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Common Sense Media

"Common Sense Media is dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in a world of media and technology."

Still Under Construction!

Mosman readers is a ning set up to encourage interaction of readers from Mosman Library.

Sarah's Favorite Online Readers Advisory Tools (LibrarianInBlack.net):

• AllReaders.com - One of the first free, online readers advisory tools, no list of this nature would be complete without AllReaders.  Search by what you're interested in - title, author, plot, setting, character, adversaries, setting, style, etc.  The guided searching offers thousands of permutations and options and gets very specific (and largely user-loved) results.  You have to try this to believe it. 
• Downer's Grove Public Library Author Read-Alikes - The author read-alike feature of the subscription database NoveList is one of its most popular features.  Here's a very respectable list of some of the most popular authors for whom people request read-alikes, with a half-dozen recommendations (or more) for each author.
• Fantastic Fiction - Browse for authors or series names, or search for authors or titles to get some pretty comprehensive bibliographies, cover shots, book descriptions, and more (like information on various editions).  Great for those looking for quick and comprehensive book information for their favorite authors.  The site also includes award information and new U.S. releases in hardback, paperback, and audio.
• FictionDB.com - Half-free, half-commercial site operated by the Riviera Group.  The free parts of the site offers a huge list of book lists (200,000+ titles, which you can browse by genre or search) as well as a access to series and sequels lists (only by author's last name though, which is useless in multi-author series).  Still, worth a look.
• FictionFinder (beta) - This prototype from OCLC lets you search or browse by genre, subject, imaginary place or setting (how cool is that?), or fictional character (equally cool), including through a tag-cloud interface with popular folksonomies.  More specific is better here, as this is a huge database (immigrants returns nearly 700 hits).  Each record has extensive information about reading level, genres, characters, settings, etc.
• Internet Speculative Fiction Database - The center for all things science fiction, fantasy, and horror.  Search by author, title, series, and more to get some serious information.  Author pages include complete bibliographies (including collections they took part in), series information, links to various official and unofficial web resources, and more.  The site also offers an extensive list of award winners.
• IRead Wiki - This is the Iowa librarians' Readers' Advisory wiki with lists organized by audience, genre, subject, and more.  This site started out really small and is now quite impressive.
• Kent District Library What's Next?: Books in a Series - Just what it sounds like, this long-standing index offers adult and youth series lists in a number of different genres that you can search or browse.
• Librarian's Book Revoogle - From librarian Rick Roche, this custom Google search targets book reviews on library and librarian websites.  The site also includes the Librarian's Booklist Search that searches, yes, library and librarian-generated booklists.
• LibraryThing - This list would not be complete without this user-generated behemoth of a site.  Get "similar books" recommendations based on your own favorites.  By the by, if you haven't signed up for LibraryThing's "Early Reviewers", consider it.  You get free copies of advanced publications for reviewing purposes...something you might like doing anyway!
• Los Angeles Public Library's Series & Sequels Index - Adult series & sequels database search-able by author, title, series title, or characters.
• Overbooked - A labor of love from the Collection Management Administrator at the Chesterfield County (VA) Public Library, this site offers a substantial number of high-quality annotated lists of fiction, nonfiction, and mystery books.
• Stop, You're Killing Me! - Mystery, crime, thriller, spy, and suspense books chronologically listed by authors (over 2,500 discrete authors), including series.  Browse-able by author name, character name, genre, location or period of story, or the lead character's ethnicity or job.  Oh yes, and they have a substantive list of read-alikes too.  Nirvana for mystery lovers.  Truly.
• Storycode (beta) - Read and review books yourself, or get recommendations based on what others have reviewed and liked (similar to LibraryThing's model).   Find a book you like and click on "Get Recommendations" to get a list of  dozens of recommendations of similar titles, based on relevancy, including information about the readability, recommended age, and average rating.
• What Should I Read Next? - Search for a book you know you like and get recommendations based on other readers' similar preferences.  You have to register for an account to get the "full" list of results, though often the partial list is enough to address a user inquiry.
• WhichBook.net - Slide a number of visual sliders, from happy to sad and unexpected to predictable to tell the site what you like.  You can also choose factors specific to characters, plot, and setting.  The resulting recommendation lists can vary from 2-200 books, depending on how specific you got!  An innovative way to think about reading preferences.

The RA Toolkit: Resources to help you keep up with the hottest releases and the latest author news - by Neal Wyatt (from Library Journal, June 15, 2008)

The RA Media Guide

EarlyWord: the Publisher | Librarian Connection - EarlyWord’s goal is to help Collection Development and Readers Advisory librarians stay ahead of public demand and identify hidden gems.