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Milner Library

Teaching and Learning

This guide is meant to help with education-focused research by sharing recommended resources and strategies for students and faculty.

Using NoveList

NoveList Plus is a database that helps you search for books that meet your needs as an educator. Using it is one of the easiest ways to discover multicultural children and YA Books. The link to access NoveList Plus is below as well as a text and image guide to searching with NoveList Plus. Below there are also video tutorials which go into more detailed search strategies

  1. To access NoveList Plus, select the link listed below. 
    • NoveList Plus: Full text book reviews for children's and young adult literature (fiction and non-fiction). Also includes reading level indicators (Lexiles) for readability.
  2. Log-in with your ULID and password if you are prompted to do so. 
  1. In the orange banner along the top of the screen, find Browse By second to the left. 
  2. From the Browse By drop-down menu, select Appeal. 
  3. At the top of the new screen, choose the tab that is appropriate for your age-range of interest. 
  4. Under 'Make Your Own Appeal Mix' in any of the three lines select from the available categories in the drop-down menu on the left: Character, Illustration, Pace, Storyline, Tone, and Writing Style. Recognize that the more restrictions you add, the fewer books will be returned. 

For each category you select, choose a value in the corresponding drop-down just to the right. 

Example Appeal Mix search for children's books with indigenous characters

Like with advanced searching, I recommend if you are looking for books with certain identities represented, set the drop-down to Character and select an aspect of identity relevant to your search. Current examples used by NoveList Plus include, deaf or hard of hearing, Black, Lesbian, etc. NoveList Plus is working on improving this function so character identities listed may change or expand. 

Then, make another category Storyline with the Own voices value. This means that the book will be written by someone who identifies within the same marginalized group as the character. 

      5.  Click the button, Find Titles to see results to browse through.

  1. Under the search bar, select Advanced Search.
  2. Add keywords to the search boxes to combine ideas or themes of interest. Keep the Select a Field default when using keywords. Advanced Search of 'African American' AND 'mathematician'
  3. If you are looking for bilingual materials, change Select a Field to GN Genre and type in bilingualAdvanced search of 'environment' AND 'bilingual' [genre]
  4. After you enter your terms, select the Search Button.
  5. If desired, filter your results even more with Refine Results to the left of your search results. As you scroll down there are many ways you might limit your search. Some I recommend playing around with are: Published Date, Award Winner, Audience, Fiction/Nonfiction, Grade Level, and Lexile (if you have familiarity).
  6. Below this, still in the Refine Results sections, are other categories such as Genre, Theme, Character, Storyline, Pace, Tone, etc. You will only see filters relevant to your search results. If available, I recommend considering narrowing Storyline to Own voice and Character to specific relevant identifies in order to focus on multicultural materials. Be aware that materials may not have this tag and still be multicultural!
  1. From your results list using either of the methods above, select a title. 
  2. Here, you will see a lot of valuable information to help you decide if the book is appropriate for you. 
    • Read the book reviews. 
    • Gauge the Min/Max Grade Level.
    • Determine if the description, themes, and subjects are touching on the right things for your purposes. 
  3. Select the Check Library Catalog icon to verify that Milner Library has access to your book selection. 
  4. Either go to Milner and retrieve the book using the call number or request the book for curbside pick-up.

Example Book Page

Help Videos: NoveList Plus

NoveList Plus is a database of literature that provides synopses and reviews of books, teaching ideas, and a Lexile Ranking (independent readability).

Watch the NoveList Plus Overview video to learn about how to find NoveList on the Milner website and an overview of the main features on NoveList. 

You can also open the NoveList Plus database directly using the link below. 

Watch the Basic Search for a Title Video to learn about how to search for a book by title on NoveList Plus.

Watch the Determining Readability of a Text/Lexile Levels Video to learn about where to find a book's lexile number on NoveList Plus and how to convert that to an approximate grade level. 

Watch the Advanced Searching Video in NoveList to get an overview of search limits (date, audience, grade, awards, etc.), how to narrow results, and find related lists and articles.

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