Fiction_L Archives Romance database Dates: 12/14/00,11:03 AM  through  12/18/00,3:05 PM  (5 postings) Search for: Select one or more indexes to search: 2011-current     2009-2010     2004-2008    1995-2003    (Matches from each index will be displayed separately in the results page.) Return to December 2000 thread menu   |   Fiction_L Archives Menu

FROM: "Waznis, Betty" <[removed]@sdcl.org>
REC'D: 12/14/00, 11:03 AM

I wonder if any of the romance experts on Fiction -L have ever used the
CD-ROM database called Byron. One of our customers inquired about it. I
looked at its web site www.byronref.com. Described as a database of 40,000
romance novels, searchable by author, character names, setting, time
periods, themes. I took a look at it and I can see that it is pretty much a
one-woman production, has a friendly home-grown look, not something I would
ordinarily think of as a likely acquisition. On the other hand, a lot of
romance novels are below the radar, bibliographically speaking, and it is
not easy to find this kind of detailed data for many romance novels on What
Do I Read Next, etc. Could you let me know if you have ever used it and did
you like it? Could you see it being used successfully in a public library
setting? Thanks in advance for any information.

Betty Waznis
San Diego County Library

FROM: [removed]@DAYTON.LIB.OH.US
REC'D: 12/14/00, 12:49 PM

I think I just sent a message out with nothing in it. Sorry, our computer
system is giving us strange responses today.

I wante

FROM: Viccy Kemp <[removed]@ci.carrollton.tx.us>
REC'D: 12/14/00, 1:02 PM

I have not used this database, but I do use "Romantic Times" every month. If
you can stand the self-aggrandizement of "Lady Barrow," there is a lot of
information about authors, books and reviews. I say this in reference to
your statement about romances being "below the radar," especially PBOs. The
nice thing is that RT now has reviews mysteries, too, which keeps me up on
the PBO series that nobody pays attention to.
HTH
Viccy Kemp


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Waznis, Betty [[removed]@sdcl.org]
> Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2000 10:42 AM
> To: Fiction_L
> Subject: Romance database
>
> I wonder if any of the romance experts on Fiction -L have ever used the
> CD-ROM database called Byron. One of our customers inquired about it. I
> looked at its web site www.byronref.com. Described as a database of
> 40,000
> romance novels, searchable by author, character names, setting, time
> periods, themes. I took a look at it and I can see that it is pretty much
> a
> one-woman production, has a friendly home-grown look, not something I
> would
> ordinarily think of as a likely acquisition. On the other hand, a lot of
> romance novels are below the radar, bibliographically speaking, and it is
> not easy to find this kind of detailed data for many romance novels on
> What
> Do I Read Next, etc. Could you let me know if you have ever used it and
> did
> you like it? Could you see it being used successfully in a public library
> setting? Thanks in advance for any information.
>
> Betty Waznis
> San Diego County Library
>
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html

FROM: [removed]@DAYTON.LIB.OH.US
REC'D: 12/14/00, 1:10 PM

I have a copy of the Byron database at home. I kept hearing about it
via several mailing lists so I ordered a copy in 1999. I have not
purchased the updates for 2000. I think it has limited possibilities
for use in the library. You can search by occupation, locale, genre, time
periods, etc., but I have trouble finding exactly what I want. For example,
I wanted the title of a romance published approximately 20 years ago. I had
neither author or title but I had the basic premise. The books took place in
Dallas, Texas, part of a trilogy involving three sisters from a well-to-do
family. The older sisters married a rancher, leaving behind a fiance.
The middle sister who had always loved the older sister's fiance married him.
An unwanted pregnancy was involved. One scene took place at a Dallas
cowboy game. I tried using Byron but was unable to retrieve any suggestions.
One problem is that many of the older books have no descriptions or blurbs. I
have not used it recently, but I do not believe you can input your own search
terms. There are several lists which you can check mark what you want to use
but I wanted to combine search terms, such as sisters, Dallas, Texas and
unwanted pregnancy, etc. I guess I find it lacking the sophistication of
many of the databases available to us.

I hope I helped you some. I will go home and look at it again. I do agree
that romance novels are poorly indexed but I don't think this is an adequate
answer. It is a great achievement since it is a one-woman achievement.

Jan Nottingham
Miami Township Branch
Dayton and Mont. Cty. Public Library
[removed]@dayton.lib.oh.us

>I wonder if any of the romance experts on Fiction -L have ever used the
>CD-ROM database called Byron. One of our customers inquired about it. I
>looked at its web site www.byronref.com. Described as a database of 40,000
>romance novels, searchable by author, character names, setting, time
>periods, themes. I took a look at it and I can see that it is pretty much a
>one-woman production, has a friendly home-grown look, not something I would
>ordinarily think of as a likely acquisition. On the other hand, a lot of
>romance novels are below the radar, bibliographically speaking, and it is
>not easy to find this kind of detailed data for many romance novels on What
>Do I Read Next, etc. Could you let me know if you have ever used it and did
>you like it? Could you see it being used successfully in a public library
>setting? Thanks in advance for any information.
>
>Betty Waznis
>San Diego County Library
>
>......................................................................
>Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
>Everything Fiction_L: http://www.webrary.org/rs/flmenu.html

FROM: "Karen Stefanik" <[removed]@hotmail.com>
REC'D: 12/18/00, 3:05 PM

I have used this database in my home. I like the fact that it contains
information about books published years ago. I do not subscribe to updates,
but rather enter books myself as I need to. One of the features I have
found very useful is the ability to search via characters in a book. How
many times do we remember the characters' names but not the title of the
book?! You can also search for locations or plot-points (for the patron who
really enjoys pirate romances, or books set in Paris, for example, and would
like to see a list).

I do wish it had more sophisticated searching though. For instance, you can
match one character's name to another and find out what book they were both
in, but you can't match a person's name with a location or a plot-point.
(My version is from 1998 or so; I don't know if this has been updated or
not)

But stil, I have found it very useful both for discovering/rediscovering
books and for keeping a personal inventory.

Hope this helps.

Karen

> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Waznis, Betty [[removed]@sdcl.org]
> > Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2000 10:42 AM
> > To: Fiction_L
> > Subject: Romance database
> >
> > I wonder if any of the romance experts on Fiction -L have ever used the
> > CD-ROM database called Byron. One of our customers inquired about it. I
> > looked at its web site www.byronref.com. Described as a database of
> > 40,000
> > romance novels, searchable by author, character names, setting, time
> > periods, themes. I took a look at it and I can see that it is pretty
>much
> > a
> > one-woman production, has a friendly home-grown look, not something I
> > would
> > ordinarily think of as a likely acquisition. On the other hand, a lot
>of
> > romance novels are below the radar, bibliographically speaking, and it
>is
> > not easy to find this kind of detailed data for many romance novels on
> > What
> > Do I Read Next, etc. Could you let me know if you have ever used it and
> > did
> > you like it? Could you see it being used successfully in a public
>library
> > setting? Thanks in advance for any information.
> >
> > Betty Waznis
> > San Diego County Library
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