library electronic resources

Using the library catalogue and clicking on resources students are able to access a comprehensive database called EPIC (see below).

EPIC [electronic purchasing in collaboration] is a venture between the NZ libraries and the ministry of education to purchase access to NZ and international databases : EBSCO, Gale cengage, Oxford online, Pro-Quest and Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Students should use this resource to help find researched base information; they are able to access up-to-date full text articles covering a huge range of subjects. Thousands of international magazines, newspapers and biographies can also be searched on this site.
Another excellent area within EPIC is BOOKS & AUTHORS. Through this you can search and brouse by genre, author, age group, period or theme. This section covers adult and children's fiction, and some non-fiction books. To access EPIC click here.

When prompted for a password please use your library card number.

Graphic Novels

Welcome to October,

Today I will talk about our Graphic Novel collection.

We have all sorts of graphic books. Asterix and Tintin (I devoured Tintin as a kid, I read and reread them over and over), collections of newspaper strips (I include Garfield and Footrot Flats here as they were originally published daily in newspapers), DC and Marvel titles (Batman, Superman and Spiderman) and serious novels in graphic form.

If you are old enough you may remember Commando and Battle Library Weekly. These are war stories in comic form. They are now being reprinted in book form. Ah the memories.

A title I will mention as an example of a graphic novel which isn't just a novel in comic form but a serious piece of writing which has depth and entertainment is

Whatever happened to the World of Tomorrow? by Brian Fies

Two very important writers of this form are Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman.

Alan Moore has written superhero stories for DC but is best known for The Watchmen.

Neil Gaiman is a prolific writer. He has written picture books, childrens novels, adult novels and novels aimed at young adults (teens?) He usually includes magic and mythical beings or alternate worlds and there is a dark twist somewhere. He is probably best known for The Sandman series.

Coraline has recently been released as a movie and more people are now aware of his work.

View 30 Essential Graphic Novels here.

Enjoy

Nick