How to Use NoveList Plus
Do you need to find books for a specific grade level or lexile range? Use Novelist! It is a database of literature that provides teaching ideas, reader's advisory, multiple ways to limit a search, and more. Watch these videos to learn more about this great resource.
*Important note* Remember that if you find a book on NoveList you will have to check our online catalog to make sure that Milner Library owns that title.
Overview of NoveList
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NoveList Overview (video link)Direct Link: https://app.screencast.com/GUJLudWswJ9jt
This video shows how to find NoveList on the Milner website and provides an overview of the main features on NoveList.
Novelist Basic Title Search
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NoveList Basic Title Search (video link)Direct Link: https://app.screencast.com/EhZqghZsRFE9T
This video shows how to do a basic title search in NoveList.
NoveList Plus Advanced Searching
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NoveList Advanced Searching (video link)Direct Link: https://app.screencast.com/glLCCMzc3rnVK
This video provides an overview of search limits (date, audience, grade, awards, etc.) and shows how to search for subjects with limit age 9 - 12, how to narrow results, find related lists and articles, and further limit results.
Find Lexile Levels on NoveList Plus
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NoveList Find Lexile Levels (video link)Direct Link: https://app.screencast.com/8PfvNlk6wFeRQ
This video shows how to find the Lexile level for a book on NoveList Plus and use it to check if the book is in an appropriate grade range for a child.
Novelist Plus Video Transcripts
NoveList Plus Overview
This video provides an overview of the database NoveList Plus, which is a reader’s advisory tool to help you find and evaluate books.
From the Milner Library home page, choose the Databases button under the search box to go to the A-Z Databases list.
On the databases page, enter NoveList Plus in the Database Title / Keyword search.
Click NoveList Plus.
Click Milner Library and then login via Central Login, if prompted.
On the NoveList home page, the basic search enables you to search by Keyword, Title, Author, or books in a Series
The Advanced Search link provides more search filter options.
On the left side of the page, there are a variety of tools, lists, and how to tips.
Expand the Discover Novelist option to browse books by story elements such as genre, themes, and appeal factors.
Appeal factors help identify what within a book a reader might enjoy when considering the storyline, characterization, character identities, mood, style, illustration, and audio.
These terms can be used as keywords in your search.
You can also explore curated lists such as exploring identities, seasonal reads, for fans of, and more.
Quick Links will direct you to award winners, books in series, and more.
In the center of the screen, you'll see highlighted materials: books with buzz, curated lists, new series titles, and browsing starting places.
Remember that everything listed in NoveList is not automatically part of the Milner Library collection.
Be sure to watch the other videos for in-depth search strategies and limiting to the Milner Library collection.
If you have questions, use the Ask Us options on the library website to chat, text, email, or call, contact your subject librarian, or view our FAQs. Or, visit the Service Desk on Floor 2. We’re happy to help!
Novelist Plus Basic Title Search
This video shows you how to do a basic search for a known title in NoveList Plus, a reader’s advisory tool to help you find and evaluate books.
In the main search box at the top of the NoveList home page, type in the book’s title.
Click the Search button.
The search results provide a quick overview of each book.
Including quick links to Check Library Catalog, identify Title read-alikes, and Author read-alikes.
Click the book’s title to view more information.
This page shows the publication date, the author’s name, age range, fiction or non-fiction, Min/max grade level: Pre-Kindergarten – 2, Lexile score:560, and a short description.
The age range is a general calculation. It’s best to read a book first to gauge for yourself whether that title is appropriate for the audience you’re using it for.
Further down the page is the Read-alikes. The provides books similar to the title you searched.
Click on a title to see the reason it is read-alike and a short description.
The Search for More Like the Book provides a list of tags that describe the book.
Click a tag to search for books that share those features.
The next section provides information about the author.
If the book won any awards, these will be listed next.
Towards the end of the page, access book reviews from reputable sources and compare them in one place.
Remember that everything listed in NoveList is not automatically part of the Milner Library collection
Click the Check Catalog button to see if the book is available to check out from Milner Library or one of the laboratory schools.
If it is, note the location and call number and use them to find the book on the shelves or request it.
If you have questions, use the Ask Us options on the library website to chat, text, email, or call, contact your subject librarian, or view our FAQs. Or, visit the Service Desk on Floor 2. We’re happy to help!
NoveList Plus Advanced Searching
This video introduces you to advanced search features in NoveList Plus.
Advanced search is great for finding books about a particular subject, or for fine-tuning your searches.
From the NoveList home page, click the Advanced Search link under the search box.
The Advanced Search page provides more search boxes that allows you to conduct a focused search.
Each search box provides different filters such as Title, Author, Subject, Genre, and Theme.
Further down the page are two tabs: Filters and Search Options.
Search Options enable you to determine how your search terms are searched such as all of the terms or any of the terms.
The Filters tab allows you to narrow your results in a variety of ways.
You can limit your results to the library’s collection, forthcoming (books not published yet), award winners, starred reviews, publication date, or by Audience age ranges of Adult, Team, Ages 9-12, and 0-8.
Different drop-down menus let you select Author’s Nationality, Author’s Gender Identity, and Author’s Cultural Identity.
Limiting by Identities is a great way to purposefully identify books with diverse characters.
Use Grade Level and Lexile Score or Lexile Range for finding books specific to a grade or reading level.
To conduct a search, add related search terms to each search box. Separate each search term with the capitalized word OR to search any of the terms.
This example shows ballet OR dance in the first search box, disability in the second box, and picture book in the third box with Genre selected from the dropdown menu.
In the Filters tab, 1 for first grade is selected.
Click the Search button.
The results list picture books about dance featuring a character with a disability for a first-grade audience.
Click the All Filters button to apply more filters. Many are the same options on the Filters tab and search box drop down menu.
Additional filters might include Mood, Style, Time Period, and Location
Within the filters, you will only see tags that are related to the books in your result list.
To display only books owned by ISU libraries, check the box to search the library’s collection.
You can also remove Active Filters to expand the search results.
Click the Apply button to add additional filters.
Click the book’s title to see more information about it.
Click the Checked Catalog button to see if the book is available to check out from Milner Library or one of the laboratory schools.
If it is, note the location and call number and use them to find the book on the shelves or request it.
If you have questions, use the Ask Us options on the library website to chat, text, email, or call, contact your subject librarian, or view our FAQs. Or, visit the Service Desk on Floor 2. We’re happy to help!
Determining Readability of a Text/Lexile Levels
This video walks you through the NoveList Plus features to identify a book’s target audience and reading difficulty or level.
On the NoveList home page, search the title of your book.
Click the book’s title to view more information.
Below the title and author’s name, the Min/Max Grade Level is listed.
This is a broad range of students who may be interested in the story's content.
The Min/Max Grade Level is NOT a measure of the book’s text complexity, meaning how hard the book is to read.
Use the Lexile number or the Accelerated Reader designation to determine the text complexity of a book.
The book may have both, one or the other, or neither.
Use a Reading Level Conversion Chart, to find out how the Lexile and accelerated reader designation relate to grade level or Fountas and Pinnell.
You can find a Reading Level Conversion Chart in the TMC on top of the shelf of leveled readers, or on the TMC Guide Leveled Books page.
For example, the lexile of 560 indicates a book is likely geared to independent reading for 2nd – 4th graders and those who can read at a level N for Fountas and Pinnell.
If the lexile includes additional text like “adult-directed” it is a hint about the book’s content.
For instance, adult direct means most children will lose interest in the content before they can read it independently.
The accelerated reader designation corresponds with the ATOS Book Level column on the Reading Level Conversion Chart.
As an example, an ATOS Book Level of 2.9 falls within Fountas and Pinnell level L, which aligns with second and third grade.
This number means 9 months into 2nd grade.
These measures of text complexity try to make the abstract concrete.
Remember, there is a slight discrepancy between Lexile and Accelerated Reader designation.
This is in part due to their formulas weighing each variable of complexity differently.
If your title has no Lexile or Accelerated Reader designation, then you will want to compare pages in that book to other related books.
Look for a Lexile or Accelerated Reader designation that seems about the same complexity as your book.
Keep in mind that Lexile levels are a good way to double-check that your book is likely to be the right reading level for your child to read independently.
But the best way to make sure is to read the book yourself to see if it meets your child’s needs.
If you have questions, use the Ask Us options on the library website to chat, text, email, or call, contact your subject librarian, or view our FAQs. Or, visit the Service Desk on Floor 2. We’re happy to help!
