The Cat’s out of the Bag. We’re Not Just Reference Anymore.

By Harmony Faust

I shared an inside secret with you in our first post and it felt liberating, so I’m going to do it again here. As a representative of a company with 60 years as a leading publisher of reference content, this secret is potentially risky to post, but no less true.

Whew. Okay. Here it goes…

I have heard several of our public libraries partners say…*gasp*…their patrons aren’t asking for reference anymore. That it’s hard to create excitement around reference. In fact, a much-esteemed leader in library land was so bold as to say, to my face, that we do ourselves a disservice by referring to our eBook platform as Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL).

Read moreThe Cat’s out of the Bag. We’re Not Just Reference Anymore.

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!

Look out, Schools! Exciting Changes are Coming to GVRL

By Geoff Schwartz

At Gale, we are committed to providing schools the necessary tools to provide the best possible education to their students. Yesterday, we announced the addition of STEM content to GVRL, starting with nearly 3,000 eBook monographs from Springer and hundreds from Elsevier. That’s just the beginning, however, as we’ll soon add grade-appropriate STEM content for the K-12 market as well.

Read moreLook out, Schools! Exciting Changes are Coming to GVRL

From Robot Races to Maker Spaces: STEM at the Public Library

By Harmony Faust

Public libraries can and do play a strong role in fostering an interest and developing skills in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)—among children, teens and adults alike. Gale’s announcements yesterday afternoon mean that libraries of all types will soon have additional support in delivering research assistance in these key disciplines.

Classes, workshops and events related to STEM concepts are already prevalent at libraries nationwide. Even with catchy names like Legopalooza, DevDev, HiTech and MakerLab, it’s clear that these programs pack some serious punch when it comes to boosting STEM skills.

Read moreFrom Robot Races to Maker Spaces: STEM at the Public Library

Exciting Partners. Must-Have Products. New Focus.

Today, we announced some exciting changes at Gale, live from our headquarters in Farmington Hills, MI. In case you missed it, you can watch a recording of the event and read the press release. As the needs of libraries of all kinds evolve, so too, does Gale.  Here’s a short recap of the exciting changes we are making to better serve learners of all types.

Read moreExciting Partners. Must-Have Products. New Focus.

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.

Read moreThe Three C’s of Digital Imaging

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

Libraries: Critically important or critically endangered?

By Harmony Faust

Join us for a live Twitter Chat with Valerie Gross, president & CEO of the Howard County Library System in Maryland (Library of the Year 2013) and author of the provocative new title Transforming Our Image, Building Our Brand: The Education Advantage.

Hear Valerie’s thoughts on how to keep your library essential, not optional, and chat with your colleagues about important issues like funding, branding and the perceived value of libraries today.

Read moreLibraries: Critically important or critically endangered?

5 Reasons We Started This Blog

By Harmony Faust

I’ve volunteered to author our inaugural blog post on behalf of Gale’s public library team. You know, the one where we introduce ourselves, what problem we aim to solve and the unique voice we think we’ll contribute to the already fully-loaded blogosphere. No pressure.

I’m a sucker for a good, easy-to-read list, so here it goes:

Top 5 Reasons Why This Blog Exists
Alternatively titled: Why Gale Is Talking To and About Public Libraries

1. We are truly passionate about public libraries.

We’re not just saying that to pander to our audience. For me personally, I can honestly say that the most recent six months of my thirteen years in publishing have been the most interesting and rewarding of my career—and these are the only months I’ve been solely focused on working for and with public libraries. We have massive amounts of respect for our wonderful colleagues in higher education, academic libraries and schools, but the individuals behind this blog are all public, all the time.

Read more5 Reasons We Started This Blog

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!