Social Bookmarking Group Project Part 4: How-To

How
to Use the Reader’s Advisory Furl Account

We decided to post a simple set of
guidelines to our staff wiki, explaining how the site works and some best
practices for posting reviews. Here is what the guidelines will look like:

… How
to Use the Reader’s Advisory Furl Account

The Reader’s Advisory Furl Account allows
you to bookmark the URL for books in the online catalogue and then categorize
them according to genre (called “topics”) and tag them with key words related
to appeal elements and anything else you think is important.

All reader’s advisory librarians share the
same account, so you will be able to view all of the books that others have
reviewed as well. If you are fielding a reader’s advisory request, you can
easily search for any characteristics the user describes by entering related
keywords in the search box. See below for step-by-step instructions on how to
enter a book review and how to search the account.

How
to Enter a Review (directly from the account)

1. Find
the book you would like to review in the online catalogue.

a. Copy
the URL

2. In
a separate browser go to the furl account: www.furl.net

a. Click
on “Log in”

b. username:
team_tagging

c. password:
ilovefims

3. Click
on “Save”

4. In
the browser box that pops up enter in the relevant information

a. URL:
enter the URL of the book in the online catalogue

b. Title:
enter the title of the book

c. Topics:
enter one or more of the topics given (the genre)

d. Give
a rating

e. Comments:
enter a short plot summary

f. Clipping:
enter the book citation

g. Keywords:
enter words or phrases that are related to the book (more about keywords below)

h. Click
on “Save” and you’re finished!

5. You
can add more information by clicking on the “edit” link associated with the URL

a. Referred
by: enter your name

b. Publication
date: enter the date the work was published

c. Click
on “Save”

Note:
You could also add a “Furl it” button to your browser, by following the simple
instructions on the Furl site. This way if you see something you want to review
in Novelist or the catalogue you can simply hit “Furl it,” and be taken to the
Furl site to enter a new review. To add the button go to www.furl.net> Sign
in>Tools>Install Furl Tools.

A Note on Keywords

The keywords are used to help you find
books for your patrons, so keep that in mind when you are using them. At the
very least you should enter keywords related to pacing, characterization, story
line, and frame.

How to Search the Account for Books

1. Go
to the furl account: www.furl.net

a. Click
on “Log in”

b. Username:
team_tagging

c. Password:
ilovefims

2. Enter
the keywords in the search box

a. For
tips on how to search see here: http://www.furl.net/doc/faq#syntax

That should cover just
about everything, but feel free to send along any additional questions
to Amy Thorne, Pauline Dewan, Grant O’Grady or Andrea Cameron. Thanks
for checking out our project.