Weekly News Digest

Gale (www.gale.com), a part of Cengage Learning (www.cengage.com), announced it is providing free access to Global Issues in Context and health and medical related ebooks from the Gale Virtual Reference Library in an effort to make reliable, expert information regarding the H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu, readily available. Librarians can install a widget (www.gale.cengage.com/flu) to their homepages, Facebook pages, or blogs, allowing their community to access the information at the library or from any computer with an internet connection.

Global Issues in Context now features a swine flu portal that include editorial perspectives from international publications such as the Africa News Service, the Chicago Tribune, and The Independent (London), dozens of podcasts from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and thousands of news articles. Global Issues in Context also includes CDC, WHO, pandemic preparedness, and influenza portals.

Through Gale Virtual Reference Library, sources such as the Encyclopedia of Genetics, the Encyclopedia of Public Health, American Decades, and Infectious Diseases in Context provide users access to authoritative articles about swine flu, other strains of influenza, emerging diseases, pandemic preparedness, and other issues related to public health. Users can also read factual, historical accounts of previous outbreaks of swine flu in 1918 and 1976.

These resources provide content for all levels of interest, from general information to more in-depth analysis for researchers or healthcare professionals.

Source: Gale