Gale (publisher)

History

In 1998, Gale Research merged with Information Access Company and Primary Source Media, two companies also owned by Thomson, to form the Gale Group. Thomson has acquired Information Access Company (publisher of InfoTrac) in 1995 and Primary Source Media (formerly named Research Publications) in 1979.

In 1999, Thomson Gale acquired Macmillan Library Reference (including Scribner's Reference, Thorndike Press, Schirmer, Twayne Publishers, and G. K. Hall) from Pearson (which had acquired it from Simon & Schuster in 1998; Macmillan USA was purchased by Simon & Schuster in 1994).{{Cite web |access-date=2018-05-13 |date=1999-06-21| url = https://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/NewsBreaks/Thomsons-Gale-Group-Acquires-MacMillan-Library-Reference-USA-17944.asp}} In 2000 it acquired the Munich-based K. G. Saur Verlag,The Academic Publishing Industry: A Story of Merger and Acquisition – Reed Elsevier. {{webarchive |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090617105440/http://www.degruyter.de/files/down/history_saur.pdf |archive-date=17 June 2009 |url-status=dead}}

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.

Patrick C. Sommers was president of Gale from October 22, 2007, until he retired in 2010. In 2013, Cengage Learning filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Products

Gale produces hundreds of products, such as Gale Academic OneFile, Biography and Genealogy Master Index, General OneFile, General Reference Center, Sabin Americana (based on Sabin's Bibliotheca Americana), and World History Collection.

Gale print imprints include the reference brands Primary Source Media, Scholarly Resources Inc., Schirmer Reference, St. James Press, The TAFT Group and Twayne Publishers, among others. 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. Gale also owns large print publishers Christian Large Print and Wheeler Publishing.

References

References

1. "Gale - Helping Libraries Prepare for the 21st Century".
2. "[http://www.gale.cengage.com/policy.htm#terms Privacy Statement and Terms of Use]". ''Gale''. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
3. (25 August 2014). "Frederick Gale Ruffner Jr. : 1926-2014: Ohio State grad made fortune in reference-book publishing". The Columbus Dispatch.
4. Anonymous. (October 1998). "Gale Research, Information Access Company and Primary Source Media merged into the Gale Group by Thomason Corporation". Information Intelligence Online Libraries and Microcomputers.
5. [https://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6446345.html "Thomson Gale Part of Larger Sale"] by Norman Oder, ''[[Library Journal]]'', June 1, 2007
6. "Cengage Learning Names Patrick C. Sommers President of Gale".
7. (August 2013). "Cengage Learning files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection".
8. "Databases: Academic OneFile". University of Texas Libraries.
9. (April 15, 2012). "eReviews: Biography: Biography and Genealogy Master Index". [[Library Journal]].
10. Cengage Learning. "Database Title Lists". Gale: Title Lists.
11. "Gale".