Measure for Measure: Gale Literature Resource Center Offers More for Shakespeare Lovers

| By Jessica Bomarito, Product Manager, Gale | Shakespeare fans rejoice! Gale Literature Resource Center just received a treasure trove of content to support research on William Shakespeare, his works, contemporaries, Shakespearean actors, the Renaissance, and more. Newly added content includes: Five additional journal publications focused on Shakespeare and/or theater (in addition to the 79 … Read more

Partnering with Google to Help Users Seamlessly Access Library Resources

| By Jan Murphy, Gale product management director | It’s no surprise: Google is often the starting point for a student conducting research for an assignment.1 It makes perfect sense—Google quickly delivers answers to almost any question asked. This leaves libraries in a situation where premium resources that are hidden behind a login page are not discoverable … Read more

Once Upon an Author: J.D. Salinger’s 100th Birthday

| Catherine DiMercurio | January 1, 2019, marked what would have been J. D. Salinger’s 100th birthday. Salinger died in 2010, having secured his place in literary history and American culture in 1951 with the publication of his novel The Catcher in the Rye. The work was a bestseller, and its angsty teen protagonist, Holden Caufield, … Read more

Gale Researches: A Wrinkle in Time

| By Debra Kirby | I am counting the days until the March release of A Wrinkle in Time, the movie based on Madeleine L’Engle’s award-winning novel. In anticipation of the movie, I decided to spend a little time revisiting the story by checking to see what Gale resources could provide. Like all forays into Gale … Read more

The Power of Perusal

| By Catherine DiMercurio | While reviewing entries for Contemporary Authors, Vol. 403, I stumbled across the name of a poet, francine j. harris. Note: she renders her name this way; it isn’t a typo. The poet’s rejection of uppercase letters is not what snagged my attention, though. Words from her biographical sketch leaped out at … Read more

Pride Month Resources for High School Students

| By Traci Cothran | Last Sunday marked the very first Pride Parade in my small town here in Michigan—it’s a lovely place but one whose history is characterized more by exclusivity than acceptance. It’s wonderful to witness the changes that have occurred, and I was delighted to spy several local school teachers marching alongside … Read more

Literature and Research Made Easy

Posted on May 16, 2016

By Holly Hibner

Have you ever read a book and immediately thought, “I must know more about this author!”? After reading a particularly satisfying book, one which you instantly need to share with everyone you meet, look no further than Gale’s Literature Resource Center. There you can learn more about the author and their works, and hopefully even repeat that feeling of awe and admiration for their genius!

For me, that author is Lisa Genova. She is one of my all-time favorite authors. Over at Literature Resource Center, I plugged her name into the search box and found out, via an article in Contemporary Authors Online, that she is a neuroscientist who received her doctorate at Harvard University. I also read reviews of a few of Genova’s novels via BookPage, Contemporary Authors Online, and The New York Times Book Review.

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Animal Farm Preface Reveals Truths about George Orwell

Posted on June 13, 2016

By Kelly Torpey

In my school-days, plenty of readings were required, but in all honesty, I didn’t care for most of them. However, George Orwell’s Animal Farm captured my attention. It was unique, I didn’t need a dictionary on stand-by, and I knew it had been banned from some classrooms.

Orwell may be one of the most read, well-known novelists of all time. With books like Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, his work is a constant reminder that we must continually critique the actions of leaders and the acceptance of common thought.

British author George Orwell, (1903-1950) among his many books were "Ninteen Eighty Four" and Animal Farm"

Recently (as in a couple days ago) I discovered details about Orwell’s roots, upbringing, and perspectives in an interview clip from Public Radio International. This clip is available on Literature Resource Center. I quickly learned that I probably wouldn’t have been exposed to these details if a young Ukrainian scholar hadn’t sent a message to George Orwell in 1947. In his note, the scholar asked for permission to translate Animal Farm into Ukrainian. Orwell not only granted permission, but also refused any royalties and penned a detailed preface that we are all incredibly lucky to read. Orwell wrote:

I have been asked to write a preface to the Ukrainian translation of Animal Farm. I am aware that I write for readers about whom I know nothing, but also that they too have probably never had the slightest opportunity to know anything about me.

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Ramona Quimby Becoming Ramona Quimby

Posted on May 12, 2016

By Kelly Torpey

…when I was a children’s librarian, that was about 1940, boys particularly asked where were the books about kids like us, and there weren’t any at that time. So when I finally told myself if I was going to write I should sit down and start writing, well, I expected to write about the maturing of a sensitive girl but I found I didn’t have anything to say on the subject, and so I thought about those boys who wanted books about kids like us….”

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Meet Users Where They Are

Posted December 31, 2015

By Lemma Shomali, Senior Product Manager, Databases, Gale

Students today are digital natives and undisputed power users of Google. Most are never far from their mobile devices, and they use them to look up everything from movie listings to music lyrics. But they also use them for completing homework and doing research. The key to connecting young researchers to trustworthy, relevant content is ensuring that it appears in their workflow. Google is a comfortable, highly used pathway in most students’ study routine. Gale is a Google for Education Partner, which means users can sign in to their library’s Gale content with their Google account credentials and share, save, and download articles to Google Drive, and Docs.

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