Global Issues in Context is a well-structured and diverse database that contains international viewpoints on a broad spectrum of global issues. It is highly used at the University of Balamand mainly by the English Program faculty and students since information literacy librarians promote it in the customized library sessions that are delivered to the English 101 sections every semester. The sessions are designed around a topic that students need to research using the provided databases in order to fulfill their assignments. In addition, English professors instruct students to use Global Issues in Context for their papers in other courses such as English 102 and intensive English. There are many reasons why the database works well for them: - It contains a list of current and updated topics that students can browse and choose from; - All topics are listed under a broader subject or discipline; - The results display is user friendly and divided into categories (viewpoint, reference, magazines, news, etc.); - The database has articles from different points of view in each category; - Articles are short and easy to read and understand which is suitable for freshman and sophomore students. Also, librarians use it to help students find a topic to work on in the Library Use and Research Methods class. We highly recommend Global Issues in Context for any university or college since it is a general database for early academic level, it tackles students need directly by offering hands-on topics and information from different perspectives and in many formats.

"As a librarian heavily involved in promoting independent learning at KS4 and KS5, I value digital resources that offer not only great content but also make it easy for students to find what they need. From this perspective, the Gale in Context are superior to any other platform available to UK schools. The quantity, quality and diversity of content is superb, ranging from short summary articles to images, ebooks, primary sources and scholarly material. Search results are curated superbly, enabling students (and staff) to quickly work out what's likely to be of most relevance and to filter out what's not. Gale's 'Power Search' function, which visualises links between search terms and topics, is invaluable for helping students find material they might otherwise have missed and understand research as an intellectual process rather than simply a series of mechanical actions. Cross-platform searching and single sign on work seamlessly. Last but not least, Gale have taken accessibility seriously, offering a range of useful features which include text-to-speech, dyslexia-friendly fonts and navigational consistency."