My research has definitely taken a turn, and I'm finding myself re-evaluating my methods/sources for data collection. The more I investigate young adult bestsellers, the more I'm realizing how complicated the notion of a "bestseller" actually is. I had initially intended to make simple lists from the New York Times and Publishers Weekly to determine which titles showed up the most frequently. However, as I did my research, I learned that these two sources may not be adequate. While the Times compiles all its lists weekly, Publishers Weekly only compiles its Children's Fiction list monthly (ironic, no?), so I'm trying to figure out if I should do something to weigh the results differently in my tallies of how many times each title appears.
Another snag I've encountered is the way the bestsellers are established--while both sources are fairly secretive about their specific methods for creating a list, it seems that their results may be fairly biased/inaccurate. The New York Times drops "evergreens"--titles that have been (somewhat arbitrarily) determined to be perennial sellers--and only receives sales data from certain unnamed booksellers. Publishers Weekly gets sales information from the largest merchants (Borders, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc) as well as independent bestsellers, but does not offer much information beyond that. I am considering using some alternate sources, if possible; Nielsen BookScan provides point-of-sale information from a wide range of sources, and online booksellers such as Amazon.com also have bestseller lists. I plan to assess all these sources this weekend to determine my final selections for bestseller compilation.
I'm also having a surprising amount of difficulty obtaining circulation records in my library. I've been in constant contact with the librarian in charge of circulation, and we're both amazed by how impossible it seems to get this information. The problem stems from the fact that our library maintains records per copy rather than per title, which would skew any reports that merely requested highest-circ items. We've contacted client support on our cataloging system and are waiting for a response, but I think I might alter my search and base the library's "bestsellers" on the titles with the highest number of holds.
So, after all these obstacles, I'm clearly a bit behind on my schedule. As I intend to read and analyze several of the top titles from these lists, I'm anxious to figure out exactly what sources I'll use so I can get the novels finished in time. Hopefully I will be able to begin reading the bestsellers at the beginning of next week. If all else fails, I may just select a representative sample of books that just appear on several lists, instead of using a more quantitative approach. Beyond this aspect of my research, however, things are going well. I am interviewing my teens, which has turned out to be a lot of fun, as well as being informative and surprising. Next week I will continue interviews and hopefully get this bestseller business all straightened out.
Tara Smith
Comments (4)
Good work pushing through all the difficulties, and even better work trying so hard to establish terms and criteria. When I first started using "learning palaforms and intrnet classes" I realized I had left out a needed bit of description and qualification, but you seem to be aware of and on top of it. I think your project looks like it is set to go froward quickly in the near future, as you have come up with some very good alternatives and solutions for your problems. I would be interested in a few more details regarding the interviews, however, as well as some of hte surprising information that tey have uncovered.-john
Posted by john harrington | March 21, 2009 8:19 AM
Posted on March 21, 2009 08:19
Wow, Tara, I feel like I have already learned a lot about your topic just from your data story. It is very interesting that the bestsellers lists you're focusing on have different publications. It seems like you have suffered some setbacks, but you're also able to think out of the box and come up with plausible solutions. I was very surprised to hear of the difficulty you're having in collecting circulation information; with all the technology used in libraries, you'd think they could have that problem worked out by now! Good luck in continuing to pursue your research.
Posted by Amy Galloway | March 22, 2009 4:35 PM
Posted on March 22, 2009 16:35
I agree with Amy and will take it step further to say that the problem should be fixed soon. How could it not? If we can run gas pumps by satellite we can figure out how to tally results on checked out titles, right? Good going for being on top of unexpected problems and coming up with alternatives under pressure.
Posted by Sherry Fender | March 22, 2009 9:26 PM
Posted on March 22, 2009 21:26
Tara,
It seems as if you have some good strategies to get a handle on "bestseller."
One thing you can also do is let the teens define popular books for you -- it would obviously be a very narrow and precise "definition" of popular fiction, but it would emerge from the data. Just an idea....
Posted by Alecia Jackson | March 24, 2009 9:24 PM
Posted on March 24, 2009 21:24