Did you ever wonder how we at NoveList decide on the metadata terms that help you find a book that your readers will love? Well, you’re in luck! We’re taking you behind the scenes to show you how we make those decisions. Spoiler alert: It’s a mix of creativity, research, and a lot of teamwork.
The Heart of Our Recommendations
At NoveList, we pride ourselves on delivering top-notch reading recommendations. Our secret sauce? Metadata! We use thousands of tags to describe books, covering everything from subjects and genres to themes and appeal factors. Think of our metadata as a lush, ever-growing garden that needs constant care (kind of like Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors, but without the appetite for humans).
Where Do Our Ideas Come From?
Our metadata terms come from three main sources:
- Our Staff: Our Book Discovery team, made up of 19 dedicated individuals, is always on the lookout for new trends in media and reader interests. This is how we come up with popular headings like Grumpy-Sunshine.
- Library of Congress (LC): The LC is the granddaddy of subject headings. They cover just about everything you can think of. While we don’t use all their terms (when was the last time you needed “Meraxes”?), they do provide useful ones like Allyship and East Asian diaspora.
- You!: Customer suggestions are crucial in helping us highlight what’s important and steer us in the right direction.
The Review Process
Once we have an idea for a new term, it goes to our subject-heading review team. This team evaluates the suggestion based on:
- Need: Does this term cover something we don’t already have? For example, 24-hour stories or Intergenerational trauma are unique concepts that need specific terms.
- Timeliness: Is this a new trend, or is the language outdated? For instance, Grumpy-Sunshine is trendy, while some older terms might need updating.
- Viability: Will this term grow in use over time? Terms like Chatbots and ChatGPT are becoming more relevant, while others might not catch on.
Defining the Terms
After deciding on a new term, we create a clear definition. This is the tricky part, especially with closely related terms. For example, what’s the difference between Creepy, Menacing, and Scary? We use title examples to clarify when to use each term.
Final Touches
The definition is then shared with the entire Book Discovery department for feedback. After any necessary tweaks, we start applying the term to the appropriate books.
Cathleen Keyser is Senior Data Strategist for NoveList. She is reading Strange Pictures by Uketsu and Man Made Monsters by Andrea L. Rogers. She is listening to The Watkins Book of Urban Legends by Gail De Vos and Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering by Malcolm Gladwell.
