Statewide Database Licensing Project

• SDL Selects Gale
• Gale Renewal
• NewsBank Offer
• SDL e-Mail List
• SDL Mission Statement
• SDL Project Overview
• Contact Information

SDL Selects Gale

The Statewide Database Licensing (SDL) project of the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State, is excited to announce a contract for a package of resources from Gale Cengage which replaces the ProQuest package that expired on June 30, 2021.

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The combined proposal from Gale for periodical databases and K-12 resources scored higher for both content and interface as well as in pricing. It is hoped that the attractive, recently redesigned user interface and relevant content will help reverse the ongoing decline in usage that has characterized the SDL project in recent years.

The SDL Advisory Committee was virtually unanimous in its decision to recommend awarding the contract to Gale, with no dissenting votes. To check out the full package that will be made available to Washington libraries visit the Gale trial site. In addition, Gale will be posting information on access, training, and support tools to assist libraries in getting started. It is anticipated that libraries will have access to the new content package prior to the July 1 official start date. Signup and pricing information will follow at a later date once the contract negotiation process is completed.

The SDL Advisory Committee had a key role in the selection process, advising on the RFP itself, and subsequently assisting with the scoring, and making vendor recommendations. Feel free to contact members of the Advisory Committee, or SDL staff, with your comments or suggestions.

The SDL project is funded in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). The remainder of the funding is provided by participating libraries.

To sign up for the Gale package or for more information, vist the SDL News and Information page, or contact SDL project manager, Will Stuivenga.

Gale Renewal

The 2023-2024 Gale renewal is underway. For more information about the renewal, visit the SDL News and Information page.

NewsBank

The Washington State Library and NewsBank have continued their partnership providing libraries with access to newspaper content for Washington State and beyond. The available content includes ResearchRocket for young researchers, and Integrated Collections (with full-color PDF page views) for five additional Washington newspapers.

For libraries that subscribed after Dec. 31, 2020, WSL provided a 50% subsidy for the first year, and a 25% subsidy for the second year. The subsidies were underwritten by the Washington State Library, using federal LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act) funds made available by IMLS (the Institute of Museum and Library Service).

For more information, visit the NewsBank Trial Page. NewsBank has also created a set of Resources for Washington Libraries that includes suggestions for promoting these resources through social media and other venues. To sign up, contact the appropriate NewsBank account representative as listed on the Trial Page.

SDL E-Mail Distribution List

One way to keep informed about the Statewide Database Licensing Project is to subscribe to the SDL project's e-mail list, WALIBSDL, or to the State Library's eNewletter, WSL Updates. To subscribe to these and other WSL e-mail lists, visit the WSL e-mail distribution lists page.

Training

Training for products from other vendors available through group purchases sponsored by the State Library is generally available by contacting the vendor directly. Or Will Stuivenga can provide contact information.

Project Description

SDL is a project coordinated by the Washington State Library to give citizens of the State of Washington access to online resources, specifically commercial research databases, through their local libraries at a discounted cost.

With guidance from the project's steering committee, the project uses federal LSTA grant funds to underwrite expensive licenses to full-text magazine and newspaper databases. Initiated in 1998, this project pays one half the annual costs. Libraries' local funds pay the rest. Local library costs are set using formulas established by the statewide advisory committee.

Libraries participating in SDL include:

• Public and private academic libraries (4-year+)
• Community and technical college libraries
• Public libraries and library systems
• Medical and special libraries
• K-12 libraries (in public and private schools) via the 9 Educational Service Districts (ESDs)
• Tribal libraries
• State government agency libraries

The new database package from Gale, available starting July 1, 2021, includes:

• Business Insights: Global
• Gale Business: Entrepreneurship
• Gale Academic OneFile & Gale OneFile Collections
• Gale General OneFile & Gale OneFile Collections
• Gale eBooks
• Gale Health and Wellness
• Gale In Context: Elementary
• Gale In Context: College
• Gale In Context: Global Issues
• Gale In Context: High School
• Gale In Context: Middle School
• Gale Literature: LitFinder
• Gale OneFile: Educator’s Reference Complete
• Gale OneFile: Informe Académico
• Gale OneFile: News

SDL also coordinates group purchases of other databases purchased and funded with local library funds.