During Black History Month, we remember monumental events that have profoundly changed the United States and impacted the lives of many Americans. One key event in American history is the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954. In this Supreme Court case, public schools were ordered desegregated in a unanimous verdict. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) played an important role in Brown v. Board of Education, ensuring that “separate but equal” would no longer apply to educational facilities. Though public education was not fully desegregated by the decision, it began a series of legal victories for the burgeoning civil rights movement and defined constitutional support for racial equality.
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A Literary Un-Valentine’s Day
Every Valentine’s Day we are bombarded with idealized images of true love and passion, and for the unlucky in love, the holiday can be difficult to stomach. In the spirit of demonstrating that matters could be worse, we offer two literary anti-love-scenes, taken from the digital pages of Literature Criticism Online. Consider the plight of … Read more
Gale Interactive: Science: “Highly Recommended”
With Gale Interactive: Science, users can delve deep into concepts with tools to zoom, rotate and explore models. These engaging, interactive models bring science to life, allowing students to better visualize and understand concepts in biology, chemistry, and earth and space science.
Students and instructors can manipulate and explore 3D models that are paired with reference and periodical content for further understanding. When clicking through each session, relevant reference content related to the images is shown and the user also has the ability to search across content to find exactly what they are looking for.
Learn more with a review from a Library Media Specialist:
Gender: Sources, Perspectives, and Methodologies: Highly Recommended
Support researchers in the study of gender with Gender: Sources, Perspectives, and Methodologies. By employing literature, film, art, history, and other disciplines, Gender fosters critical thought in gender and sexuality. Highlighting queer, women’s, and men’s studies, Gender: Sources, Perspectives, and Methodologies provides researchers with a highly recommended resource in the study of gender.
Take a peak at what a reviewer had to say:
Read more Gender: Sources, Perspectives, and Methodologies: Highly Recommended
Librarian Obsessions and GVRL: a Perfect Match
By Mary Kelly There is an episode of Friends where Joey was given a sales pitch for encyclopedia and ended buying a single volume of the letter V, since he couldn’t afford the whole set. Encyclopedia salesman, played by Penn Jillette, tells Joey that he can converse better with his friends by reading the encyclopedia. … Read more
From Politics to Chemistry – An Escape Plan
By Deb Kirby
Seeking relief from the overload of rancorous political discussion last week, I decided to focus on something different. When I discovered that February 7 is National Periodic Table Day, I had my plan: Finally learn some basics about the periodic table, which I had somehow managed to avoid in school. (Reading a book a day in my middle and high school years may have enhanced my reading skills, but since my genre of choice was the historical romance, did not do much for my understanding of things like Chemistry.)
I turned to Gale’s Science In Context to learn more about the periodic table and the recently released Gale Interactive: Science for a hands-on learning experience.
Archives of Sexuality & Gender named PROSE Award Winner for Best eProduct/Best in Humanities
We are proud to announce that Archives of Sexuality & Gender: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940 has won the PROSE award for Best eProduct/Best in Humanities. The award is presented by the Professional and Scholarly Publishing unit of the Association of American Publishers. You can find the full list of winners here PROSEawards.com/winners. Background on the awards from PROSEawards.com … Read more
7 Primary Source Documents Related to Immigration and the ACLU
Since its inception the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has taken part in some of the most contentious legal battles in American history. The ACLU has once again become a central figure in a contentious legal battle following their objections to the recent Executive Order restricting immigration from 7 countries. The ACLU has a long history of fighting restrictions on immigration they deem in violation of civil liberties. The documents below found in the American Civil Liberties Union Papers, 1912-1990 are several examples of the ACLU’s past involvement in issues surrounding immigration.
Read more7 Primary Source Documents Related to Immigration and the ACLU
Alternative Facts, Fake News, and Digital Literacy
By Traci Cothran
There was a time when we didn’t need to define what a fact was – or rather, we all understood that it meant the same thing. It was a fact – it was the truth; the rest was fiction or opinion. There were clear, credible sources, and there were those that weren’t. Now students, teachers, and librarians (as well as the rest of the American populous) must grapple with distinguishing fact, fake news, and “alternative facts” on a near-constant basis. While the Internet gives us a plethora of easy-to-access information, it’s up to us to discern what is factual and what is not.
To do that, we need to start asking hard questions of everything we read and hear – such as:
- Where did that Facebook “news” post originate?
- Is this news or a “newsvertisement?”
- Are these statistics or this sound bite taken out of context to distort their meaning?
- Who penned this article? Do they have a specific agenda that influences their writing?
- Who created this website and how are they getting paid for their content?
- When you reverse-search the image used in the article, do you find different source content?
Robert Smalls: From Slave to Senator
During Black History Month, we honor African Americans who made significant contributions to American society and impacted the course of American history. One such figure is Robert Smalls, who was born a slave in South Carolina, made a dramatic escape from slavery, and was later elected to Congress. With primary sources, Smalls’ remarkable life, achievements, and impact can be considered and understood through contemporary accounts.