Gale is offering up the the full text (search or browse) of three titles through June 6, 2010.
Why?
Glacier National Park celebrated its 100th anniversary this week - and Gale is offering free access to 3 eBooks on the National Parks.
Getting Started
We were able to get to the database without having to register and/or use a Gale login. A great way to spend more time using the product than filling in boxes.
Three Titles Available
1) Encyclopedia of Recreation and Leisure in America , 2v, 2004
2) The Rough Guide to USA , 8th ed., 2007
3) United States Government Internet Manual, 2005-2006, 2005
There are also Advanced as well as a Subject Guide interfaces. So, even if the material doesn't interest you, using the database to practice practice search strategies and techniques is also possible.
Browse
If you prefer to browse each book, look for the text, "select a publication below" located underneath the search box. Now select a category or "select all." and click. Since there are only three titles, select all is a viable option.
Now you should see links for all three titles. Select one and happy reading.
Printing and Listening
You cannot print an entire book at one time but you can download a page, pages, even an entire chapter. Look for the links on the right side of a page in the "tools" section. You're also able to save material to your hard drive, memory stick, etc. In some cases, you can download only the text (HTML) or the text with graphics. These links can be found on results lists.
Finally, at the top of a each entry look for a speaker icon. Click and the material will be read to you using a synthesized voice. You can also download the audio in MP3 format.
A family of resources to help information workers be more effective, raise the value of information in their organisations and contribute to success. Read more »
Recently I have found myself cooing over visualisation maps (and heat maps) of health and well being resources. The content rich data is overlayed with mapping technologies, and some interesting themes and patterns are emerging.
A lot of the talk around social media in the last year has been around information overload. Social media has provided us with new and exciting ways to create content. But it has also meant learning new ways to manage and engage with social media tools. Are we teetering on the edge of an information overload precipice?
Information overload is a figment of your imagination. Or a failure of your filter. Or a symptom of your technological submissiveness. Depends on who you ask.
What if you had to sort through 3.5 million articles and social media posts a day and try to pull out the most relevant items for your organisation? What if you then had to cobble it all together into something readable for your top groups and executives in your organisation?
Alacra Compliance saves time by aggregating information from both free and fee-based sources and enabling users to conduct an accurate federated search across these sources (coined “simultaneous search” by Alacra).
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