Actually my question is as to comparing the word to garner and to glean but Id like to give reference to the words collect and get also.
The word gerner means
Gather or collect (something, especially information or approval)
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/garner
The word glean means
Obtain (information) from various sources, often with difficulty.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/glean
So what I deduce is that the word garner has a meaning that contains the word glean but broader than it.
For example:
Coppola garnered several Oscar awards for "The Godfather".
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/garner
I think we cannot replace garner with glean.Because the word glean is more associated with information but I dont see any problem if we replace the word "to garner" with the words like get, gather, collect here.
On the other hand if we look at the examples given for the word "to glean" on Oxford Dictionary, I think we can swap the words without changing their meaning.
Much information is gleaned ( garnered ) from secondary sources or has
been covered in more detail elsewhere by previous authors.Most of her war information is gleaned (garnered ) from her
twice-weekly phone chats with her husband.Information was gleaned ( garnered) from operating reports dictated
for the surgical procedures and available for review.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/glean
Well most examples on the word garner on Oxford Dictionary also uses the word information so this also support my conclusion.
What do you think?
Best Answer
The use of glean has a lot to do with its historical meaning, which involved impoverished peasants collecting leftover grains of wheat from the ground by hand after a field had been harvested in order to avoid starvation. It means that you're picking tiny bits of something useful from a large amount of something of no value. Garner, collect, and get do not have this sense. Note that while gleaning used to have a negative connotation due to its connection to poverty, in the sense that you're using it the word implies care and cleverness - the ability to learn something useful from something that is thought to be worthless.
Garner has its own historical meaning that is closely related, but is the other side of the same coin. Garner has a connotation of gaining or collecting something by merit. It originally meant a storehouse for grain.
A good farmer garners his crop; the poor glean the leftovers.
Collect and get are far more generic verbs. Collect means gathering, usually multiple, items from different locations. Get could contain any of these verbs within its meaning; it's extremely broad.