NEW YORK, NY, Jan. 13, 2021—Infobase, the esteemed provider of the Infobase Media Cloud and the Infobase Learning Cloud, is pleased to announce that two of its solutions, Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center and Issues & Controversies, have received a gold award in LibraryWorks’ seventh annual Modern Library Awards (MLAs).

The MLAs were created to recognize the top products and services in the library industry in a truly unbiased format. Products and services were submitted in the fall using a simple application and then were posted on a private site with an enhanced description and attendant materials. These products were batched into small groups and sent to the LibraryWorks database of more than 80,000 librarians at public, K–12, academic, and special libraries. Only customers with experience with these products/services in their facilities were permitted to judge the products/services, resulting in a truly unbiased score. 

Each judge scored the product on a numeric basis from 1–10 on a series of questions regarding functionality, value, customer service, and other criteria.

“It is a great honor to receive this recognition from the prestigious MLA Awards, especially as we’ve prioritized our ‘voice of the customer’ initiative,” said Paul Skordilis, president and CEO of Infobase. “We’ve sought to identify trends and changes in how users are consuming and sharing content and to build better product roadmaps. Through this program, Infobase is committed to continuously curating, creating, and providing content and digital tools that educators and users can trust and that can provide lifelong learning opportunities that bridge education with career opportunities.” 

Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center

Newly redesigned, Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center is an award-winning reference solution for lifelong career exploration and planning. It offers a wealth of resources for users to assess their career goals and interests, plan their education, learn workplace skills, find apprenticeships and internships, conduct a job search, and much more. For students choosing a career path, graduates entering the workforce, or professionals changing careers, Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center supports users at every step of their career journey.

Highlights of Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center include:

• Expertly researched, detailed content—including video interviews—on 140+ industries and 1,000+ professions
• Comprehensive school searches
• Expert advice articles and videos
• Current, searchable, live job postings and internship or apprenticeship directories
• Videos and clips on jobs, industries, and career development skills
• Career advice articles
• Two Career Assessments
• And much more

Issues & Controversies

Designed to inspire thought-provoking discussions and debates, Issues & Controversies provides students and researchers with a unique tool for understanding today’s crucial issues. Each in-depth article presents both sides of an issue clearly and without bias. Updated weekly, this resource presents the key facts, arguments, history, and current context of today’s most important and timely issues—making it an ideal resource for research papers, debate preparation, and persuasive writing assignments. The articles are written by Infobase’s own expert writers and editors, and each article includes a full range of supporting materials. 

Highlights of Issues & Controversies include:

• Timely, in-depth articles on today’s most important and controversial issues
• Original videos and educator support materials
• Oxford-style debate videos
• QuickTake videos providing succinct overviews of major topics
• Thousands of newspaper and magazine editorials and opinions across the political spectrum
• Editorially curated National Public Radio (NPR) audio recordings and podcasts
• Primary sources, infographics, editorial cartoons, topic-based newsfeed, and other related resources
• Original articles summarizing key court cases
• And more

Jenny Newman, publisher and MLA program manager, said, “It’s hardly a surprise that Infobase scored so well. And we’re especially pleased they have two winners on their 80th anniversary of service to librarians and educators!”  

About Infobase:

Infobase, a Centre Lane Partners portfolio company, is the esteemed provider of the Infobase Media Cloud and the Infobase Learning Cloud, which deliver award-winning multimedia reference content, online tools and technology, and professional development and training solutions to the school, academic, and public library communities.

Enabled by such well-known brands as Facts On File, Learn360, Credo, The Mailbox®, Films Media Group, Bloom’s, Ferguson’s, Vault, and the Infobase Learning Cloud, Infobase provides students, educators, librarians, and parents with the broad range of solutions they need to inspire, enable, and inform lifelong learners. For 80 years, Infobase has been a reliable, authoritative resource providing flexible options for accessing educational content whether in school, at the library, or at home. To learn more, visit www.Infobase.com.

About LibraryWorks:

LibraryWorks helps administrators to make informed decisions about library technology, automation and software, collection development and management, facilities and furnishings, staffing, purchasing, and other areas that drive effective strategic planning and day-to-day operations. Our family of resources can enable you to identify best practices, monitor trends, evaluate new products and services, apply for grants and funding, post or find a job, and even enjoy some library humor.

About the Modern Library Awards program:

The Modern Library Awards (MLAs) is a review program designed to recognize elite products and services in the market which can help library management personnel enhance the quality-of-experience for the library user and increase the performance of their library systems.