New Gale Online Community Gives LIS Students Databases for Free

Taking a page from the early days of online products, Gale, part of Cengage Learning, last week launched Librareo (www.librareo.com), an online community for LIS students in the United States and Canada that will provide unlimited free access to what the company says are its "most requested" online databases. The program is part of its ongoing efforts to support libraries and librarians.

In addition to free access to 15 of Gale's databases, the website provides other perks to those who sign up, including a message board and forum that will be moderated by already established librarians and LIS faculty, enabling students to "engag[e] in ongoing discussions on the future of libraries with peers and experts in the industry," said Nader Qaimari, senior VP, marketing, Cengage Learning.

Another perk (from LJ's perspective) is a free one-year subscription to Library Journal or School Library Journal. Student subscriptions will be given out to 3000 LIS students who register.

Among the Gale databases available free on the website are some of the company's best-known products, including Academic OneFile, Culinary Arts Collection, Educator's Reference Complete, Gale Business Insights: Global, GREENR, Gale Virtual Reference Library, Health Reference Center Academic, Powerspeak Languages, several "in Context" resources (e.g., Biography in Context), and more.

"We are very pleased to fund and create Librareo, which will power future librarians to interact as a community and learn from each other," said Qaimari. "Students will be a step ahead for their dream job by getting exposure to the resources most libraries offer their users today."