----- Original Message -----
From: Chris Webster <[log in to unmask]>
To: 'earl-contacts' <[log in to unmask]>; 'earl-lis'
<[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 19 May 2000 10:23
Subject: [earl-contacts] Book Forager goes live
> Hello all
>
> Book Forager is being launched today at 11am. For those of you who
> don't know what it is, here is a bit of background...
>
> Book Forager is:
> * A completely new way of choosing what to read
> * Powerful technology ahead of what's available through online
> bookshops
> * Developed for free access through public libraries
>
> Try it out at www.branching-out.net/forager/
>
> Further information:
>
> Rachel Van Riel
> tel: 01977 602188
> email: [log in to unmask]
>
> Shakera Mohammed
> tel: 020 7723 0821
> email: [log in to unmask]
>
> Foraging for a good read
>
> It is August 2000; the UK is enjoying the driest, sunniest summer this
> century. You are in the library trying to find a book which is
> unorthodox, very realistic but also quite funny, set in Spain. You go
> over to the public access terminal and input details of the kind of
> read you need to match your mood, and the computer comes up with ten
> suggestions for you to try.
>
> None of the above is fantasy except, of course, the bit about the
> weather! Book Forager has been developed as part of the Society of
> Chief Librarians' Branching Out project and is freely available on the
> Web for everybody to use from May 2000. Book Forager has been
> developed by Applied Psychology Research and it is a wonderful synergy
> between the disciplines of reader development, psychology and
> computing. Books and computers are sometimes seen as antagonists.
> Branching Out is committed to demonstrating that they can work
> together.
>
> Helping people choose something different
>
> People choose what they know. They will tend to find writers/genres
> they like and stick with them, reading the same kind of books over and
> over again. By helping readers analyse exactly what it is they are
> looking for in a read, Book Forager cuts across the genre categories
> that many readers box themselves into. Instead of asking for a crime
> novel, a reader can say, 'I want a book which is unpredictable, very
> romantic and a little sad.' The range of titles Book Forager suggests
> might include science fiction, a translation and a collection of poems.
>
> Readers might not have a specific need in mind when they first come to
> Book Forager, they can play around, stretching boundaries, until they
> get a combination/title which interests them.
>
> Aside from helping individuals choose, Book Forager is about developing
> the audience for new, unknown writers. Branching Out is committed to
> buying and promoting recent fiction and poetry from categories
> identified as underbought by public libraries and of particular appeal
> to the 18-30s. Forager could be applied to any books and may
> eventually include bestsellers as well, but within Branching Out it has
> a particular purpose to take people to books they might not otherwise
> find.
>
> What you'll see on the screen
>
> Book Forager offers the reader up to 20 million different variables to
> define the read they are looking for. The following are some of the
> options available:
>
> Sliders - allow you to choose how much or how little of something you
> want in your read, for example, gentle-violent,
> conventional-unorthodox, no sex-sex. There are twelve sliders and they
> are not absolute choices, 'want/don't want.' You can use the slider to
> decide how much of each ingredient you want in your final choice.
>
> Plot - you can decide which plot shape you would prefer from a list of
> seven, including 'success against the odds', 'lots of twists and
> turns', and 'revelation.'
>
> Character - you can choose the gender, age group, race and sexual
> orientation of the lead character in the book.
>
> Country of setting - for armchair travellers wanting to visit specific
> locations.
>
> Results - Book Forager will display a list of books starting with a
> best match for your requirements, and moving onto good matches, and a
> few which match some of the qualities. It will give details of title,
> author, ISBN and date published and also include a short comment by a
> previous reader, some suggestions of other books with a similar feel
> and a short extract from each book chosen.
>
> There are plans to make the site interactive so that readers will be
> able to input their own comments about the books featured.
>
> Background Information
>
> 1 Forager has been developed by Applied Psychology Research Ltd, an
> innovative software company who combine skills in psychology and
> software engineering. APR's client list includes BT, Lastminute.com
> and Blockbuster Video. For further information about Applied
> Pyschology Research Ltd contact Shakera Mohammed, tel: 020 7723 0821
> email: [log in to unmask]
>
> 2 The Book Forager has been developed as part of Branching Out, an
> initiative from the Society of Chief Librarians, supported by the
> National Lottery through the Arts Council of England, in partnership
> with BfS and the University of Central England. Branching Out is a
> project managed by Opening the Book Ltd.
>
> 3 Opening the Book Ltd is a creative training and consultancy company
> providing services for readers and the reading industry. For further
> information please contact Rachel Van Riel, tel: 01977 602188 email:
> [log in to unmask]
>
> * Forager is the copyright of Applied Psychology Research Limited.
>
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