Fiction_L Archives (2005) - Favorite Lost Book Resources & Strategies

Fiction_L Archives

Favorite Lost Book Resources & Strategies
Dates: 2/18/05,4:47 PM through 2/24/05,4:50 PM (13 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 February 2005 thread menu | Fiction_L Archives Menu

Postings are in chronological order (as received by the list server), with the original posting at the top of the page.

FROM: David Wright <[removed]@yahoo.com>
REC'D: 2/18/05, 4:47 PM

=====
David Wright - Seattle Public Library Fiction Dept.

"Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity."
-G.K. Chesterton

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The all-new My Yahoo! - What will yours do?
http://my.yahoo.com

FROM: C & J Heuer <[removed]@centurytel.net>
REC'D: 2/18/05, 5:53 PM

From this information I have used books like the Reader's Encyclopedia
of the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and have searched through
related subject listings until something looks familiar. This is where
the search gets tricky and frankly I can't teach someone how to do
this. But I believe it comes from having read alot of not just books,
but reviews and articles and seen movies and just having a sense of
cultural literacy - so when a key word pops up I just sense that it may
have something to do with this book I am looking for. Or it may jog
another thought and a "so also" pops into mind. It doesn't always work
but I have had a lot of more hits than misses.

Now I use "google" that same way. Its not that it automatically gives
me the answer I am searching for but it gives me a clue, which leads to
another clue.

Of course when all else fails I turn to Fiction L.

Probably not what you were looking for but that is how I work on the
tough ones.

Jeanne Heuer
Brown County Library
Green Bay, Wisconsin

On Friday, February 18, 2005, at 04:42 PM, David Wright wrote:

> Hello, everyone:
> I'd like to start up a thread that I expect
> would be of great interest to our list, and would
> certainly be helpful to me in writing an article.
> Obviously we all know that Fiction_L can be a
> wonderful resource for identifying down those
> forgotten or half-remembered or never-truly-known
> titles/authors that we often assist our patrons
> in finding. I'm wondering what everyone's other
> favorite resources and strategies are for this
> kind of literary detective work.
> I'm not talking about locating the actual
> item, but rather coming up with an author or
> title based on whatever vague scrap of info the
> person has. I pride myself on being a bit of a
> whiz at this literary detective work, but I'm
> sure there are plenty of things that haven't
> occurred to me. With that in mind, I will
> refrain from tipping my hand and ask you all:
> What are the sources and tricks that you've had
> the best results with?
> Thanks!
>
> =====
> David Wright - Seattle Public Library Fiction Dept.
>
> "Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity."
> -G.K. Chesterton
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> The all-new My Yahoo! - What will yours do?
> http://my.yahoo.com
> ......................................................................
> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L: http://fictionl.webrary.org
>
>

FROM: "Karen Traynor, Chittenango" <[removed]@midyork.org>
REC'D: 2/18/05, 6:28 PM

If they are just describing a plot....I search our catalog using whatever keywords I can think of and try to match up books that way. Novelist is another good resource, and Amazon as well.

I ask the other library staff as well--we have a lot of avid readers of all different reading interests and they can often come up with a title.

And as others have said, when all else fails, ask Fiction-L--this is a great resource.

Karen Traynor
Sullivan Free Library
519 McDonnell Street
Chittenango, NY 13037

--
"Nor had I understood until then how the shameless vanity of utter fools can so strongly determine the fate of others."
The Plot Against America
Phillip Roth

FROM: "Bookbitch" <[removed]@yahoo.com>
REC'D: 2/18/05, 8:31 PM

So that said, in all my years of searching for books, there is only one that
has remained elusive. The person who originally requested it is but a
distant blip on the horizon, but it's bugged me for years. The description:
a photographer took a toy penguin (a stuffed animal) all over the world and
photographed it in front of famous attractions like the Taj Mahal, the
Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China, etc. And they were adamant that it
was a penguin, not any other animal. The worst part is that it sounded
familiar to me, like I read about it somewhere. Anyone?

Stacy Alesi
Library Name *Censored*
Boca Raton, Florida

I am the BookBitch
www.bookbitch.com
Giving away forty new books this month!

FROM: "Ann Nichols" <[removed]@cableone.net>
REC'D: 2/18/05, 8:41 PM

-----Original Message-----
From: [removed]@maillist.webrary.org
[[removed]@maillist.webrary.org] On Behalf Of Bookbitch
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 7:28 PM
To: Fiction_L
Subject: RE: Favorite Lost Book Resources & Strategies

Great question, David. I am the Google Queen - I can usually Google my
way
to just about anything. When I worked for Borders, we had no access to
the
Internet but we had Bowker's Books in Print on CD. That worked
extremely
well and I miss it as my library (which shall remain nameless) prefers
Amazon.com to BIP - but if I get desperate I can access it through my
university. I also use our webcat but the search engine is very
limiting,
Amazon and Barnes & Noble (bn.com) - but with it all, FictionL is still
the
fastest and the best.

So that said, in all my years of searching for books, there is only one
that
has remained elusive. The person who originally requested it is but a
distant blip on the horizon, but it's bugged me for years. The
description:
a photographer took a toy penguin (a stuffed animal) all over the world
and
photographed it in front of famous attractions like the Taj Mahal, the
Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China, etc. And they were adamant that
it
was a penguin, not any other animal. The worst part is that it sounded
familiar to me, like I read about it somewhere. Anyone?

Stacy Alesi
Library Name *Censored*
Boca Raton, Florida

I am the BookBitch
www.bookbitch.com
Giving away forty new books this month!

--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 266.1.0 - Release Date: 2/18/2005

--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 266.1.0 - Release Date: 2/18/2005

FROM: Candice Michalik <[removed]@yahoo.com>
REC'D: 2/18/05, 9:31 PM

=====
Candice Michalik
Reference Librarian
Lynchburg Public Library
Lynchburg, VA
[removed]@yahoo.com

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

FROM: BookBitch <[removed]@yahoo.com>
REC'D: 2/19/05, 4:42 AM

> Could Stacy's penguin book be Joe and Sally: a long
> way from home by Willy Puchner? Check this out:
> cms.austria.info/kontakt...2.html?_id=330604
> I did "penguin photograph travel" in Amazon and came
> up with the title and author and then Googled "joe
> sally puchner".
>

You are amazing! I'll never know with absolute
certainty, but this has got to be it. Thank you, once
again. :)

Stacy Alesi
Library Name *Censored*
Boca Raton, Florida

=====
I am the BookBitch
www.bookbitch.com
Giving away forty new books this month!

FROM: [removed]@bloglines.com
REC'D: 2/19/05, 8:48 AM

As others have mentioned, I'd use local OPACs, regional catalogs
like WISCAT or ILLINET Online, WorldCat, Books in Print, NoveList, BookFinder.com,
Amazon.com, Google, maybe Canadian National Catalogue or British Library Catalogue.

Sometimes it's helpful to search indexes of reviews, newspaper articles,
magazines, radio or tv transcripts, etc. For example, I like to search NPR,
Lexis Nexis Academic, and Google News.

Blogs and RSS are growing in popularity.
I use Bloglines to monitor Fiction-L, PUBLIB-L, ILL-L, and several other lists.
There are a lot of literary blogs and feeds. One example, the American Booksellers
Association has RSS feeds for bestsellers at this site:

http://www.spiders.com/bestsellers/

When searching with an incomplete citation, I try to vary and alter keywords
and spellings. Tweaking a search just a little bit can make a big difference.

Michael May
Appleton, Wisconsin

--- Fiction_L" <[removed]@maillist.webrary.org
wrote:
Hello, everyone:
> I'd like to start up a thread that I expect

> would be of great interest to our list, and would
> certainly be helpful
to me in writing an article.
> Obviously we all know that Fiction_L can
be a
> wonderful resource for identifying down those
> forgotten or half-remembered
or never-truly-known
> titles/authors that we often assist our patrons
>
in finding. I'm wondering what everyone's other
> favorite resources and
strategies are for this
> kind of literary detective work.
> I'm
not talking about locating the actual
> item, but rather coming up with an
author or
> title based on whatever vague scrap of info the
> person has.
I pride myself on being a bit of a
> whiz at this literary detective work,
but I'm
> sure there are plenty of things that haven't
> occurred to me.
With that in mind, I will
> refrain from tipping my hand and ask you all:

> What are the sources and tricks that you've had
> the best results with?

> Thanks!
>
> =====
> David Wright - Seattle Public Library
Fiction Dept.
>
> "Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity."
>
-G.K. Chesterton
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________

> Do you Yahoo!?
> The all-new My Yahoo! - What will yours do?
> http://my.yahoo.com

> ......................................................................

> Need to subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives?
> Everything Fiction_L:
http://fictionl.webrary.org
>
>

FROM: Dennis Lien <[removed]@tc.umn.edu>
REC'D: 2/21/05, 10:41 AM

Amazing indeed... as a sidelight, WorldCat indicates this
is an English-language translation of a German original
(and I'm amused to note who the publisher of this English-
language edition is ...).

Title: Joe & Sally :
a long way from home /
Author(s): Puchner, Willy, 1952-
Publication: New York : Penguin Books,
Year: 1993
Description: 1 v. (unpaged) : chiefly col. ill. ; 19 x 24 cm.
Language: English
Standard No: ISBN: 0140231188 (pbk.) : LCCN: 94-137227
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor: Photography, Artistic.
Travel photography.
Penguins -- Humor.
Named Person: Puchner, Willy, 1952-
Note(s): Translation of: Der Sehnsucht der Pinguine./ "A Penguin
original"--Cover.

and here's a more recent English-language (but published in Germany) edition
with a variant title (or maybe it's a sequel?):

Title: Penguins-- traveling the world :
the long road home /
Author(s): Puchner, Willy, 1952-
Publication: Cologne [Germany] : K�nemann,
Year: 1999
Description: 1 v. (unpaged) : chiefly col. ill. ; 18 x 24 cm.
Language: English
Standard No: ISBN: 3829014120
SUBJECT(S)
Descriptor: Photography, Artistic.
Travel photography.
Penguins -- Humor.
Named Person: Puchner, Willy, 1952-

Dennis Lien / U of Minnesota Libraries // [removed]@tc.umn.edu
Note(s): Translated from the German.

FROM: "christine jeffords" <[removed]@hotmail.com>
REC'D: 2/22/05, 9:41 AM

FROM: Barry Trott <[removed]@mail.wrl.org>
REC'D: 2/23/05, 12:41 PM

I have found WorldCat to be a very useful database for building off of a
scrap of information about a book. You can use a combination of subject
heading limiting (to fiction for example) and keyword searching. NoveList
is also useful in these circumstances, especially searching the reviews
and the articles and lists. Like others, I certainly use Google in these
searches, especially when the other resources have not produced any
results.

As far as print resources go, I use the Genreflecting titles, Detecting
Women and Detecting Men, What Historical Novel Do I Read Next? and
numerous other books.

I think that in addition to the resources that the ra interview and the
search strategy are equally important. Particularly in trying to draw out
from the reader every bit of information you can about the book. Dates
when they read it can be helpful in setting some limits for your search.
Names or descriptions of characters (even secondary ones), settings, or
other notable memories that the person has of the book can often give you
clues.

Using as many variations of the search terms as possible often will bring
up a book that might otherwise be missed. Don't limit yourself to the
exact terms that the patron brings up. Experiment with other possible
words and phrases to search on. The reader may be remembering that the
book was about a frog, when actually it was a toad. You need to approach
the search with as open a mind as possible.

I think that there are some ways to prepare yourself to do these kinds of
questions. Read through some of the reference works on literature and
writing and culture like Benet's Readers's Encyclopedia and Brewer's
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Looking through entries in these sorts of
works can place in the back of your mind bits and pieces of things --
author names, book titles, plots and situations, etc. -- that can be
helpful to have when you get a forensic RA question.

Barry

*******************************************************************************
Barry Trott 7770 Croaker Rd.
Adult Services Director Williamsburg VA 23188
Williamsburg Regional Library Phone: 757-259-4053
http://www.wrl.org/bookweb FAX: 757-259-4079
*******************************************************************************

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005, David Wright wrote:

FROM: "Lynn S. Smith-Roberts" <[removed]@hotmail.com>
REC'D: 2/23/05, 7:09 PM

Question the patron for every little bit s/he might remember. Even the
littlest scrap can be coaxed into "something." When the person read the
book helps. Names, locations, plot or subject words, a description of plot
-- whatever they remember.

If there are title words, but not a complete title, I will do a keyword
search of our catalog, followed by a keyword search of the Library of
Congress catalog through our Z39.5 portal in our catalog.

If there are subject words, I'll look for subject headings in our catalog,
then LC's. I'll also try NoveList for these. If there are plot point
words, I'll try those as subject headings in the catalogs and as plot
descriptors in NoveList.

I also use Google, other library catalogs [We have the University of
California's Melvyl, for example, on our Z39.5 as well.], and Amazon.com. as
on-line resources, and encyclopedias and print bibliographies of fiction if
I think it's likely to be found in there. I don't have any particular
favorites.

I rely on my husband, an avid reader of SF and mysteries/suspense/thrillers,
and my branch manager, also an avid reader of SF. We have a fiction
specialist in our branch, who is well versed, particularly in current
fiction. Our YA Librarian is also a great resource. I've asked anyone on
the staff who might know.

I also use the IMDb for motion pictures made from books, and some of the
bibliographies I have bookmarked around the Internet -- often from Fiction_L
members' libraries. My final resource is all of you lovely people --
Fiction_L itself.

I believe the most important trait is to be flexible and able to think
"outside the box" -- often there are "backdoor approaches" -- different
terms, variants on words, etc., which can help. I think you can get better
as you do it, but I don't think there's any one way, or any better way. We
learn by doing, and by getting more tools, and ways to use them, and then
using them. I'm often like a terrier worrying a blanket or piece of rope.
I don't give up. Being dogged about it means you'll eventually find it.
Experience helps, and so does pure dumb luck.

Hope this helps!

Lynn S. Smith-Roberts
Librarian II

Carmichael Regional Library
Sacramento Public Library

5605 Marconi Avenue
Carmichael, CA 95608

[removed]@saclibrary.org
[removed]@hotmail.com

On Friday, February 18, 2005, at 04:42 PM, David Wright wrote:

>Hello, everyone:
> I'd like to start up a thread that I expect
>would be of great interest to our list, and would
>certainly be helpful to me in writing an article.
> Obviously we all know that Fiction_L can be a
>wonderful resource for identifying down those
>forgotten or half-remembered or never-truly-known
>titles/authors that we often assist our patrons
>in finding. I'm wondering what everyone's other
>favorite resources and strategies are for this
>kind of literary detective work.
> I'm not talking about locating the actual
>item, but rather coming up with an author or
>title based on whatever vague scrap of info the
>person has. I pride myself on being a bit of a
>whiz at this literary detective work, but I'm
>sure there are plenty of things that haven't
>occurred to me. With that in mind, I will
>refrain from tipping my hand and ask you all:
>What are the sources and tricks that you've had
>the best results with?
> Thanks!
>
>=====
>David Wright - Seattle Public Library Fiction Dept.
>
>"Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity."
> -G.K. Chesterton

FROM: "Colcord, Lisa" <[removed]@GLENDALEAZ.com>
REC'D: 2/24/05, 4:50 PM

>I'm often like a terrier worrying a blanket or piece of rope.
>I don't give up. Being dogged about it means you'll eventually find
it.
>Experience helps, and so does pure dumb luck.

Speaking of dogs, I had a patron once who was looking for an article she
had read in the local paper about a couple of dogs who had been stolen
from a local pet shop. I searched and searched and had no luck. But
then, she happened to mention they were Pugs (or whatever they were) and
I found the article right away. So, Lynn, that is great advice to vary
your search terms!

Lisa

Return to February 2005 thread menu | Fiction_L Archives Menu

The Webrary^® and Fiction_L are services of the Morton Grove Public Library
"Webrary" is a registered trademark of the Morton Grove Public Library. All rights reserved.
Copyright of Fiction_L postings belongs to their respective authors; postings may only be reused with the author's permission.
Compiled lists (compilations of titles or authors from earlier postings on a particular topic) may not be reused for commercial purposes. To use a compiled list for non-commercial purposes, please credit "Subscribers of the Fiction_L mailing list."
All other content is �2012 Morton Grove Public Library, 6140 Lincoln Ave., Morton Grove, IL 60053-2989, (847) 965-4220.