Tips & Tricks for ACLA Databases and Downloadables

Gale Databases “Listen” Option

One of the many valuable things that I learned in the EREC Database Training Sessions

is that most of the Gale databases that we have offer the “Listen” option, where you

can have the article read to you. . When you get to an article that you want to read you’ll see

Listen  below the title of the article and above its content:
 

Emancipation Proclamation (1863)

Dictionary of American History , 2003
//

Listen 
 
Each word of the article will be highlighted as it is being read to you. Also,
you can limit what you want read to you to just an excerpt of the article.
If you use mouse to highlight and copy just the portion of the text that
you want read, only that portion will be read to you. The databases that offer
this option are:
Biography in Context
US History in Context
World History in Context
Literature Resource Center
Opposing Viewpoints in Context
Science in Context
 
The only Gale database that I found that doesn’t offer this option is
the Business and Company Resource Center.
 
Tom
CLP
 

 
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Gale In Context

ACLA currently subscribes to five of the Gale “In Context” databases. They are: Biography in Context, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, Science in Context, U.S. History in Context, and World History in Context. Each database has some pretty amazing features, including:

  • Read Speaker text-to-speech technology–a great option for struggling readers and the visually impaired.
  • Document translation–translates any document into French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, Portuguese, simplified Chinese, and Korean.
  • Customizable RSS feeds–allows information to be automatically delivered to users.
  • Media-rich content–images, audio, video, maps and interactive resources.
  • Web 2.0 sharing–allows linking through hundreds of popular social networks and bookmarking tools.
  • Citation tools mapped to the most current MLA and APA standards.
  • Fact boxes provide a snapshot summary of key information for quick review.
  • Interactive Google maps put research in an important geographical context.
  • Infomark functionality allows users to copy, bookmark, or email a persistent URL of nearly every page — giving them the ability to create and share reading lists, bibliographies, course packs and more.
  • Content Level Indicators and lexile scoring to find resources suited to different reading abilities.

Mary Lee Hart

Northland Public Library

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The “State of the ebook union” –or maybe disunion

For a concise summary of  the world (or ocean) of “e”, read this blog post about the Ebook tipping point  by Tracey Thompson in Library 020—Musing about public libraries and library technologies where yes, there are still librarians!

Tracey summarizes a Pew Internet report from April 4 on the rise of e-reading, followed by various publishing houses and their current positions relating to ebooks. She blogs about ALA’s talks with publishers, Amazon and self-publishing through their site, OverDrive’s relationship with Amazon and Kindle, and Apple and the Department of Justice lawsuit against them and  five of the big publishers.

Tracy concludes with libraries and the tipping point of new business models for publishers. She predicts that the next few years will be exciting in the world of ebooks.

How do you feel? Would “excited” be your description? Maybe cautiously optimistic?

Karen

Northland

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Book Reviews – NOT NoveList

NoveList is one of our favorite databases to turn to when we need book reviews and author bios, but there are two other resources we have at our disposal for such information: the Literature Resource Center and Biography in Context.

Did you know the Literature Resource Center offers non-fiction book reviews and links to recorded interviews and reviews from NPR?  Perform an author or title search and try!  Check under the Multimedia tab to find audiofiles.

A name of work search for the new One Book, One Community selection (a non-fiction book that wouldn’t be found in NoveList), This I believe: the personal philosophies of remarkable men and women, will provide results your patrons and book groups will appreciate!

The Biography in Context database also provides a variety of useful information.

A keyword search for the popular non-fiction title Wild: from lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail will find reviews and commentaries.   A name search for author Cheryl Strayed will also yield results.

     

NoveList is a wonderful resource, but don’t forget to try other databases for reviews, criticisms, and much more!

rob (Bethel Park)

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