Gale Virtual Reference Library, a service provided FREE to Idahoans by lili.org

Check it out on Idaho Lili.org....

Part I: Bibliographic information

Type: Online reference service

Title: Gale Virtual Reference Library

Publisher: Gale Cengage Learning

Origination date: 1952 -- full-text indexing dates to 1990

Broad Focus: Subject-based reference resources

Subject(s): Multidisciplinary: Arts, biography, education, environment, history, literature, medicine, multicultural studies, nation and world, science, social sciences

Specific inclusions of note:  Varies from 2000 to present

Full text: Yes; content varies by resource within the collection

Indexed/Abstracted: Indexed in tables of contents; not searchable by terms

Target audience: Secondary schools, libraries

Online: By subscription through many major libraries and library consortium; www.lili.og

Comparables: Wikipedia.org; Google Scholar; Encyclopedia Britannica online.

Part I: User’s Annotation, Summary, Critical Evaluation

User’s Annotation --  This service is unique in that it is not a database of journal articles.  Rather it is a collection of select reference resources targeted at a general audience.  

Summary --  The collection includes eleven primary categories: Arts (1) Biography (1), Education (2), Environment (3), History (8), Literature (7), Medicine (4), Multicultural Studies (1), Nation and World (2), Science (8), Social Studies (1).  The inclusions are typcially encyclopedia or textbooks on topics of use to secondary-level students.

Some noteworthy inclusions are:

• Notable Sports Figures (2003)

• The College Blue Book (2007) and Scholarships, Fellowships and Loans (2009)

• Literary Themes for Students (2007)

• Nutrition and Well-Being A-Z (2004)

• Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia (2003)

Each resources is presented electronically yet uniformly such that the user is able to see the Title Page, Contents, Introduction, individual chapters in a consistent fashion.

There is also an easy link to the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary provided.

The Help Guide allows listening to articles, bookmarks, pdf reader for saving content and multiple language access.

Part III: Publisher Info

Gale is a publishing entity established in 1954 by Frederick Gale Ruffner. The company was acquired by Thomson Corporation of Canada in 1985 and subsequently became part of Cengage Learning n 2007.  Now called Gale Cengage Learning, the company has diverse involvements within the public and academic libraries and educational institutions.  InfoTrac is their online databases tool and it is widely used in schools and libraries.  Additionally, the multi-volume Gale Virtual Reference Library is a hallmark product of the company.  They also own a number of publishings entities, including MacMillan Reference and Pearson as well as operating the websites Questia.com and Encyclopedia.com (Gale, n.d.).

According to the company’s website, the following describes their operation: “Cengage Learning is a leading provider of innovative teaching, learning and research solutions for the academic, professional and library markets worldwide. The company's products and services are designed to foster academic excellence and professional development, increase student engagement, improve learning outcomes and deliver authoritative information to people whenever and wherever they need it. Through the company's unique position within both the library and academic markets, Cengage Learning is providing integrated learning solutions that bridge from the library to the classroom. Cengage Learning's brands include Brooks/Cole, Course Technology, Delmar, Gale, Heinle, South-Western and Wadsworth, among others” (About Gale, 2013).

Part IV: Curriculum Ties, Diversity, Booktalk Ideas, Challenge Issues

Curriculum Ties, if any --  There are several resources in this collection that would lend themselves to a classroom setting.  In particular, the Political Theories for Students is a comprehensive look at the gamut of political perspectives.  A government or history course could integrate its use into specific assignments or use it for reference purposes in combination with other readings.

Diversity of Cultures -- There is a resource called the UXL Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes included.  It includes an overview, including history, language and geographic details.  Additionally, the Encyclopedia of Modern Middle East and North Africa offers an alternative perspective to the Western-centric perspective of the world.

Classroom Ideas --  A good classroom activity would be to ask each student to review one of the twenty-something resources within the collection.  Providing a summary of the resource, information on its authors and publishers as well as a review of the resource from the student’s perspective would be one approach to exploring the numerous aspects of this Gale resource in depth.

Part V: Reasons chosen

In Idaho, Gale Virtual Reference Library is available to all residents via lili.org, a website funded by the Idaho Commission for Libraries.  This makes it an easily accessible tool for those without access to a physical library or those whose libraries are not maintaining current reference materials.  The demise of the print encyclopedia marked by Encyclopedia Britannica’s announcement in 2012 that it will no longer publish a printed edition is a huge change for the world of reference.  Options such as wikipedia are increasingly the primary resources for information for those doing basic online research.  While wikipedia has many virtues that are largely and undeservedly unsung  within the academic world, there is still a need for alternatives and approaches that involve more traditional models for sourcing and validation of the materials.  My sense is that librarians and educators who work with teens need to be familiar with and promote a handful of basic tools of research and a well-rounded knowledge would include Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Part VI: Citations

About Gale. (2013). Cengage Learning [website].  Retrieved from http://www.gale.cengage.com/about/

Gale. (n.d.). Wikipedia [website]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gale_(publisher)