ASK!

ASK! about Fiction

This question was received as a comment on our Horror genre guide post:

Little Hysterical Girl asked:
Er.. if a book is horrible.. can i call it a horror book? what’s the difference between thriller and horror? and if the book is about scary people – like the japanese during the world war – (my history text!) is it also under horror? and what sub-category will it be under? gracios!

[ASK! editor]:
Dear LHG,
Both horror and thriller are genres (or classifications) usually used for Fiction titles. In Horror fiction, the aim is the incite feelings of fear and/or revulsion and there is usually some element of the supernatural. In Thrillers, the aim is to excite the reader with suspense and action (usually dangerous action, eg crime, espionage), usually with a climatic ending. If you are referring to a horrible (as in badly written or boring etc) book, those can occur in any genre or subject!

For your history text, it’ll probably be in the General 900s section, which is the section for History and Geography. This is because the material in your history text is not fictional (or “made up”). For example the book, The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang (Call No.: 951.042 CHA), which describes the atrocities committed by the Japanese army when they invaded Nanking, has horrifying bits, but as it is a true account of historical events, it is classified under the 900s. However, this doesn’t mean that everything in Fiction is totally made up and factually inaccurate. Many fiction authors go through great pains to research the subjects or settings of their works.

More information about the Fiction genres, Horror & thriller:

Thriller and horror are two genres by which books can be classified. In order to classify something, a definition must be followed.

According to the Dictionary of Library and Information Science (2004), the definitions of genre, horror, and thriller are as follows:

Genre: ‘type, class, or style of music, film, or art … Today, literary works are classified by form (novel, short story etc.), by theme (adventure, fantasy, horror, mystery, romance, science fiction, western etc) …In modern genre fiction, plot is the driving force’ (309)

Horror: ‘subgenre of gothic fiction in which supernatural events, macabre effects, and obsessive introspection are combined with chilling suspense to produce visceral sensations of fear and revulsion in the reader. Ghosts, hallucinations, monsters, mummies, nightmares witches, werewolves, vampires, demons, and black magic are common themes,’ (340)

Thriller: ‘novel, play, or motion picture that produces feelings of intense excitement in the reader or audience by depicting dangerous action (crime, espionage, etc), usually culminating in a narrow escape in which a high level of suspense is maintained up to the final denouncement.’ (718)

In Fonseca (2002) a guide to horror fiction, books categorised under horror often has monsters in the plot, or they may evoke emotions like fear (3-5).

Hence, we can infer that the difference between thriller and horror is depends on the theme and plot. Monsters are often featured in horror themes. Horror stories also often have gruesome plots and evokes feelings of fear in the reader. Thriller stories evoke feelings of suspense. Examples of thrillers are stories related to crime.

References:
- Reitz, J. M., Dictionary of Library and Information Science, London, Libraries Unlimited, 2004
- Fonseca A. J. and Pulliam J. M., Hooked on Horror: a guide to reading horror fiction (2nd ed), Englewood, Libraries Unlimited, 2002

Answered by Jillian Lim and Ang Mei Jun, Librarians, Public Library Services

If you need further fiction-related information or reading suggestions, drop us an email at ask@library.nlb.gov.sg.

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Kids ASK! about Science & Technology

Yes, anything that is spinning around an object has a tendency to fly away. Yet what keeps the earth from flying away? The answer is something called gravity. Gravity is what makes an object fall. So while the earth is spinning around the sun, the sun’s gravity prevents it from flying away.

Do try this experiment. Tie one end of a string to a small ball or a crumpled piece of paper. Then hold the other end and spin that ball around. In this case the ball represents earth, you hand represents the sun and the string represent’s the sun’s gravity. For the earth to fly away, something wil have to make the earth move around the sun much faster than it is now.

The following books may be interesting to you:

Gravity and the Solar System by Mary Draper
Australia : Nelson Thomson Learning, 2002
Call No.: JP 531 DRA
Click here for item availability.

Gravity: Simple Experiments for young scientists by Larry White
Brookfield, Conn. : Millbrook Press, c1995
Call No.: J 531 WHI
Click here for item availability.

Science experiments: Gravity by John Farndon
New York : Benchmark Books, c2002, [2001]
Call No.: J 531 FAR
Click here for item availability.

Answered by Mr Lim Sieu Pin, Librarian, Children’s Services

Found this question interesting? What do you think? Post your comments.
If you have a different question, please email to ask@nlb.gov.sg instead of sending a comment.

ASK! about Pets & Animals

Insects are attracted to light as they use light to navigate. Scientists “believe that insects that fly at night evolved over millions of years, before humans existed. Before humans existed, there were no artificial lights at night. The only light was the moon, and insects that fly directly towards the moon at night will travel in a straight line. This was therefore a useful behavior for them, helping them navigate in the dark. It is an *instinct*, meaning they don’t think about it, they just do it, because over the millions of years they’ve existed, insects that could navigate at night did better than those that couldn’t. Insects that fly towards an artificial light, however, will crash into it, and often hurt themselves. They can’t avoid it, because it’s an instinct. If we had another few million years to watch the process, eventually insects might stop doing it – but not yet; it’s only been a few hundred years.”

Taken from http://experts.about.com/q/
Entomology-Study-Bugs-665/Insects-Light.htm last accessed 20 Dec 2006

“Light and colour play an important part in the reactions of insects. The reaction to light is called phototropism. It is well known that many insects are attracted to light, the response to which is often greater than life itself. Light of short wavelengths, such as blue and violet, is usually more attractive to insects than other colours. Experiments have shown that all lights of the same colour do not attract insects proportionally. Much depends upon the intensity.

Although moths are attracted to artificial light, they keep away from sunlight. Butterflies on the contrary are attracted to sunlight but are repelled by artificial light. Butterflies are tuned to high intensities of light and moths to low intensities, so that the bright light attracts the butterflies and feeble light attracts the moths.

Insects generally orient themselves with their heads directly toward or directly away from the light source. Scientists observed that the moth is not attracted by the light but is oriented by it and, in constantly adjusting its head to the light, is drawn into it.”

Taken from http://www.science.edu.sg/ssc/detailed.jsp?
artid=1182&type=6&root=4&parent=4&cat=35, last accessed 20 Dec 2006

If your daughter is interested in reading up on more information on insects, here are some books that are available in our libraries.

My First book of Bugs and Spiders by Dee Phillips
Tunbridge Wells : Ticktock Entertainment, 2006
Call No.: JP 595.4 PHI
Click here for item availability.

Everyday insects by Bobbie Kalman & Rebecca Sjonger
New York, NY : Crabtree Pub. Co., 2006
Call No.: J 595.7 KAL
Click here for item availability.

What is an insect? By Lisa Trumbauer
Mankato, Minn. : Yellow Umbrella Books, c2006
Call No.: J 595.7 TRU
Click here for item availability.

Answered by Lim Shang Nee, Librarian, Children’s Services

Found this question interesting? What do you think? Post your comments.
If you have a different question, please email to ask@nlb.gov.sg instead of sending a comment.

THE Librarian: Spot them at your library!

 
You may have noticed some life-sized standees at your library, featuring somewhat oddly dressed characters. Well, the folks posing in those standees are actually… Librarians! Yes, they are the people who serve you at the reference and advisory desks at the Regional Libraries, answer your queries to the ASK! service and are also spotted at various Community Libraries. Because librarians are people too, here they’ll share something about themselves and the work they do.

Name: Zulkifli Amin
Also known as: The Matrix Guy
Common habitat: Jurong Regional Library
Can also be found at: Woodlands Regional Library

Read on to find out more about Zulkifli!

Read more »

THE Librarian: Spot them at your library!

 
You may have noticed some life-sized standees at your library, featuring somewhat oddly dressed characters. Well, the folks posing in those standees are actually… Librarians! Yes, they are the people who serve you at the reference and advisory desks at the Regional Libraries, answer your queries to the ASK! service and are also spotted at various Community Libraries. Because librarians are people too, here they’ll share something about themselves and the work they do.

Name: Jillian Lim
Also known as: The Traveller
Common habitat: library@orchard
Can also be found at: Jurong Regional Library and online at HighBrowse & ASK!

Read on to find out more about Jillian!

Read more »

THE Librarian: Spot them at your library!

You may have noticed some life-sized standees at your library, featuring somewhat oddly dressed characters. Well, the folks posing in those standees are actually… Librarians! Yes, they are the people who serve you at the reference and advisory desks at the Regional Libraries, answer your queries to the ASK! service and are also spotted at various Community Libraries. Because librarians are people too, here they’ll share something about themselves and the work they do.

Name: Krist Chan Kai Leng
Also known as: The Hunter
Common habitat: Tampines Regional Library
Can also be found at: Queenstown Community Library

Read on to find out more about Krist!

Read more »

THE Librarian: Spot them at your library!

 
You may have noticed some life-sized standees at your library, featuring somewhat oddly dressed characters. Well, the folks posing in those standees are actually… Librarians! Yes, they are the people who serve you at the reference and advisory desks at the Regional Libraries, answer your queries to the ASK! service and are also spotted at various Community Libraries. Because librarians are people too, here they’ll share something about themselves and the work they do.

Name: Hafsah Yasin
Also known as: The Librarian
Common habitat: Tampines Regional Library
Can also be found at: Jurong Regional Library

Read on to find out more about Hafsah!

Read more »

ASK! about Anything & Everything

The long awaited Singapore Garden Festival (SGF) is here! SGF showcases top award-winning landscape and garden designers, florists and horticulturists around the world. You may then wonder aloud, “What has your Library to do with the SGF?”

We definitely do not have a physical garden landscape to showcase but we have a variety of resources on plants and garden in the public libraries for amateurs and professionals alike. You will find them helpful in the process of cultivating that love for green and nature.

We love to share with you what we have, therefore we will bring the library to you. Come and visit our booths (95 to 97) at Suntec City Convention Centre, Level 4, between 16 Dec to 25 December 2006. As for more information and details regarding the Singapore Gardern Festival, please refer to the SGF website.

Allow me to bring you through a journey to get a glimpse of the library’s Home & Garden collection.

To begin, let’s discover the types of plants that are easy to grow. Reference to ‘Living with plants’, the following plants both small and large ones are easy to grow in Singapore and almost indestructible: Aglaonemas, Dracaenas, Marantas, Sansevierias, Scindapsus, Peperomias, Cordyline, Terminalis, Monstera Deliciosa, Philodendrons, Asparagus, Asplenium Nidus, Ficus Pumila.

Living with plants: a gardening guide for Singapore and Malaysia by Amy and John Ede.
Singapore: MPH Publications, 1980.
Call No.: SING English 635.9095957 EDE
Click here for item availability.

How about trying to grow plants in the kitchen? A reader asked us “Is kitchen suitable for growing indoor plants?” and we found:

A Guide to skyrise gardening by Parks & Recreation Department, Ministry of National Development; designed by the Singapore Science Centre.
Singapore: The Centre, 1994.
Call no.: SING English 635.965 GUI
Click here for item availability.

Skyrise gardening in highrise homes Singapore : National Parks Board, c1998.
Call no.: SING English 635.9671 SKY
Click here for item availability.

The kitchen,usually equipped with windows or skylights, is suitable for indoor plants. Care must be taken not to place them too near cookers because of the heat. Certain plants like ferns and some begonias are more sensitive to smoke and oily fumes. However, they should be brought out more frequently and cleaned.

There are also books and websites on plant pests, plant diseases and propagation techniques.

Continue with Tropical Plants, Terrarium Plants and Aquarium Plants and next… …

Read more »

ASK! about Anything & Everything

“Plant diseases are caused by living organisms (called pathogens) such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, phytoplasmas, protozoa, and parasitic plants; and by nonliving agents such as air pollutants, nutrient imbalances, and various environmental factors. Though the attacking organisms themselves (pathogens) are different, at the microbial level, they cause the same mischief as weakening or killing the plant. Whether the attack is on the leaves, stem or roots, the damage makes the plant more susceptible to further invasion of other microorganisms. Many disease-like symptoms are not caused by infectious organisms such as fungi or bacteria, but are the result of physical or nutritional disorders and damage. Pests and diseases on the plants often thrive in the very conditions that are putting their hosts under stress. Plants under stress show many symptoms, and it is not always easy to diagnose the cause of a problem from visible symptoms alone. Discoloration, defoliation or abnormal growth may be the result of nutritional imbalances, fungal diseases, pollution or physical damage.”

Some common plant diseases:
Apple or Fungal Canker , Bacterial Canker , Blackleg on Cuttings , Blackleg on Potato , Blackspot of Roses , Chocolate Spot , Coral Spot , Club Root , Cucumber Mosaic , Damping Off , Fireblight , Fusarium Patch , Grey Mould , Honey Fungus , Mildew, Downy , Mildew, Powdery , Parsnip Canker , Phytophthora Root Rot , Potato Blight , Potato Brown Rot , Potato Ring Rot , Potato Scab , Red Thread , Rhododendron Bud Blast , Rust , Slime Mould , Soft Rot , Sooty Mould , Sudden Oak Death , Thuja Blight

The above are extracted from the following websites. Please visit the sites for more information:

Pests, Diseases and Disorders of Tropical Plants:
http://www.ri-research.com/tropplan/
plantcare/pestsdisease/pestsdiesase.htm

Pictures of plants affected by diseases, and a listing of plant diseases: http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/
diseasepics.htm

The American Phytopathological Society: Common Names of Plant Diseases: http://www.apsnet.org/online/common/

Ohio State University Extension Factsheet: Plant Disease Series Index:

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/3000/index.html

All websites are accessed on 29 November 2006.

Click here for related books on common plant diseases.

Found this question interesting? What do you think? Post your comments.
If you have a different question, please email to ask@nlb.gov.sg instead of sending a comment.

ASK! about Anything & Everything

Common plant pests:
“Snails and Slugs, Sowbugs and Pillbugs (Isopods), Millipedes, Spider Mites, Earwigs, Plant Bugs, Aphids, Whiteflies, Japanese Beetle, and Cutworms and Caterpillars.
Each plant has a number of pests that may attack the flowers, foliage, stems or roots. Some of these pests will only attack a certain kind of plant. Other pests are generalists and can feed on a variety of plants. This fact sheet will attempt to help you identify the common “generalists” and suggest methods of keeping them under control.”

The above are extracted from:
Ohio State University Extension Factsheet: Common Insects and Associated Pests: Attacking Bedding Plants and Perennials – http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2151.html, last accessed 29 November 2006.
Visit the site for detailed description of each plant pest (images included).

Other website:
Pests, Diseases and Disorders of Tropical Plants
http://www.ri-research.com/tropplan/plantcare/
pestsdisease/pestsdiesase.htm,
last accessed 29 November 2006

Related books:

Pests, diseases & disorders of garden plants by Stefan Buczacki & Keith Harris.
London: Collins, 2005.
Call No.: English 635.049 BUC
Click here for item availability.

Ortho home gardener’s problem solver.Des Moines, Iowa: Meredith Corp., c2004.
Call No.: English 635.0499 ORT
Click here for item availability.

What’s wrong with my plant?: expert information at your fingertips: pests, diseases, common problems by Steven Bradley.
London: Hamlyn ; New York: Distributed in the United States and Canada by Sterling Pub. Co., 2003.
Call No.: English 635.049 BRA
Click here for item availability.

Plant problems by Stefan Buczacki.
Newton Abbot : David & Charles, 2000.
Call No.: English 635.9 BUC-[HOM]
Click here for item availability.

Click to read Common Plant Diseases.

Found this question interesting? What do you think? Post your comments.
If you have a different question, please email to ask@nlb.gov.sg instead of sending a comment.