Academic

In Other News: the Oscar Pistorius Trial

By Michelle Eickmeyer

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

March 21, 2014 – The Oscar Pistorius Trial

Whether you knew him as the first athlete to compete in the Olympics with prosthesis (it’s impossible to call him disabled) or for his current trial for the shooting death of his former girlfriend, Oscar Pistorius has spent much time in the international spotlight. The highest of high and lowest of lows. At just 27 he has accomplished much, and as his trial moves forward it remains to be seen what the future holds for him.

Here are five titles which look at the Oscar Pistorius trial from different perspectives:

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Rats Fleeing the Sinking Ship! Saving the Daily Mail Atlantic Edition for Prosperity

By Seth Cayley

The Atlantic Edition

In 2013, Cengage Learning released the Daily Mail Historical Archive 1896-2004, the complete archive of what the New Yorker has described as “the newspaper that rules Britain”. During our research into the project, we discovered a long-forgotten treasure of the newspaper’s history. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Daily Mail published an “Atlantic Edition”; a completely separate version of the newspaper for sale on the transatlantic liners that sailed between New York and Southampton.

Read moreRats Fleeing the Sinking Ship! Saving the Daily Mail Atlantic Edition for Prosperity

In Other News: Malaysian Airlines Diaster

By Michelle Eickmeyer

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

March 14, 2014 – The disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370

It’s the worst nightmare of any traveler, their family and most regular people. An airplane takes off at 12:41 am from Kuala Lumpur headed to Beijing with 239 people on board. Just two hours later… it’s vanished. The speculation began almost immediately: How had people boarded the plane with stolen passports? Was there a bomb? Could they have turned around? How long after the last radar ping was the plane still flying? Why is the ‘black box’ orange? In 2014, how do you lose a plane? With nearly a week passing, we know little more than we did the first day. The world continues to hope for the best, fear the worst, and wait for word.

Here are five titles which look at the the disappearance from different perspectives:

Read moreIn Other News: Malaysian Airlines Diaster

Finding a Needle in a Data Stack: It’s All about the Metadata

by Ray Bankoski

Thanks to the digital age, we have access to information like never before. Although a single online database may host millions of digital images, users can easily and quickly find the exact piece they need by inputting a simple search term. Well, this process may seem simple to the user, but an incredible amount of work goes into creating the ease of access so many take for granted. This seemingly magical solution is metadata, and it is the key to the world-renown Gale Digital Collections product line produced by Gale, part of Cengage Learning.

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In Other News: Ukraine

By Michelle Eickmeyer

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

March 7, 2014 – The Ukraine

For several weeks, the Ukraine and the Crimean region have been in the news. What started as a celebration of the region with the Winter Olympics has become a near hourly reporting of increased tensions, dividing lines and fear on all sides of the conversation.

Here are five titles which look at the Ukraine from different perspectives:

Read moreIn Other News: Ukraine

Behind the Scenes of Smithsonian Collections Online

By Jennifer Albers-Smith

We couldn’t be more excited about the products we’re launching through our partnership with Smithsonian.

When I first heard that we were going to partner with Smithsonian, I was ecstatic. Who wouldn’t be excited about getting to work with the largest museum and research complex in the world?

Everyone thinks of their childhood visit to the Museum of American History or the Air and Space Museum when they think of Smithsonian, but it’s really so much more.

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Academic Libraries Win Big!

By Michelle Eickmeyer

Monday, we held an employee townhall and invited customers to join. You can read more about it here, watch a recording here (it’s only 15 minutes), and read the press release here.

Let’s take a look at the 3 main points and what they mean to Academic libraries.

  1. Gale adds STEM titles from Springer and Elsevier to GVRL
  2. eBook titles are now available in discipline-specific colllections.
  3. We are expanding beyond reference

    Read moreAcademic Libraries Win Big!

The Three C’s of Digital Imaging

By Ray Bankoski

At Gale, part of Cengage Learning, we preserve history through the digitization of millions of pages each year. Using our extensive experience, we’ve developed what we like to call the three C’s of digital imaging, a guide to the industry’s best practices.

Capture

To take primary sources from their original paper format into easily accessible digital files, we employ two types of scanners. The number of each is carefully determined based on the type of material included in project.

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The Search Shouldn’t End with Twelve Years a Slave

By Robert Lisiecki

As February comes to an end and March nears, the Academy Awards loom on the horizon. It is appropriate, then, that we discuss Twelve Years a Slave. Not only is this movie nominated for numerous Oscars—including “Best Picture”—but the story is an important piece of our overall history.

Confession: I haven’t seen the movie.  I’m not much of a moviegoer, but I do intend to see it soon since I heard it was well done.   I did read the book, and if the movie is anywhere near as gut-wrenching and eye-opening, then I have no doubt it should take home many awards.

Read moreThe Search Shouldn’t End with Twelve Years a Slave

Downton Abbey: The Clothes, oh, the Clothes!

By Jennifer Albers-Smith

If you haven’t gotten on the Downton train, now’s the time. Exciting things are happening on the show, and I can hardly wait until Sunday night when I get to see another episode. I refuse to spoil it (although I’m tempted) by buying the DVDs of Season 4 off Amazon and watching it in all in a single, glorious weekend. I love the story line, I love the characters–and man, oh, man–do I LOVE the costumes! Beautiful, beautiful clothes. Mary, Cora, Edith, Rose – all are dressed in these amazing silk dresses that I want to grab from the t.v. and wear in my everyday life.

It’s 1922. T.V. didn’t exist. How did women learn about the latest fashion?

Here’s an ad from the Daily Mail, taken from Gale NewsVault.  This one screams Rose to me, although Edith in Season 4 could also carry this off. She’s much more daring.

Read moreDownton Abbey: The Clothes, oh, the Clothes!