CHECK IT OUT:Novel tool for picking books

For many of us who love to read, finding the right book is half the battle. The online catalog of the Newport Beach Public Library is an outstanding source for information. The most basic use is to look up items — books, movies, music, books on CD or iPod — in the library.

But there are lots of other treasures to be found on the website. The Library subscribes to a number of databases that are available free to card-carrying members of the library. (By the way, the card is also free to all California residents. If you don’t have one, you can sign up for a temporary card online and start using the databases right away.)

For example, one can find magazine articles, historical newspaper accounts, investment information and articles with illustrations from the Grove Dictionaries of Music and Art.

It’s easy to look up notable people’s biographies, government and personal forms, in-depth information on authors, debate positions on current events, and business and residential directories.

But there is one database that has an odd name that does not explain exactly how terrific it is for avid readers. It’s called NoveList. And though it does list novels, it consists of more than just lists. It is what is called in the trade a reader’s advisory tool.

Frequently, librarians are consulted when patrons want to read more books by a particular author, or when they want to read a complete mystery series. Others love books set in France, or the Old West or the antebellum South.

Since librarians cannot read and mentally record everything in the library, these can be daunting questions. That’s where NoveList comes in, and it is now available to the public.

There are a number of ways to approach a search in NoveList. By clicking on the various tabs at the top, one can explore a whole world of fiction reading.

The format is user-friendly. One can search by an author or by a specific title, and there are easy ways to limit the search to age group, number of pages (very important to teenagers) and publication dates.

But say, for example, you look up “King of Torts” by John Grisham — fast-paced legal thrillers are your passion. It will give you information and reviews of this book, but by clicking on “Author Read-Alike,” you are directed to an article about Grisham and suggestions of other authors whose books match his profile.

In this case, you would be directed to look into Lisa Scottoline, Brad Meltzer and Stuart Wood — and you would get a descriptive reason of why.

Another powerful way to search and be led to new authors is to look up a title, such as Ian Rankin’s “Knots and Crosses.” This will direct you to read-alikes, but you also have the option of checking boxes that describe characteristics of this book that you liked and would like to find in another. In this case, you could check that you are looking for Scottish mystery stories set in Edinburgh, and NoveList will link you to other books described as such.

And, of course, as it is called NoveList, you can get reading lists. By clicking on the tab “Browse Lists,” you can get lists of award-winning books (Booker, Pulitzer, Hugo, Oprah Book Club, etc.) or you can simply look through lists of books in a particular genre.

By clicking on the appropriate box, you can get a list of glitz and glamour romances, boy into man westerns, classic spy adventures or comic caper mysteries. The lists are seemingly endless, and they all link to descriptions of the books. The website is fun and easy to use.

To get to the NoveList database, go to the library’s website, www.newportbeachlibrary.org, and click on the tab that says “Articles and Databases.” On the next screen, click on the link that says “Click here to browse databases alphabetically.” When you click on the NoveList link, you will be asked for your library card number.

So if you are a life-long reader looking to go on a reading frenzy, or a student in search of books in your Lexile ranking (yes, parents, there is a K-8 version of NoveList available), log onto the website and have an adventure.