What is the difference between fiction & literature?
When you look in the OPAC at the information for the item you’ve selected, you may see in blue highlight, subject headings with the words “Fiction,” Juvenile fiction,” or “Juvenile literature.” Librarians use the term “fiction” to alert the user that the item is a work of fiction. Because most cataloging is focused on items for adults, the term “Juvenile fiction” is used to denote fiction works for children’s and young adult items. When an item is being cataloged in a school library, the librarian uses the term “Fiction” instead of “Juvenile fiction” to make the work more appealing to the students (older students may not want to read a book for “juveniles.”). In the ERC, you will see both headings applied to our collection. The term “Juvenile literature” is used to show the item is a non-fiction children’s book. In the ERC we try to not use that phrase but it does pop up now and then.
