Posted on June 1, 2015
Take a look at the latest content recently added to some of your favorite In Context databases:
Biography in Context launched 11 new people portals including:
By Dale Prentiss
Ruth Diggory is head librarian for ATA College, a medical career school in Kentucky and Florida that serves a broad demographic of students. As such, she needed to offer her students tools that can assist them in their research needs, regardless of their level of experience. Recently, Ruth has discovered that Gale’s Topic Finder tool is the perfect resource for her diverse needs.
Read moreTopic Finder: The Perfect Tool for Both New and Experienced Researchers
By Gale Customer Care
It’s always fun to find and share obscure holidays. You never really know what you could be celebrating before you do a little research. And what better place to research than the library!
We encourage you to have a little fun with some lesser known holidays in month of May and give a sneak peek of eResources while you’re at it.
We’ve got equal parts National Geographic Virtual Library and Artemis Literary Sources to post on social media or share in your newsletter. Please feel free to pick and choose and use the images and copy provided below… or use it as inspiration. Show your followers what you have to offer in your digital collections and tell them how to access.
May 1: Mother Goose Day
Read moreComplement Your May Programing with Product-Related Posts
Lora Cokolat is a Collection Development and Reading Librarian for the Santa Clara County Library District, working in the District’s Services and Support Center in
Campbell, California. Lora purchases e-books, DVDs, book club kits, and e-magazines to support patrons who use the district’s seven libraries and two bookmobiles. Part of the District’s mission is to provide diverse resources on a wide variety of subjects and viewpoints, and to help people use those resources — a task right up the alley of GVRL eBooks.
“We are committed to offering a variety of subject areas, topics, and viewpoints,” says Lora. “Providing electronic versions of reference sources can be more cost effective than print copies at multiple locations.”
Read moreGVRL Pleases Patrons, Young and Old, in Santa Clara County Library District
Terry Beck, the Information Services Manager for Sno-Isle Libraries north of Seattle, knows firsthand how to deal with logistical nightmares. Beck is responsible for serving approximately 697,000 people in two counties across 21 community libraries. To complicate matters further, Beck lacks a central or main library location from which to work and was quickly running out of room for reference materials.
“We don’t have one great big place,” Beck bemoaned. “We knew we needed to grow our reference collection but we had no room for additional print materials.”
Read moreLibrarians Overcome Distance and Tradition with GVRL eBooks
A look at a current news item through the lens of different titles available on GVRL.
By Michelle Eickmeyer
This week, I heard recount of trying to explain to someone in Mexico, who was off Monday for a federal holiday, that our “holiday” on Monday was not quite the same thing. Yeah. No. From the outside looking in, this must seem one of the most ridiculous things we Americans have done yet. (I’ll let you in on something, as an American, I wouldn’t have much to argue with you about that.) On the first Monday of February, a rodent predicts the weather. It’s covered by the news. Punxsutawney [punk-suh–taw-nee] Phil, the most major of the rodent forecasters, rules from a rather comfy perch in Pennsylvania. There are other groundhogs, including this one in Wisconsin who bit the mayor (who is fine, so it’s ok to laugh at it). The principle is simple: if the ground hog does not see its shadow, spring will come early. If it does, winter continues for six more weeks. Practically, its a lot more ‘show’ than that. I also find it interesting that you never hear reports of a groundhog forecast in the south or west — is Groundhog Day a northern/eastern observance only? (Any comments on that welcome!)
Part of any librarian’s job is to provide access to information people may not immediately know they need, exists, or is accessible. Amy Calhoun, Virtual Branch Coordinator at the Sacramento Public Library, understands this challenge as well as anyone. It’s why she and her colleague Laurie Willis, an Electronic Resources Librarian at the San Jose Public Library, both set out to find a solution designed to ensure people would have access to information when and where it was needed.
“It just made sense to expand our offerings,” Calhoun said. Expanding her library’s science related content and making sure the information was current quickly became a priority.
Read moreLibrarians Bridge Access and Availability Gaps with Technology
Lauren Stokes, the Virtual Library Manager at the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, often envisions customers in their bedtime pajamas. “I want them to be nice and comfortable,” Stokes joked. Stokes has good reason to picture users in this manner. It’s her job to ensure the 1.2 million people served by the 25 libraries in her county not only have access to but are using the district’s investment of digital resources.
To accomplish her goal, Stokes first had to convince educators and customers the library’s digital offerings were of the same quality as its print collection. “It just didn’t seem to click that it’s the same content whether you’re looking at it online or on a piece of paper,” Stokes said.
Read moreEducators Embrace Technology to Verify Digital Resource Quality
Public libraries play an important role in their communities, and they take their roles seriously. Case in point: Aurora Public Library (Aurora) in Illinois, which is dedicated to “supporting lifelong learning and access to information, knowledge, and ideas.” That’s no small task. Fortunately, GVRL eBooks are front and center in helping Aurora achieve its goals — offering patrons easy, quick access to informational resources covering the spectrum of subject areas, even when they’re not at the library.
Reference Specialist Sue Kovacs runs two reference desks at the Aurora’s main branch, where she’s responsible for buying all reference materials and keeping them updated and relevant. When Sue began working at the library in 2009, she saw that community dynamics were changing. “Most people didn’t want to have to come downtown to look at a reference collection. I evaluated our Gale products as well as the available alternatives.
Read moreAurora Public Library Encourages Staff and Patrons to “Think Gale”
By Carrie Stefanski
You’ve seen the headlines: Pluto ISN’T a planet; wait…Pluto IS a planet. From its discovery in 1930 until 2006, Pluto was considered the ninth planet in the solar system. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) decided that Pluto was not in fact a planet, and changed its designation to “dwarf planet.” [1]
With constant change and discovery in the field of science, it’s important to keep your eBooks up-to-date for patrons seeking scientific resources. Today’s students and thinkers require resources that reflect the latest developments and findings.
Read moreNew Editions of Foundational Science Encyclopedias are Here!