Gale, part of Cengage Learning and a publisher of research and education resources for libraries, schools and businesses, and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission have a contract to provide access to Gale research databases to all public school libraries throughout the state. More than 5 million Texas public school students in more than 9,000 schools will have online access to 15 Gale databases and a collection of ebooks from Gale Virtual Reference Library.
Gale will provide elementary, middle and high school students with access to its award-winning databases which include multimedia, periodical and reference content on a wide range of topics. According to a recent independent study conducted by Project Tomorrow, a national education non-profit organisation, students in classrooms that integrate Gale databases, including many of the same databases being made available to Texas students as part of this agreement, demonstrated increased engagement in learning and greater academic achievement.
The Gale databases will be available to Texas students starting June 15. Gale and the Texas State Library will make training and support material available to Texas school librarians so they can best leverage the databases with students. In addition, students can access Gale resources directly on their mobile devices via Gale's AccessMyLibrary (AML) application which connects students directly to their school's Gale databases, making research accessible in the way they prefer to learn.
