In Context

Gale Helps Cody High School Discover MeL Resources

Posted on April 21, 2016

By Tracey L. Matthews

Some schools acquire Gale resources on a state-wide level, offering broad access to our authoritative resources. But not everyone knows they’re available. Detroit’s (MI) Cody Academy of Public Leadership is one example.

In the course of setting up a mentoring program nearly two years ago with Cody High School’s Academy of Public Leadership, one of the first things we learned was that the staff was unaware they had access to any reference content. Like many other schools in the Detroit school district, their media specialist positions had been eliminated, leaving busy and challenged teachers with no help identifying resources for their students, who not surprisingly relied primarily on Google for their research needs.

Our first service to Cody was to hold a training session with Cody staff to introduce them to the Michigan Electronic Library (MeL), through which they had easy access to a wide variety of reference and periodical databases, including Gale products like Opposing Viewpoints In Context.

Read moreGale Helps Cody High School Discover MeL Resources

Fact-Checking Movie “History”with Gale Resources

Posted on March 14, 2016

By Traci Cothran

I love the way movies inspired by historical events bring the past so vividly to life, especially for students who have never heard of these past events or notable people. But sometimes films stray from the facts in favor of presenting a stronger cinematic experience. I watched “Race” – the story about Jesse Owens and the 1936 Olympics – and wondered what was factual and what was “movie magic.” Students can use their brains and fingertips to search Gale databases –  like U.S. History In Context, Students Resources In Context, and Research In Context – to find out the truth, by investigating the following:

  • Following Jesse Owens’ gold medal wins, did Hitler shake Owens’ hand? (Bonus question: Did US President FDR ever welcome Owens to the White House?)
  • Were Owens and other African-American students allowed to live in student housing at Ohio State University?
  • Did German athlete Luz Long mark the takeoff area to help Owens qualify for the long jump?
  • Was that part in the movie where Owens had a romance with another woman (not his future wife) during college factual?
  • Did Owens capture 4 world records within 45 minutes at the 1935 Big Ten Track & Field Championship?
  • Why were US sprinters Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller scratched from the 4 x 100 event?

Read moreFact-Checking Movie “History”with Gale Resources

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan: Her Life, Her Legacy

Posted on March 7, 2016

By Traci Cothran

NANCY REAGAN   (July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016)

The eulogies are pouring in for former first lady Nancy Reagan – an actress, mother, and fierce supporter of her husband, Ronald Reagan.  As her passing happens amidst a contentious presidential race, we are reminded of a time of greater decorum in our democracy.

Read moreFormer First Lady Nancy Reagan: Her Life, Her Legacy

Providing the Right Resources for On-the-Go Students: One School’s Story

Posted on March 2, 2016 Kris Jacobson is a teacher/librarian at a busy high school outside of Chicago. With 3,000 students and a campus that recently went 1:1 with Chromebooks, Kris stays busy, but is constantly striving to make the library more useful for patrons. Kris found that helping students conduct research in multiple information … Read more

CLiC Helps Lighten the Load

Posted on March 1, 2016

By Megan McCarthy

When I was little I used to love reading the Encyclopedia Britannica. We had one full set, and I think it was published in 1968. I would write all my papers using those encyclopedias. It wasn’t until high school that it occurred to me the information might be out-of-date. It was the same with textbooks. There were names of students on my pre-owned textbooks that I knew had graduated college. What’s more, those books were heavy. I remember dragging my loaded book bag to and from school. I thought my arms would break. Now, with CLiC, those days are gone.

CLiC (Classroom in Context) is a digital curriculum that pulls its content from Gale’s award-winning In Context databases. In Context is dynamically updated, so the content is always current. Not only are the six CLiC curriculums designed to meet state, national and Common Core standards, they are also endlessly customizable. Teachers can add in videos, podcasts, articles, and even their own materials. And all of this flexibility is available for students on their tablets and laptops. So out-of-date textbooks and encyclopedias are a thing of the past.

Read moreCLiC Helps Lighten the Load

We Love Analytics!

Posted on February 19, 2016

We love our work on the Gale Databases team, as we continuously add informative and engaging new content – this includes keeping up with the latest current events (World History In Context, Global Issues In Context), health news (Science In Context, Health and Wellness Resource Center), business developments (Business Insights), and topics being studied in school (Student Resources In Context, Research In Context, Kids InfoBits), to name just a few.

But we also love finding out how the content is actually used in these databases once we load it – and we look at many metrics, including:

  • Top Searches
  • Top Media
  • Most Popular Articles and Journals
  • Number of Users
  • And many others

Read moreWe Love Analytics!

Women Unite!

Posted on February 17, 2016

I love learning about history, and there’s nothing like having the entire month of March devoted to the often overlooked contributions of women.I take my middle-school daughter to historic sites (sometimes with her feet dragging), and it’s great when she connects to historic figures to further understand what she reads about in books.  Here are some notable women we’ve “met” in our travels:

  • A Deborah Sampson re-enactor was our tour guide along Boston’s Freedom Trail. She related her fascinating story – dressing as a man to fight in the Revolutionary War – as we toured some of the sites of the American Revolution.  Years later, she fought for – and eventually received – a soldier’s pension.

Read moreWomen Unite!

Tending the Academic Garden with CLiC

Posted on February 9, 2016

By Megan McCarthy

I love to garden, and over the years I’ve gotten pretty good at it. However, that wasn’t always the case. When I first started, every spring I’d run to Lowes, and pick out all the blooming plants I thought looked pretty. I’d bring them home, and plant them in my yard. Then, every year, I would watch in horror as they would wither and die. What was I doing wrong?  Well, as it turned out, almost everything. I finally consulted with a gardening expert, and found that plants had to be grown according to their needs. Some needed shade, some sun. Some needed dry soil, and others needed water. Most liked to be planted when they weren’t in bloom, probably the reason I was killing so many. I learned some important lessons, but the most valuable lesson I learned was, when you are in trouble, ask an expert.

Read moreTending the Academic Garden with CLiC

New Apps for Download Make it Even Easier to Access Gale Resources

Posted on February 1, 2016

Many of your favorite Gale products can now be accessed via apps available for free download through the Chrome Web Store. These product apps provide an additional access point to Gale content making it even easier for students, instructors, schools, and public library patrons to easily access resources from their tablets and mobile devices.

Apps you’ll find available include:

·        Artemis Literary Sources ·        Infotrac including PowerSearch
·        Book Review Index Plus ·        Kids InfoBits
·        Contemporary Authors Online ·        Literature Criticism Online
·        Dictionary of Literary Biography Online ·        Literature Resource Center
·        Gale In Context Suite ·        LitFinder
·        Gale eBooks (GVRL) ·        MLA International Bibliography
·        Gale Researcher ·        Something About the Author Online

Read moreNew Apps for Download Make it Even Easier to Access Gale Resources