Genreflecting is the process of examining and analyzing the patterns and characteristics of

literary genre A literary genre is a category of literature. Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or length (especially for fiction). They generally move from more abstract, encompassing classes, which are then further sub-divided ...

s—both fiction and recreational

nonfiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with bei ...

—and using that analysis to identify titles with similar appeals to readers (i.e., read-alikes), in order to make reading suggestions to individuals who are looking for something to read. The term "genreflecting" was first coined by Betty Rosenberg, a prominent

library science Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and ...

educator, in 1982. Since that time, the term has been adopted by

readers' advisory Readers' advisory (sometimes spelled readers advisory or reader's advisory) is a service which involves suggesting fiction and nonfiction titles to a reader through direct or indirect means. This service is a fundamental library service; however, ...

libraries A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

and extended to

genres as well as fiction. A similar practice in retail bookstores is called "hand-selling."

History

At the time the first edition of Rosenberg's ''Genreflecting'' was written, adding popular reading materials to library collections and recommending those titles to readers were controversial practices. Dr. Rosenberg's First Law of Reading—"Never apologize for your reading taste"—has since been adopted by growing numbers of

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

s, and the field of

has become increasingly central to the practice of

librarianship Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and ...

Nancy Pearl Nancy Pearl (born January 12, 1945) is an American librarian, best-selling author, literary critic and the former Executive Director of the Washington Center for the Book at Seattle Public Library.Rebekah DennNancy Pearl trading the quiet confi ...

, the well known model of the librarian

action figure An action figure is a poseable character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game or television program; fictional or historical. These figures are usually marketed ...

and author of ''

Book Lust ''Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason'' was written by Nancy Pearl, former Executive Director of the Washington Center for the Book and inspiration for the Librarian action figure. It was published in 2003 by Sasquatc ...

'' and ''More Book Lust,'' has promoted and further popularized the practice of readers' advisory within the library community and beyond. In recent years, a number of

online database An online database is a database accessible from a local network or the Internet, as opposed to one that is stored locally on an individual computer or its attached storage (such as a CD). Online databases are hosted on websites, made available as s ...

s have been developed to assist readers' advisors find "read-alikes," including ''What Do I Read Next?'' (Gale Thomson), ''NoveList'' (

EBSCO EBSCO Industries is an American company founded in 1944 by Elton Bryson Stephens Sr. and headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. The ''EBSCO'' acronym is based on ''Elton Bryson Stephens Company''. EBSCO Industries is a diverse company of over 40 ...

), ''The Reader's Advisor Online'' (

Greenwood Publishing Group Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG), also known as ABC-Clio/Greenwood (stylized ABC-CLIO/Greenwood), is an educational and academic publisher ( middle school through university level) which is today part of ABC-Clio. Established in 1967 as ...

), ''Fiction Connection'' (Bowker), and ''Booklist Online'' (

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

History

References

Further reading