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By Kevin Rygiel
With the summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro coming to a close, your patrons might have a continued interest to familiarize themselves with the sporting events. Thanks to GVRL’s strong search capabilities, they will be able to stay informed and might even find a new favorite sport!
If you have ever taken a basic chemistry course, you probably remember making molecular models out of marshmallows and tooth-picks or whatever comparable substitute was lying around the science lab. This kind of molecular modeling is not only a great excuse to eat marshmallows in class; it also enhances spatial literacy, an essential part of … Read more
Our mission at Gale is to connect libraries to learning and learners to libraries – librarians are the essence of that mission. This fall librarians and industry partners will gather in Charleston, South Carolina at The Charleston Conference to collaborate on issues of mutual importance in an exciting and informal atmosphere. In line with our mission to connect libraries … Read more
The Value of Pre-K Education Many research studies have shown the positive effects of quality early childhood education on future academic development, educational attainment, and earnings later in life. Yet, 59% of preschool-aged children across the nation—approximately 2.5 million—are not enrolled in publicly funded preschool programs through state preschool, Head Start, and special education preschool … Read more
By Traci Cothran
Diamond is a recent high school graduate from a charter school in Detroit, heading off to college this fall. We’ve been together for four years in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Detroit program, and I recently demonstrated our Gale databases for her, and asked her a few questions to share here on our blog.
You’re a college freshman – congratulations! What are you excited – and maybe anxious – about?
I’m excited to get away from home and be independent. I’m nervous about the work load in comparison to high school – everyone says it’s much harder – but I’m confident I have the organizational skills for success. However, my college has great tutoring resources that I know I can use – and they’re located right in my dorm. I’m not planning on working or doing sports my first year to be sure I have a handle on academics. But I am going to check out the various clubs and organizations and plan to join some.
Did you visit a library at your college during the tour?
Yes, we toured the library. The library not only had a floor with books, but I was surprised to find it had a study floor, and quiet floors, too. There’s a tablet instead of a librarian to use to find resources and direct you to them. I don’t recall online resources mentioned during the tour.
How much did you use print books and electronic resources during high school?
Once I switched schools after ninth grade, it was 100% digital and worksheets – no print textbooks. We were a “Google school,” and we were provided with Google computers, with Google software and integration. I’m comfortable with either digital or print, though sometimes I prefer print. My teachers used all kinds of online resources, but we did not have a physical library or librarian.
Meet Your Users Where They “Are” The key to connecting users to trustworthy, relevant content is ensuring that it appears in their workflow. Google is a comfortable, highly used pathway in most students’ study routine. Gale is a Google for Education Partner, which means after authentication, users can sign in to their library’s Gale content with their … Read more
By Thomas Piggott
Gale.com is changing! We’re proud to announce a new and improved experience, with even more to come as we continue to make updates.
Hi, I’m Thomas Piggott, the User Experience Designer for Gale.com. I wanted to be the first to introduce you to some of the new features of the website, along with providing a peek into what’s to come.
Gaining a Better Understanding
At Gale, our goal is to empower libraries and learners by partnering with you. About a year ago, we began thinking about how our website could help us live up to that goal. We delved into understanding what capabilities the site needed in order to make your life easier. We collected feedback from interviews with more than 40 customers around the world and held discussions with our sales representatives and customer success managers who know what you ask for the most.
Good News! In an effort to further improve the user experience by delivering the most relevant articles among the first search results returned, we have enabled the default sort to Relevance for all InfoTrac products. Results will be ordered by relevance, and because currency is an important element of periodical content, the determination of relevance will contain a significant boost for recency. Users still have the ability to toggle and view by newest/oldest date if they choose during their research session.
Additionally, Gale has retired the “My Account” feature in InfoTrac products including PowerSearch, in favor of Google and Microsoft 365 collaboration tools our users are already employing. This change will provide one simple, seamless login experience, further enabling users to access Gale content anytime, anywhere, and from any device.
Read moreRelevance Default Sort Enabled In InfoTrac Products
By Kim Martin
Libraries as Workforce Development Partners
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, which became effective July 2015, identifies public libraries as potential partners of the American Job Center network and acknowledges the ability of libraries to provide an expansive array of job search services. Increased funding for career-related resources are available from the act. Additionally, the new law recognizes libraries as important providers of federally supported programs in adult education and literacy. These types of resources can increase training and employment possibilities for patrons.
Read moreLibrary Crusaders: How You Can Help Your Community’s Workforce
A digital humanities project out of Carnegie Mellon University has been awarded the prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities grant. The project titled Six Degrees of Francis Bacon puts a historical twist on the popular game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” In lieu of connecting hollywood stars, Six Degrees of Francis Bacon draws connections between early modern artists, playwrights, … Read more