Gale's Biography in Context
Gale's Biography in Context
Grades: 6+ | Subject(s): Biography | Overall rating: 10
Gale’s Biography in Context is my favorite biographical resource. Our school purchased access to this database for our students. When users enter the website (http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/?userGroupName=carr83239), they are prompted to enter our school password. The passwords are available in the library media center and are discussed at the 9th grade orientation sessions.
When they enter our password, the homepage for Gale’s Biography in Context appears. It’s aesthetically appealing, organized, and contains a picture slideshow displaying prominent biographical information that rotates to attract student interest. The site offers a search feature where students can search for the person they are researching by name, occupation, nationality, birth or death place. Advanced search features are available as well. Options to browse all available biographies or view additional resources are also given for students. If students would rather sort results by category, the site lists and links three individuals in each of the following categories on the home page: Medical Notables, Native Americans, People in the News, Singers, Writers, Musicians, Notable Women, Religious Leaders, Social Reformers, and Young Adult Writers. Gale also includes a section for Featured News along the right side of the screen where recent news articles of a biographical nature published in The New York Times, USA Today, and Newsweek are linked.
For the purposes of this assignment, I searched for Elvis Presley first. An image was given with a brief biography. Additionally, the page was divided into information about Elvis in the following categories: Featured Content, News, Reference, Academic Journals, Websites, and Magazines. A bar along the right called the “Factbox” listed basic information about Elvis such as his birth and death date and location, his occupation, nationality, gender, and other names. Also listed along the side of the screen were images, videos, and audio files. A list of related topics including The Beatles, James Brown, and Madonna were linked at the bottom of the screen. Because the page was so lengthy, it was helpful that Gale included a short, navigation panel at the top of the screen with anchors to main sections on the page. Students could also bookmark, share, or email the page. Each link within the page also gave the citation information for students to use. Unfortunately, the link was only listed in MLA format. A dictionary was also provided and a search bar to search within the page to find content. Students could also have the page read to them, which is a great resource for our students with special needs and our struggling readers.
While a wealth of information was found about Elvis, I only found one page of information about Parker Palmer, my favorite education writer. Only his name, birth date and location, nationality, and occupation are listed with a brief biography, a list of his published works, and citations for further readings about Parker Palmer were given. While he is much less well-known than Elvis, I was expecting a little more. But, since this database is for a younger audience, perhaps a detailed article about Parker Palmer is not necessary.
I assigned a value of 10 for this resource. Although I was disappointed in the Parker Palmer search, I found a lot of information (and not only in text) for Elvis. The videos, pictures, and audio files would be appealing to my students and the information was well organized and logically and aesthetically displayed.
Sources:
Elvis Presley. 1989. Contemporary Musicians Gale Biography in Context. Retrieved from
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?
failOver&query=&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-
query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=true&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&p=BIC1&action=e&catId=GALE%7C00000000MQAT&activity&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CK1608000495&source=Bookmark&u=carr83239&jsid=4a758f09929b6e04bb52b2aee3694a31.
Parker J. Palmer. Contemporary Authors Online Gale Biography in Context. Retrieved from
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?failOver&query=&prodId=BIC1&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&p=BIC1&action=e&catId=&activity&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CH1000075822&source=Bookmark&u=carr83239&jsid=63e293ad6a54364001e52f4fb6a6275b.
Grades: 6+ | Subject(s): Biography | Overall rating: 10
Gale’s Biography in Context is my favorite biographical resource. Our school purchased access to this database for our students. When users enter the website (http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/?userGroupName=carr83239), they are prompted to enter our school password. The passwords are available in the library media center and are discussed at the 9th grade orientation sessions.
When they enter our password, the homepage for Gale’s Biography in Context appears. It’s aesthetically appealing, organized, and contains a picture slideshow displaying prominent biographical information that rotates to attract student interest. The site offers a search feature where students can search for the person they are researching by name, occupation, nationality, birth or death place. Advanced search features are available as well. Options to browse all available biographies or view additional resources are also given for students. If students would rather sort results by category, the site lists and links three individuals in each of the following categories on the home page: Medical Notables, Native Americans, People in the News, Singers, Writers, Musicians, Notable Women, Religious Leaders, Social Reformers, and Young Adult Writers. Gale also includes a section for Featured News along the right side of the screen where recent news articles of a biographical nature published in The New York Times, USA Today, and Newsweek are linked.
For the purposes of this assignment, I searched for Elvis Presley first. An image was given with a brief biography. Additionally, the page was divided into information about Elvis in the following categories: Featured Content, News, Reference, Academic Journals, Websites, and Magazines. A bar along the right called the “Factbox” listed basic information about Elvis such as his birth and death date and location, his occupation, nationality, gender, and other names. Also listed along the side of the screen were images, videos, and audio files. A list of related topics including The Beatles, James Brown, and Madonna were linked at the bottom of the screen. Because the page was so lengthy, it was helpful that Gale included a short, navigation panel at the top of the screen with anchors to main sections on the page. Students could also bookmark, share, or email the page. Each link within the page also gave the citation information for students to use. Unfortunately, the link was only listed in MLA format. A dictionary was also provided and a search bar to search within the page to find content. Students could also have the page read to them, which is a great resource for our students with special needs and our struggling readers.
While a wealth of information was found about Elvis, I only found one page of information about Parker Palmer, my favorite education writer. Only his name, birth date and location, nationality, and occupation are listed with a brief biography, a list of his published works, and citations for further readings about Parker Palmer were given. While he is much less well-known than Elvis, I was expecting a little more. But, since this database is for a younger audience, perhaps a detailed article about Parker Palmer is not necessary.
I assigned a value of 10 for this resource. Although I was disappointed in the Parker Palmer search, I found a lot of information (and not only in text) for Elvis. The videos, pictures, and audio files would be appealing to my students and the information was well organized and logically and aesthetically displayed.
Sources:
Elvis Presley. 1989. Contemporary Musicians Gale Biography in Context. Retrieved from
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?
failOver&query=&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-
query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=true&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&p=BIC1&action=e&catId=GALE%7C00000000MQAT&activity&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CK1608000495&source=Bookmark&u=carr83239&jsid=4a758f09929b6e04bb52b2aee3694a31.
Parker J. Palmer. Contemporary Authors Online Gale Biography in Context. Retrieved from
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?failOver&query=&prodId=BIC1&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Reference&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&displayGroups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&p=BIC1&action=e&catId=&activity&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CH1000075822&source=Bookmark&u=carr83239&jsid=63e293ad6a54364001e52f4fb6a6275b.