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Widget Wonders: Save Students and Teachers Search Time

September 3, 2015August 11, 2015

Posted on August 11, 2015

There’s a tsunami brewing in the Pacific, and several classes are working on a project to track its movement. They have one class period to research and report. Ready? Go! But wait…where do they begin? Can anything be done to help them find information more quickly and directly?

Here’s an idea to make you a hero in your school. Gale widgets. They can give your students and teachers a shortcut to research on hot topics and ensure that content searched is trusted and relevant.

August Spotlight: Back-to-School!

February 26, 2018August 10, 2015

By Gale Training

Each month, the Gale Training team spotlights new and featured resources to give you ideas on how to use training at your school or library. For On-demand tutorials, Webinars, Materials, and more, visit the Resource Training Center. Below is this month’s “Training Spotlight.”

Say it with us …”Where has the summer gone?”

Seems like back-to-school time just sneaks up on us. Are you ready?

Look at Literature in a Whole New Way

September 3, 2015August 7, 2015

Posted August 7, 2015

Noted Russian poet and author once said, “Literature is the art of discovering something extraordinary about ordinary people, and saying with ordinary words something extraordinary.”

Literature opens doors to understanding ideas, people, and cultures. Extraordinary tools enable greater understanding and expand opportunity for discovery. And now, with upcoming enhancements, three landmark Gale literature resources will provide a more welcoming and accessible experience for literature researchers at all levels.

Content updates for Gale’s In Context (week of 8/3/2015)

August 6, 2015

Posted on August 6, 2015

Over the past couple of weeks we’ve added new content and made updates to already posted content found in your favorite Gale In Context products. See what’s there for you to access.

Biography In Context

New spotlight features have been added to the homepage that include:

U.S. President Barack Obama, celebrating his birthday on August 4
The late U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, who signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law 50 years ago
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Walesa, founder of the Solidarity labor union that sparked change in his country 35 years ago on August 31
American actress Taraji P. Henson, star of television’s Empire
Chris Froome, the British cyclist who recently won his second Tour de France title
Kailash Satyarthi, Indian children’s rights activist who shared the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize with Malala Yousafzai
Daniel James, Jr., also known as Chappie, who became the first African American four-star general in 1975
Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell
American filmmaker and producer Brett Ratner
Sepp Blatter, the controversial Swiss president of FIFA (soccer’s international governing body)

What Lies Beneath the Bestsellers: Mine the Gems!

February 23, 2018August 6, 2015

High-demand, bestselling titles meet the immediate needs of a large group of patrons. They’re the sparkly gold dust that attracts attention and draws in readers. But beneath that top layer of new titles are the “midlist” titles – the majority of all published works. In this group is where emerging authors, alternative and esoteric titles, and a much broader selection of works live. These are the titles chosen by libraries focused on providing a rich collection that encourages readers to look beyond the “shiny” titles.

Branching the Digital Divide: Technology as the Gateway to Curiosity

May 23, 2018August 3, 2015

By Vanessa Craig

Moreno Valley is a city nestled in between the Coachella Valley, Lake Perris, and the San Bernardino Mountains in southern California. The scenic town of Moreno Valley has a public library that serves their population of about 200,000. With only one building to serve its residents, Ivorie Franks, the library’s director struggles with providing a sufficient amount of print material to serve their population.

To save space, Ivorie is attempting to develop a digital collection for her community that replicates the print collection. However, the patrons of Moreno Valley have a variety of different technology skill levels. Many community members do not have computers or internet connection at home.

Ivorie is the driving force behind helping branch tackle this digital divide. She is working alongside her staff to make their patrons more comfortable with technology and eResources. “The key is to include various staff members in the process of educating library patrons about digital library resources,” proposes Ivorie.

21 Voices, Predictive Findability, and What Have Your Students Taught You Lately

September 3, 2015July 30, 2015

By Daniel Marano

At Gale and Cengage Learning, we conduct hundreds of user studies in any given year. In each study, we talk to and observe dozens of users as we iteratively design or modify our resources and tools. We have been doing and learning from this user-centered design approach for years now, and have a centralized user experience department that conducts this research for the entire organization.

What this traditional form of user-centered design leaves out, however, are certain types of longitudinal data, and the evolving habits and technologies that a student moves through over time. That’s why last year we launched a novel new research study called 21 Voices.

New Read Alikes for Old Classics

August 13, 2015July 29, 2015

By Holly Hibner and Mary Kelly

Remember in high school and college when you were assigned classic fiction reading? Those titles are classics for a reason. They have stood the test of time and are still assigned reading in many classrooms. Some of my personal favorites were The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn, Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, and Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. I remember thinking that there were such profound ideas in those novels, and soaking up every metaphor and every turn of phrase. As an adult, I am interested in these same profound ideas and great writing, and I think that there are a lot of books published in the last ten years or so that make great read alikes to those classic novels. Let’s start with my favorites.

Content Updates for Gale’s In Context (Week of 7/20/2015)

July 27, 2015July 24, 2015

Posted on July 24, 2015

Updates have been made this week to the rich content found in Gale’s In Context products. Check-out what’s new.

Canada In Context

New homepage spotlights have been added featuring updated content on Evangeline Lilly and Jack Layton. Also look for new content additions on Alexander Graham Bell.

A new video has been added to the home page from the CBC on the Dieppe Raid: “70^th Anniversary of Ill-Fated Invasion in Dieppe, France.”

Research In Context

The newest database in Gale’s In Context family has even more content that’s been added this week. Some of the additions to the homepage spotlights include:

Fulton County Schools: Getting Curriculum Support Right

August 13, 2015July 17, 2015

Posted on July 17, 2015

By Tina Creguer

New technologies offer all kinds of new ways for students to learn, for teachers to teach, and for school systems to provide a learning environment. But the sudden convergence of content, technology, and tech-savvy students has created as many conundrums as opportunities. So, during a time rampant with experimentation and piloting, when a school system figures out ways to make all systems work together to enhance learning, people stop and take notice.

Fulton County (GA) Schools has done just that. And, for their efforts, they were recognized last month by the Center for Digital Education (CDE) with a Digital Content and Curriculum Achievement Award for K-12 at the International Society for Technology in Education 2015 conference in Philadelphia.

Alan Cox, Senior Vice President for the CDE, announced the awards, saying, “It is clear that schools all over the country are moving from pilot projects to full-scale implementations. Districts are combining content created by their faculty with content curated from other organizations or purchased from private-sector curriculum providers in ways not truly realized in past years. This year’s honorees are taking the practice of education to new heights that show great promise for other districts to follow.”

Fulton County was one of just six large (12,000+ students) districts to be recognized for its innovation and diligence in digital content and curriculum program implementation.