Thomson Gale
Encyclopedia
Gale is an educational publishing company based in Farmington Hills, Michigan
, the United States, in the western suburbs of Detroit. It was part of the Thomson Learning division of the Thomson Corporation
, a Canadian company, but became part of Cengage Learning
in 2007.
The company, formerly known as Gale Research and the Gale Group, is active in research and educational publishing for public and academic libraries, schools and businesses. The company may be best known for its full-text magazine and newspaper database InfoTrac
and other online databases accessible from schools and libraries, as well as multi-volume reference works, especially in the areas of religion
, history
and social science.
Founded in Detroit in 1954 by Frederick Gale Ruffner, it was acquired by Thomson
in 1985.
-based K.G. Saur Verlag, but then sold it to Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG in 2006.
On October 25, 2006 Thomson Corporation announced that it intended to wholly divest
the Thomson Learning division, because, in the words of Thomson CEO Richard Harrington, "it does not fit with our long-term strategic vision". Thomson has said that it expected this sale to generate approximately $5 billion. Thomson Learning was bought by a private equity consortium consisting of Apax Partners
and OMERS Capital Partners for $7.75 billion and the name was changed from Thomson Learning to Cengage Learning on July 24, 2007.
In October 2007, Cengage Learning announced the appointment of Patrick C. Sommers as president of Gale, effective October 22, 2007.
, KidHaven Press, Lucent Books, and others.
Gale also owns large print publishers Walker Large Print and Wheeler Publishing.
by Noel Ignatiev
. On Dec. 17, 2009 the publisher responded to "concerns from several organizations" over "the accuracy of, and support for, certain statements in the Zionism article" by announcing the appointment of an independent committee to investigate "the factual accuracy, scholarly basis, coverage, scope, and balance of every article." In a further response to the Ignatiev article, Gale published a 10-part composite article, "Nationalism and Ethnicity," which includes evaluations of cultural nationalism
in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and the Middle East, and Pan-Arabism
, in addition to having a new article on Zionism available free of cost to all purchasers of the encyclopedia.
Farmington Hills, Michigan
Farmington Hills is a community in southeastern Michigan. It is the largest city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Its population was 79,740 at the 2010 census...
, the United States, in the western suburbs of Detroit. It was part of the Thomson Learning division of the Thomson Corporation
Thomson Corporation
The Thomson Corporation was one of the world's largest information companies.Thomson was active in financial services, healthcare sectors, law, science & technology research, and tax & accounting sectors...
, a Canadian company, but became part of Cengage Learning
Cengage Learning
Cengage Learning is a publisher of print and digital information services for the academic, professional and library markets, and delivers customized learning solutions for colleges, universities, professors, students, libraries, government agencies, corporations and professionals around the...
in 2007.
The company, formerly known as Gale Research and the Gale Group, is active in research and educational publishing for public and academic libraries, schools and businesses. The company may be best known for its full-text magazine and newspaper database InfoTrac
InfoTrac
InfoTrac is a trademark referenced to full-text databases produced by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning. InfoTrac databases features a wide variety of content from academic journals and general magazines...
and other online databases accessible from schools and libraries, as well as multi-volume reference works, especially in the areas of religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and social science.
Founded in Detroit in 1954 by Frederick Gale Ruffner, it was acquired by Thomson
Thomson Organization
International Thomson Organization was a development of the commercial empire founded by Lord Thomson of Fleet . It was formed in 1978 as a holding company for interests in publishing, travel, and natural resources...
in 1985.
History
In 1999, Thomson Gale acquired Macmillan Reference USA (including Scribner's Reference, Thorndike Press, Schirmer, Twayne Publishers, and G. K. Hall) from Pearson (who had acquired it from Simon & Schuster in 1998; Macmillan USA was purchased by Simon & Schuster in 1994). In 2000 it acquired the MunichMunich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
-based K.G. Saur Verlag, but then sold it to Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG in 2006.
On October 25, 2006 Thomson Corporation announced that it intended to wholly divest
Divestment
In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset for either financial or ethical objectives or sale of an existing business by a firm...
the Thomson Learning division, because, in the words of Thomson CEO Richard Harrington, "it does not fit with our long-term strategic vision". Thomson has said that it expected this sale to generate approximately $5 billion. Thomson Learning was bought by a private equity consortium consisting of Apax Partners
Apax Partners
Apax Partners LLP is a global private equity and venture capital firm, headquartered in London. The company also operates out of eight other offices in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel-Aviv, Madrid, Stockholm, Milan and Munich. The firm, including its various predecessors, have raised...
and OMERS Capital Partners for $7.75 billion and the name was changed from Thomson Learning to Cengage Learning on July 24, 2007.
In October 2007, Cengage Learning announced the appointment of Patrick C. Sommers as president of Gale, effective October 22, 2007.
Imprints
Gale print imprints include the reference brands Primary Source Microfilm, Scholarly Resources Inc., Schirmer Reference, St. James Press, The TAFT Group and Twayne Publishers. Five Star Publishing is Gale's fiction imprint, with hundreds of books in print in the Western, Romance, Mystery and Science Fiction & Fantasy genres. Gale also sells into the K–12 market with several imprints, including U·X·L, Greenhaven PressGreenhaven Press
Greenhaven Press has been an imprint of Gale since 2000. Greenhaven primarily publishes books on social issues for middle school and high school students, and is best known for its Opposing Viewpoints series...
, KidHaven Press, Lucent Books, and others.
Gale also owns large print publishers Walker Large Print and Wheeler Publishing.
Publications
In 2008, Gale published The Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, which included an article on ZionismZionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
by Noel Ignatiev
Noel Ignatiev
Noel Ignatiev is an American history professor at the Massachusetts College of Art best known for his call to "abolish" the white race, which he defines as "white privilege and race identity." Ignatiev is the co-founder and co-editor of the journal Race Traitor and the New Abolitionist Society...
. On Dec. 17, 2009 the publisher responded to "concerns from several organizations" over "the accuracy of, and support for, certain statements in the Zionism article" by announcing the appointment of an independent committee to investigate "the factual accuracy, scholarly basis, coverage, scope, and balance of every article." In a further response to the Ignatiev article, Gale published a 10-part composite article, "Nationalism and Ethnicity," which includes evaluations of cultural nationalism
Cultural nationalism
Cultural nationalism is a form of nationalism in which the nation is defined by a shared culture. It is an intermediate position between ethnic nationalism on one hand and liberal nationalism on the other....
in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and the Middle East, and Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism is an ideology espousing the unification--or, sometimes, close cooperation and solidarity against perceived enemies of the Arabs--of the countries of the Arab world, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea. It is closely connected to Arab nationalism, which asserts that the Arabs...
, in addition to having a new article on Zionism available free of cost to all purchasers of the encyclopedia.
Gale databases
Gale provides access to over 600 online databases, some of which are updated daily. Some databases have overlapping information, but are targeted towards different markets such as K–12 schools, or public libraries. Clients chose which database they wish to subscribe to, such as:- Gale Digital Collections, which includes the Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) distributed as print on demandPrint on demandPrint on demand , sometimes called, in error, publish on demand, is a printing technology and business process in which new copies of a book are not printed until an order has been received...
books in partnership with BiblioLabs/BiblioLife. - HighBeam ResearchHighBeam ResearchHighBeam Research is a paid search engine owned by Cengage Learning for newspapers, magazines, academic journals, newswires, trade magazines and encyclopedias...
(acquired in December 2008) - Book Review IndexBook Review IndexBook Review Index is an index of book reviews and literary criticism, found in leading academic, popular, and professional periodicals. It has been published since 1965. For most of its history it has been owned by Gale and part of the Thomson family of information businesses.-Publication...
– Index of book reviews and literary criticism, found in leading academic, popular, and professional periodicals, published since 1965. - Biography and Genealogy Master IndexBiography and Genealogy Master IndexThe Biography and Genealogy Master Index was a printed reference index, and is currently a proprietary database published by the Gale Research Company. The database indexes more than 15 million individuals, living and deceased, covered in more than 1700 biographical reference sources.-History:The...
- InfoTracInfoTracInfoTrac is a trademark referenced to full-text databases produced by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning. InfoTrac databases features a wide variety of content from academic journals and general magazines...
databases - Gale Virtual Reference Library – Database of multidisciplinary encyclopedias, almanacs and specialized reference sources
- Military & Intelligence Database
- GaleNet – Numerous databases providing articles and analysis in a variety of subjects including business, literature, genealogy, history, health, social sciences and science
- History Resource Center – Journals, reference works, and primary source documents
- General OneFile – Millions of full-text articles from 1980 to the present, many with images.
- Associations Unlimited – Database with 460,000 international and U.S. national, regional, state, and local nonprofit membership organizations in all fields, including IRS data on U.S. 501(c) nonprofit organizations
- Health and Wellness Resource Center – Access to medical reference materials, including nearly 400 health/medical journals, reference volumes, and over 700 health videos from partner Healthology, Inc. Also indexes hundreds of pamphlets and health-related articles from 2,200 general interest publications, as well as some other Gale reference titles.
See also
- AccessMyLibraryAccessMyLibraryAccessMyLibrary.com is a web based federated search product produced by Gale, which prefers to market the product as a "search engine", although it is more similar in technology and results to a portal or metasearch engine. It is marketed as providing community-wide access to Gale databases and...
– web access to Gale databases for patrons of public and school libraries - Cengage LearningCengage LearningCengage Learning is a publisher of print and digital information services for the academic, professional and library markets, and delivers customized learning solutions for colleges, universities, professors, students, libraries, government agencies, corporations and professionals around the...
– current corporate entity - Contemporary AuthorsContemporary AuthorsContemporary Authors is an annually updated reference work published by Gale Cengage. It provides biographical details on over 120,000 writers in all genres whose works have been published in the English language...
published by Gale - Dictionary of Literary BiographyDictionary of Literary BiographyThe Dictionary of Literary Biography is a specialist encyclopedia dedicated to literature. Published by Gale, the 375-volumes set covers a wide variety of literary topics, periods, and genres, with a focus on American and British literature....
published by Gale - Encyclopaedia JudaicaEncyclopaedia JudaicaThe Encyclopaedia Judaica is a 26-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people and their faith, Judaism. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, holidays, language, scripture, and religious teachings...
published by Gale - New Catholic EncyclopediaNew Catholic EncyclopediaThe New Catholic Encyclopedia is a multi-volume reference work on Roman Catholic history and belief edited by the faculty of The Catholic University of America and originally published by McGraw-Hill in 1967...
published by Gale - Questia.com owned by Gale
- Encyclopedia.com owned by Gale
Thomson Gale-owned sites and services
- Gale Directory Library – dozens of print directories on a digital platform
- Goliath – site with company information
- WiseTo Social Issues – new reference website covering social issues