An RA big think

• Published in: Library journal (1976) Vol. 132; no. 12; p. 43
• Main Author: Wyatt, Neal
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York MSI Information Services 15.07.2007
• Subjects: Advisors; Audio Books; Fiction; Genre; Heroism & heroes; Large Type Materials; Librarians; Library Personnel; Literary Genres; Novels; Pacing; Personality; Public libraries; Readers; Readers advisory work; Reading; Thrillers
• ISSN: 0363-0277

The appeal factor Appeal addresses the elements of books that readers respond to, the features that, as Nancy Pearl, of Book Lust fame, explains, "draw a reader into a book" and help shape a particular reading experience. Pulver refers to appeal as a "feeling taxonomy." Since 1989, when the idea was first introduced in Joyce Saricks and Nancy Brown's groundbreaking Readers' Advisory Service in the Public Library , appeal has remained a stable concept. New ideas and terms As readers' advisors rethink appeal, four areas of change are emerging: refinements of how appeal assesses the reading experience using such terms as description , language , learning/experiencing , settings , and style ; fine tuning of terms used to express the feelings a book evokes, such as affect , mood , and tone ; new aspects related to story using the terms content , genre , subject , theme , and type ; and design issues encompassing physical layout and format. The RA Big Think Team Neal Wyatt Mary K. Chelton Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, NY Neil Hollands Williamsburg Regional Library, VA Teresa Jacobsen Solano County Library, CA Georgine Olson Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library, AK Nancy Pearl author of Book Lust, More Book Lust, and Book Crush(Sasquatch) Ike Pulver Shaker Heights Public Library, OH Joyce Saricks author of Readers' Advisory Service in the Public Library and The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction, which will be newly revised in 2008 (both from American Library Assn.) Duncan Smith creator of NoveList and a past winner of the Margaret E. Monroe award Barry Trott Williamsburg Regional Library, VA, and editor of Reference and User Services Quarterly's "Readers' Advisory" column NEAL WYATT Chesterfield County Public Library, VA