depends on how the items were catalogued by subject. Cataloguing software changes periodically—many of us are about to change again—and if the person cataloguing the item didn’t mark a picture book about an alligator family as being “subject–alligators–fiction” then it won’t show up when you do that.
Worldcat can be helpful, if you want to go there and search “alligators” then unselect the things like “large print” “e-book” etc, then you can go down and check “fiction” and “juvenile” and you’ll get 1200 or so titles; if your library is in worldcat you can log in and see what is there. Mine isn’t. But you can mine for a few titles and see if your library has them.
Also, try to do a catalog search if you can that gives you an index listing; it’ll depend on what you have but sometimes “advanced search” will produce this. Then you can scroll down under the heading “alligator” and search for “fiction—juvenile” and see what is there. None of that will however tell you if it is a LIVING book–that isn’t a subject heading! and also some of the nonfiction books likely ARE living!
Some fact books can be great, so don’t discount them immediately. Living books don’t always have to be narrative in style. I like TJED’s definition of a classic as a book (or work of art, music, movie) that you learn more from each time you read it. I have some textbooks that fit that definition.
I find that if we are searching for books on a topic, it’s easier to physically be in the library so we can browse through a section and find the books that we like. If I can’t do that for some reason, I do as Tristan mentioned and just order several online and then select the ones we want to keep and which to put straight back into the library bag to return. Sometimes the ones that we don’t want to read because of boring text might have great pictures that can supplement other more interesting books that we do read.
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