Month: September 2014

Partner Interview: Elsevier

Through December 31st, Gale is offering exclusive discounts on Elsevier titles on GVRL. Contact your Gale Sales Representative to take advantage of these great offers:

– Receive 30% off 25-50 titles with promo code 30FELS14.

– Receive 35% off 50-69 titles with promo code 35FELS14.

– Receive 42% off 70 or more titles with promo code 42FELS14.

In this post, Cory Polonetsky, Marketing Director with Elsevier Science and Technology Books, provides some background about Elsevier, their publishing strategy, and why Elsevier titles on GVRL are valuable to your library.

Read morePartner Interview: Elsevier

Shifting Perception: Valued for what we do

Edmonton Public Library, 2014 Library of the Year

By Tina Thomas

Libraries have been at a crossroads of existence since I joined the Edmonton Public Library (EPL) five years ago – likely well before that and probably for many more years to come. In his article[1] outlining that “being essential” is not enough to sustain libraries, Rick Anderson highlights that an important thing libraries must do is provide value and a return on investment.

We know that if you ask 1000 people if they believe libraries are important the vast majority will say yes. But we also know that those same people may not know what the modern library does or even use the library themselves.

The challenge is libraries are often valued as an institution or idea, not for the services they provide. And, to Rick’s point, if the lofty idea of “essential” is all libraries have, we likely will be challenged to find support for the work we do in a sea of essential services.

Read moreShifting Perception: Valued for what we do

Creative Marketing + Customer Care = The Perfect Match for Any Library

By Dale Prentiss

Cathy Jones, a relatively new Instructional Services Librarian at Florida Southern College’s Roux Library, has been creative and ambitious in reaching out to faculty and promoting Gale digital resources on the college’s website—and we’d like to take a moment to celebrate that with the hopes that her experiences can also help you!

Read moreCreative Marketing + Customer Care = The Perfect Match for Any Library

Shifting Perception: Libraries = Education

Frederick Road Howard County Library System

By Valerie J. Gross 

There’s a powerful movement afoot and it’s gaining momentum.

Hailed by Library Journal as “a 21st-century library model, with a position, doctrine, purpose, and curriculum worthy of study and consideration by every other library in America, if not the world,” this effective strategy takes libraries back to their original purpose.

At the turn of the 20th century, libraries were established as educational institutions to deliver equal opportunity in education for everyone. Somehow, a century later, we find ourselves with a diluted purpose—so much so that fully one third of Americans do not know what we do.

Read moreShifting Perception: Libraries = Education

In Other News: Domestic Violence

A look at a current news item through the lens of different titles available on GVRL.

By Michelle Eickmeyer

Isolating. Shaming. Controlling. Blaming. Intimidating. Threatening. Pulling. Pushing. Slapping. Choking. Hitting. Kicking. Raping. Killing. It’s all bad.

Read moreIn Other News: Domestic Violence

Shifting Perception: Why Essentialness is Not the Problem

Chattanooga Public Library

By Corinne Hill

The fact that the topic of “the essentialness of libraries” is trending right now reveals a completely different issue that has nothing to do with the library being essential.

What this trending topic and ensuing discussions reveal about our profession is that we’re totally insecure. We are frantic in our zeal to be everything to everyone, and we’re so busy and distracted with the gathering of evidence to defend our existence that we forget who we are.

Read moreShifting Perception: Why Essentialness is Not the Problem

Highlights and Notes tool coming to Gale’s digital resources

We all know the rules – don’t take notes in your textbooks and don’t write in books you’ve checked out from the library, or else you might face a fine.

As eBooks and digital resources have become more and more popular, a similar problem has presented itself: how can a user easily take notes without opening a separate program? Gale has found the solution with our new Highlights and Notes tool, scheduled to launch on or around Tuesday, September 30, in Artemis Literary Sources, GVRL, In Context*, InfoTrac, Kids InfoBits, Literature Resource Center, LitFinder, and PowerSearch.

Read moreHighlights and Notes tool coming to Gale’s digital resources

New Customer Data Upload Feature for DemographicsNow! Business and People

DemographicsNow Public Library Business Resource

Now, business researchers and  small business owners can be even savvier with more customer knowledge.  A new feature within DemographicsNow! gives your users the ability to upload their customer or business data and blend it with rich consumer information, like demographics, psychographics, and Experian consumer segments!

Read moreNew Customer Data Upload Feature for DemographicsNow! Business and People