By Kristin M. I teach in a high school where many students do not have access to books or computers at home. Our school library is a VITAL part of our school community. Not only is it a place to get homework done, get help for tutoring or use a computer, but also a place … Read more
By Jennifer Albers-Smith
It’s certainly no twerk (thank goodness), but there are people all over who love to dress up and dance the way people danced in eighteenth and nineteenth-century Britain. What woman in love with Jane Austen’s world wouldn’t dream of going back in time and being Elizabeth Bennet at a ball, meeting Darcy (minus the rejection part)?
Read more19th Century Nitty-Gritty: Dancing with Jane Austen
By Nicholas Schultz
This delicious image portrays a traditional Japanese Bento. Bento is a single portion takeout or home-packed meal. Traditionally a Bento would hold rice, protein, and pickled or cooked veggies – usually in a box-shaped container – hence “Bento Box”.
Over the last few years, Bento has become the new hip. Culinary speaking, Bento Boxes are being offered in most upscale gastro pubs throughout North America, regardless of cuisine style. It satisfies the hipster’s need to be trendy while not having to cook. It satisfies the Michelin chef’s need to offer chic take-out lunches at a premium price point. The world’s most expensive Bento sold for $229,000.
Now Bento is influencing how we consume information as well. The word “bento” roughly translates to “convenient” or “convenience”. In an embattled library world that has seen many skirmishes between federated searching and web-scale discovery/discovery service iterations, user convenience may be the silver bullet.
By Joe Garonzik
Answer the following questions either True or False:
If you answered false to any of these statements, you should read on. Why? In the first instance, it is an axiom of genealogy that all family research must ultimately be validated against original sources (or facsimiles of those sources on microfilm, etc.). How else can a researcher ever know that his data wasn’t derived from a mis-copied record, or that a lineage published in a book is simply incorrect?
By Kevin D. The Niagara Falls Public Library is built in the brutalist style of the Yale School of Architecture and Boston’s New City Hall: it LOOKS like a factory of knowledge and for a City of then 70k people (in 1970), now for 45,000 denizens, it is still an imposingly massive yet welcoming repository … Read more
By Michelle F.
When my daughter, Sami, was about 4 years old (she’s now 18), I registered her for a weekly story time / arts and crafts program at our local library (The Prospect Library in Prospect, CT). Sami has special needs and I had been in search of an appropriate program for her. The story time program seemed perfect. On the first day of the program, the children entered a quiet room in the back of the library and were instructed to take a seat on the floor in front of Mrs. Peterson, the librarian. As Mrs. Peterson began to read the story, Sami got up from her seat, walked over to Mrs. Peterson and stood by her side. I was worried that Sami would be asked to leave the program if she couldn’t stay seated; however, Mrs. Peterson could see that Sami was interested, so she continued to read with Sami by her side. When story time ended, Mrs. Peterson began a conversation with my husband and expressed interest in learning more about Sami. He explained Sami’s special needs and mentioned how much she enjoys books and reading. He told Mrs. Peterson that he reads to Sami every night before bed. Mrs. Peterson responded by telling my husband that her father had read to her when she was a young girl, and she remembers how much she enjoyed that time together.
Recently, we sat down with K Lee Lerner–a senior commissioning editor and advisor/contributor to news services and academic resources. Lerner’s portfolio covering science and global issues includes two RUSA Book and Media Awards, and two Outstanding Academic Titles. A former classroom teacher, Lerner holds multiple degrees in science, science education, and also a Master’s in Journalism from Harvard. We asked him to critically review our new Associated Press Collections Online archives. We hope his insights will help you to see the real value in these collections for active journalists and students alike.
Read more“Like working for AP and having access to the morgue”
What makes working for National Geographic a fulfilling experience and why should you be excited to add National Geographic Virtual Library to your collection? Find out straight from the source. In a continuation of our interview with the Geographic, we had the pleasure of interviewing Anne Marie Houppert.
Read morePartner Interview: Anne Marie Houppert of the National Geographic Society
Did you know…the earliest known snow skiers were from 8000 B.C. in the Altay region of China? However there is some dispute on this as others have said skiing started in Scandinavia. Read all about the history of skiing in National Geographic Virtual Library’s “The World’s First Skiers.” Check it out or call your rep for more information.
Gale is continually updating and adding new content to our In Context products, ensuring that they offer timely, authoritative, useful information. The items below were added or updated during the week of October 6, 2014.
Read moreProduct Updates: New In Context content for 10/06/14