Cuba: Learning from the Past

By Bethany Dotson

Last week, President Obama and President Raúl Castro of Cuba announced moves to normalize diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba following more than a year of secret talks in Canada and at the Vatican (Read more here, here, and here). The 54-year-old embargo on trade and diplomatic relations stems back to Cold War hostilities.

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In Other News: The Top Searched Terms of 2014

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

By Michelle Eickmeyer

Well, it’s that time of year again! Ugly sweaters, potentially awkward work/social events (not mine – mine was hilarious) and year end lists! So let’s take a break from the news and take a look at ourselves — and what “you” have been up to this year. We’re going to take a look at the top search terms within GVRL!

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Social Change and Civil Rights in Modern America

If you live in a major city like Los Angeles, New York, or as I do in Detroit, you are witness to outcries and protests in response to the recent grand jury decisions in Missouri and New York. Disturbing images of angry protesters facing off with police officers, too often along racial lines, affect us all in different but profound ways. Young people, now so connected to the world, are inundated with news stories, videos, and commentary – often politically biased – on social media and the web. The events cry out to be put in historical context, and our job as adults is do so, and thus help younger generations better understand our seemingly chaotic times.

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New Parenthetical Citation Tool Now Available in GVRL

At Gale we are always working to improve our products and make them more useful for our customers. Along those lines, we’re happy to announce the addition of a new Parenthetical Citation tool to GVRL. Designed to work in concert with our popular Highlights & Notes tool, it adds the ability to automatically produce a citation for highlighted text in a GVRL eBook.

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Thanks Librarians

By William G. 

Every story has a beginning and mine began when my mother brought me to 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh PA. There she introduced me to the librarian. Taking me by the hand she said, “So young man, you like books”, followed by some serious questions. “What would you like to be? Who would you like to know? Would you like to visit the past, see into the future, or perhaps fly on the wings of a dragon?

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Libraries Fill a Real Need

By Rebecca B.  I come to the Pinellas county library occasionally to print, use the internet, read kids magazines, and the free social activities. Because I am handicapped, I am able to use the Christian record services lending library to get special tapes for free and a Daytona beach lending library for the tapes and … Read more

I Hate Science Projects! But….

By Mike S. 

There’s no use pretending. I HATE science project questions!!!

My main gripe is that some kids fail to get the idea that a science project is about comparing different processes, methods, variables. The research literature you need has to do with what is already known about those variables, not about your particular combination of variables.

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