April 28, 2026
Hi Folks,
Here’s hoping that your week is going well! I wanted to update you about some Gale updates. 🙃
Webinar on 5/6 about Supporting Accessibility
Gale staff are hosting a webinar on May 6th from 3:30 to 4:00 pm Pacific – Supporting Accessibility with Gale Resources. The training will explore built-in tools such as on-demand translation, text to speech, customizable display settings, and text enhancement features that improve readability and comprehension across Gale resources. It is specifically for Oregon library staff and classroom teachers. Thanks for helping to spread the word.
Geolocation – Why Require Authentication?
Last week I posted about a small geolocation update. What I forgot to mention in that email is why we still require authentication if Gale can recognize when users are in Oregon. The reason is so we can attribute usage to the correct school district or private school since some track statistics.
Power Search Update
Last month, Gale updated the Power Search interface. Details are in this brief blog post and this 30-minute webinar recording. Not quite sure what Power Search is? Basically, it’s a resource that allows you to search multiple Gale databases at the same time, which is especially helpful for staff and for secondary students. Power Search is available on the secondary Find Information page on OSLIS. Since it’s not designed for younger students, access for elementary staff is in the educator section at the bottom of the elementary Find Information page. Toggle that section open.
Gale Ebooks Database & MARC Records
Just a friendly reminder that everyone has access to just under 300 ebooks through the Gale Ebooks database. Most of the titles would be helpful for research projects, and since the statewide contract serves more than just K-12 libraries, some content is aimed at college students and adults. That said, elementary students can access the ebooks aimed at K-5 students via Gale In Context: Elementary. Also, you can see which titles were added which year by sorting the first column of this title list. Want to add the ebooks to your catalog? No problem. MARC records are available on Gale’s support site for Oregon library staff.
National Geographic Kids (NGK) Ebooks & MARC Records
Do you know what other database has ebooks? Yep, National Geographic Kids. Guess how many. Nope, not 300. Much higher. There are over 775 ebooks aimed at students in grades K-8!😯 Some are good for research, but a big chunk is great for general interest browsing and reading, too. Not surprisingly, most of the titles are nonfiction, but there are about 25 fiction titles, including these series: Explorer Academy, Mysteries in Our National Parks Series, The S.M.A.R.T. Squad, and Zeus the Mighty. Plus, you can download NGK MARC records to your catalog, too. A new batch was added recently. There are instructions for Destiny users; if they need to be updated, please let me know. FYI, I’m not sure why, but there are not MARC records for every ebook available in NGK.
Over and out. If you have questions, please ask.
Best,
Jen
Jen Maurer
School Library Consultant
State Library of Oregon