What's Happening in Farmington Hills, MI…

One of the most well-known companies in academic publishing, Gale, is located in Farmington Hills and has just reached a licensing agreement with the Smithsonian Institution.

The agreement enables Gale to allocate Smithsonian materials to the academic market as well as to libraries.

According to Frank Menchaca, who is executive vice president for research solutions at Cengage Learning, which is part of Gale, the new agreement will enable the company to become the largest distributor of humanities research materials to academic libraries.

Menchaca notes that Gale currently distributes educational materials throughout the world, and this new arrangement will allow the company to provide Smithsonian materials to researchers, teachers and students. He enthuses there will be a huge quantity of research materials made available to interested parties in an entirely new way.

The Smithsonian is almost legendary in the scope of its collections and the information it has in its archives. As the largest research and museum complex in existence, it comprises nine research facilities, 19 museums, and over 140 affiliated museums throughout the U.S. and the world. It houses approximately 137 million items and hosts more than 30 million visitors annually.

The agreement allows Gage access to the archives of Smithsonian Magazine as well as Air and Space magazine, plus access to many of the collections. Thanks to the new agreement, Cengage Learning will now be able to develop the Smithsonian “brand” for their academic and library markets using the institution’s own assets.

Gale officials might consider working with brochure printers to create materials explaining the Smithsonian assets they will be distributing to libraries and academic institutions.