How do I find and select the non-fiction titles I post here and elsewhere?
My methodology:
- I scrape my brain for anything I can think of. There are certain authors who are pioneers of non-fiction graphic novels. These are the low-hanging fruit. There are also series, sets, and award-winning graphic novel titles.
- Since I started this in 2007, libraries have gotten much better at selecting and cataloging titles. Granted, some libraries take shortcuts, but the Library of Congress and book publishers have greatly improved the data they share with libraries.
My local library is now my first stop on searching for titles. I can filter both on graphic novels and non-fiction titles. - Using OCLC’s First Search database, I use the following in the advanced search field:
- kw: comic or ((kw: Graphic and kw: novel)) and dd: 631* and dt= “bks”
[“631” being whichever Dewey section I am searching.] - [“comic” is problematic when searching languages and literature. Search terms are modified for the 400s and 800s.]
- If using the general-access WorldCat from OCLC, use:
kw: comic or ((kw: Graphic and kw: novel)) and dd: 631*
- kw: comic or ((kw: Graphic and kw: novel)) and dd: 631* and dt= “bks”
- From the list of possible titles, I will click the title and verify the comics format, usually via Amazon’s sample pages.
- If a graphic novel, I will then search for a library which has cataloged it with the Dewey number. If the OCLC record shows it as being cataloged by a national library, I take it as gospel, as many libraries would replicate the cataloging.
- If not, I then access the listing of libraries which own a copy of the title, and search each for an example of the title cataloged under the Dewey number. Sometimes, the title will be under a different Dewey number, and I might use that title to fill another section.
- Some Dewey sections have never been used, some have been deprecated, and others have been activated over the years. (For example: digital photography.) If I find a valid title, I added it. Otherwise, those sections are noted in my searching totals, and on the spreadsheets. There are 74 sections which are inactive, and without a title. This may change.
- An alternate method: find a library catalog which allows for robust searching, and scan the ordered results for possible suggestions. Then work backwards, finding the title data on First Search. [See Step 2. My local library will list both the suggested call number from the Library of Congress, and the library's preferred call number.
