The Indispensability of the English Major

| By Gale Staff | A recent article published in The New Yorker remarks on the startling decline of humanities majors. Aspiring book lovers, philosophers, and writers are instead enrolling in coursework for business or computer science. In the past decade, Ohio State’s number of humanities graduates declined by nearly half. Most major universities, whether … Read more

A Rare Glance into History

| By Gale Staff | Banner Image: Martingale, Hawser. Tales of the Ocean, and Essays for the Forecastle: Containing Matters and Incidents Humorous, Pathetic, Romantic and Sentimental: By Hawser Martingale; Illustrated with Numerous Engravings . . . . Boston: S. N. Dickinson, 1841. American Fiction, 1774-1920. Harvard University’s Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library has 57 … Read more

How My University’s Library Helped My Mental Health

| By Tara Blair, Graduate Student, Eastern Michigan University | For many, the month of May evokes images of flowers, end-of-year celebrations at school, Mother’s Day cards, and other excessively cheerful concepts. I guess it’s a little ironic that May was also chosen for National Mental Health Awareness Month, an observation that has the potential … Read more

Greater Accessibility for Gale Literature Databases

| By Gale Staff | We are pleased to announce that additional accessibility features are now available within Gale Literature: Dictionary of Literary Biography, Gale Literature: Something About the Author, and Gale Literature Criticism. In February, plain text optical character recognition (OCR) at the page level was introduced to Dictionary of Literary Biography and Something … Read more

Meet the Needs of Your Multilingual Student Body

| By Gale Staff | The traditional college student body is becoming ever more diverse—with individuals from all different backgrounds—and this diversity on campus is incredibly valuable for schools. Having a heterogeneous population challenges stereotypes, encourages empathy, and inspires critical thinking. As a result, graduates are better prepared to communicate across differences in the real … Read more

Product Update: British Literary Manuscripts

| By Gale Staff | In April 2023, we will be launching a new platform that can be used to access British Literary Manuscripts. The platform will be available in addition to the current platform for several more months, until there’s a hard cutover this June, after which only the new platform will be available. … Read more

Understanding the Cold War in East German Life through Primary Sources

| By Rey Yuan, Gale Ambassador at Rice University | What comes to your mind when you hear “The Cold War”? The nuclear missile crisis, the “Red Scare,” or perhaps the Iron Curtain speech? As a history major, I have long been intrigued by the incredible complexities of Cold War historiography. In particular, I have … Read more

Five Ways Your Institution’s Library Can Support Mental Health

| By Gale Staff | Mental health concerns spiked throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and college campuses are particularly affected by this alarming trend. In fact, one study found that during the 20-21 academic year, nearly two-thirds of all university students suffered from at least one mental health concern. University staff can help by taking proactive … Read more

Gale Resource Increases African American Genealogy Content

| By Tara Atterberry | With the increased availability of electronically accessible genealogy content, researching family history has become a commonplace hobby for millions of Americans. For persons of African descent, however, inequities are often found in the existence and accessibility of genealogy and historical documents. “The legacy of slavery, prejudice and institutional racism means … Read more