Gale Virtual Reference Library

Gale Virtual Reference Library. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=idahofpl&authCount=1. Gale Cengage Learning: 2010.

Overview
The Idaho Falls Public Library provides access to the Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) database from our home page to help anyone with their research projects. The GVRL is a collection of thousands of reference e-books that are instantly available. The Gale Cengage Group stresses that the information is solid and can be trusted for accurate information. The benefits for students are that the e-books offer a wide range of topics, are accessible at anytime and can be converted to text-to-speech (ReadSpeaker Technology) for those who require the help. There are also benefits to libraries who offer the GVRL: we can offer more sources for our patrons, while not using space we might not have; we will never lose one volume to a collection and we make our young adult patrons happy because of the easy and quick access—and happy patrons will remember us and use us again.

The GVRL is easy to use. A patron can either do a basic search using either a document title, a keyword, or a subject search; or it's also possible to view the publications available for more of a browsing search. There are many areas that would appeal to a young adult, such as VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever, Notable Sports Figures and Political Theories for Students. For each publication, there is a search by table of contents and a list of illustrations—which is a great way to avoid the sketchy Google image search. The last best thing about this database is the citation tools. Building a bibliography can be very tricky, and having the most up-to-date styles are extremely helpful.

I have used this site at the library, for my school and have helped my kids use it for their research. I have never had a link that was broken and all of the information is current.

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 13+

Why I included this database...
A traditional library can't be open around the clock, so having information that can be accessed beyond normal library hours is invaluable.

Graphic from Gale Cengage. Retrieved from http://www.gale.cengage.com/ on December 14, 2010.