Posted on November 4, 2015
By Scott Steward
Welcome back. Last time, I gave you the first tip for organizing your electronic resources: using context. Today, I’d like to help you think like a user.
It doesn’t really matter if your user is a patron, student, teacher, or facility. At the end of the day, they all need to be able to find what they’re looking for, and if they can’t, they’ll go somewhere else. So, let’s make it easier for them.
Posted on November 2, 2015
By Susan H. Hildreth, Executive Director, Califa Group, Pacific Library Partnership, Peninsula Library 
System, and Administrator, NorthNet Library System
I believe that the future relevance and success of the public library is dependent upon the library’s deep knowledge and commitment to community growth and success. Although many libraries have had stated commitments to community priorities, I do not think that we have been disciplined or strategic in effectively deploying the library’s assets to support those priorities. I want to highlight two resources funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that can provide a framework for integrating community insight into the ongoing program of the library.
Read moreSuccess = Aligning Library Services to Support Community Goals
Posted on November 1, 2015
By Diane M. Sweetwood
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 services.
Although as many as 30% of three- and four-year olds are fortunate to attend private preschools and child care centers, hundreds of thousands of children have no access to the programs that can help them build literacy skills and prepare them for kindergarten and beyond. The U.S. Department of Education’s 2015 report, “A Matter of Equity: Preschool in America,” notes that “while both states and the federal government invest in early learning, these efforts have fallen short of what is needed to ensure that all children can access a high-quality early education that will prepare them for success.”
Read moreDigital Solutions Promote Pre-K Literacy Development and School Readiness
Posted on October 30, 2015
With more than 45 million Google Apps for Education users worldwide and an average of over 40,000 Google search engine queries per second [1], Google is indisputably the place where people get their answers.
As the library seeks to continue to be a valued educational partner in communities, schools, and institutions, bringing trustworthy digital content into the natural path of the student or patron has never been more important. To make it easier for people to find and use this relevant, authoritative information, Gale, a part of Cengage Learning, has partnered with Google for Education in two ways: providing intuitive integration of popular workflow tools through Google Apps for Education and indexing content in Google Scholar.
The ability for students to seamlessly login using Google Account credentials is now available through:
Posted on October 29, 2015
Gale’s Research In Context has added Google integration to the database providing more flexibility and ease of access to school resources for students and teachers. The changes you’ll see include:
Seamless User Login – Users can login using their Google Account credentials.
Integrated Google Tools – Once logged in, users can easily share and download articles – including their highlights and notes – using Google Apps for Education tools like Drive and Docs.
Read moreGoogle Integration Added to Gale Research In Context
Posted on October 29, 2015
Note to librarians: This blog post is for you to share! If you have this title, be sure to link it to your GVRL collection. If you don’t have this title and want to learn more, access a free trial today!
Almost everyone has a “vested” interest in knowing more about money and how to make it work for them. But if it were easy, everyone would be rich.
Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan once said, “The number one problem in today’s generation and economy is the lack of financial literacy.”
Read moreThis Blog Post Is Only for People Interested in Making Money
Posted on October 29, 2015
Once upon a time, a young thespian named Will set his quill to paper and wrote a play. The word is, he did pretty well…becoming the most beloved playwright and poet of all time.
A few years later, a sheltered young woman living in the country wrote stories to amuse her family. Ms. Jane Austen also met with great success, we’re told.
Every great author started somewhere – by taking the first step and writing a first work. Today, the literary world is bursting with new talent. And Thorndike can help you bring promising new authors to your power readers – many of whom enjoy reading large print for ease and enhanced comprehension.
Posted on October 26, 2015
Secret Sisters by Jayne Ann Krentz is the story of two childhood friends, Madeline and Daphne, who experienced a terrifying attack and have done their best to move on with their lives. Madeline runs a chain of luxury hotels and Daphne is a designer. But the secret that they share reunites them as adults and they journey back to a small island off the coast of Seattle, the site of their childhood trauma. Using Nancy Pearl’s Readers Advisory methodology, let me tell you about the doorways that I found most appealing. I was drawn to the character of Madeline, a successful career woman who struggles with intimacy and lost track of her childhood friend.
Posted on October 26, 2015
By Jena Crable
Here’s a familiar genealogical conundrum: A researcher has traced his/her ancestors from present-day California back to the Dust Bowl-era in Nebraska, into Missouri just as it was achieving statehood, and finally to Indiana in the 1830s. At that point, the trail has grown cold even though legend has it that the family patriarch was a Pennsylvania patriot during the Revolution. So, how does the genealogist pick up the scent of the missing ancestor at this point?
By Rivkah K. Sass, Director, Sacramento Public Library
Randomly select 20 strangers and ask them what they think about their local public library. You’re likely to get 20 different answers, and most of them are probably not what you want to hear. As we think about who we are, what we do and, more importantly, what our brand is, chances are that our customers think we’re about books while we try to convince them that we’re so much more. After all, many of us loan games, do prom dress drives, teach punk-rock aerobics, partner with microbreweries (Edgar Allan Porter, anyone?), and offer 3D printing services. We push the envelope of what we loan and how we program for one reason and one reason only: to get people in the door so that they can discover what we really have to offer — ideas, inspiration, and access.