TASLA Blog

I saw these in the TLACast and thought you should see them again!

http://www.txla.org/pubs/tlacast/tlac0208.html#Policy

Our thanks to the Dallas folks!  Do any of you have stories similar to this that we might be able to use for a TETN session in June?

 David

I received an email both from TSLAC and Region 20 that the website has been updated with a note about not reflecting all stats.  I was just very concerned about who this website was given to…

 Here is the response directly from the State Library:

“Campuses that access the K12 Databases through a centralized District-wide do not accrue countable usage stats for their specific campuses.  Instead, all usage for all campuses in those districts is aggregated into a single District-wide account. 

Region 20 does have a really good website for some helpful tips etc…  http://web.esc20.net/k12databases/texsupport.htm

If you can use your own screen savers that one is cool that they have provided on this site.

I don’t know how I miss this information about what is being provided!  Can’t imagine what a small district thinks when they don’t get this stuff.  I’m going to post that website on TLC as well.

Thanks for listening!  Karen Kahan discussion tomorrow!

David

Well what an interesting couple of days that was.  The Resource Sharing Summit #1 item that needed to be fixed - Change the Statute on Texshare to allow others to join!

That will open many opportunities for k-12 and others to get access and for the State Library then to negotiate better contracts for all Texans.

As a by product of the meeting I discovered this site which has created great concern for me.  http://www.texshare.edu/k12/stats/

From here you are supposed to be able to see who is or is not using the “free” databases provided!  Well none of my schools show any use and there is no disclaimer at the top saying not all stats are recorded here.  I’ve called Region 20 about this issue and hope to see something added there.  District Stats are not currently available, but I would hate to walk into my local legislators office and have to justify why Plano ISD has NO use for these “free” databases.

Speaking of Databases!!   Read tomorrows post from Karen Kahan about how we might be able to further our cause!

 David

Well it was an interesting day.

I discovered how little I know about TexShare and and TexSelect.

Maureen Sullivan - our Facilitator has done a wonderful job keeping us on track and trying to understand the complexity of this group.  When I say complexity everyone that is here except the schools have access to all of TexShare options.  In my groups the others have been surprised at the limited access schools have.

When we talk about the basic TexShare package for Schools we need to clarify that it is the “Ebsco basic TexShare” package.

Until the Statute changes School access to Texshare will be limited.  That also goes along with LOT(Library of Texas).

So what would be our possibility of either getting the Legislature to change the statute - allowing TexShare to manage its own membership options.

Along those same lines how do we go about getting the “rules” for LOT changes to include schools?  Or the possibility of a pilot for LOT for schools?  Z39.50 access to school library catalog databases.  Which might move us away from Auto-Graphics, again making access to MARC records to ALL schools with limited cost if we can get our IT people to open certain ports and get our Z39.50 servers operational.

Our meetings are supposed to be like a thinktank more than an action oriented meeting.  Maybe though we now have some possible talking points - all of which at this point don’t cost massive amounts of money.

Speaking of money - so when the City population is counted - our students are counted - so when we are paying for “School” databases are we paying for those “constituents” being charged twice for the same content?  hmmm…

Good news 6866 schools are signed up for our “FREE” databases!

info for LOT - http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/lot/

Thoughts??? - David…

Well in the morning I am off to a “Texas Resource Sharing” meeting as President of TASLA.  I know of at least 2 maybe 3 more members of TASLA that will be in attendance.  We meet all day on Wednesday and part of the day on Thursday.  I will be checking my email tomorrow night if you have comments.  I’ll also be checking tonight.

Here is the website for the agenda:http://www.texshare.edu/apps/strategicplanning/ If the conference center has wireless I may be checking more often.  I will try and blog comments that come up here.I was also wondering instead of me creating my own blog if others would have problems with me blogging here on a regular basis?

If the conference center has wireless I may be checking more often.  I will try and blog comments that come up here.I was also wondering instead of me creating my own blog if others would have problems with me blogging here on a regular basis?David Schuster david.schuster@pisd.edu

The TCU GovDocs librarian passed this on … it will be good for secondary social studies folks!

The Dirksen Congressional Center is pleased to announce the completion of their Editorial Cartoon Collection project: http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/index.htm The editorial cartoons and related lesson plans from The Dirksen Center will teach students to identify issues, analyze symbols, acknowledge the need for background knowledge, recognize stereotypes and caricatures, think critically, and appreciate the role of irony and humor.- About the Collection -Editorial cartoonists loved Everett Dirksen (1896-1969)-his position of influence as Minority Leader in the Senate (1959-69), his way with words, and, of course, his distinctive appearance. Over the years, Senator Dirksen’s staff compiled a scrapbook containing more than 300 editorial cartoons. Topics covered include Vietnam, civil rights, Republican Party politics, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, reapportionment, Taft-Hartley 14(b), school prayer, Dirksen’s recording career, Senate procedures, congressional pay, presidential appointments, and Dirksen’s legacy. Naturally, cartoonists also used these topics to depict Dirksen’s relationship with President Lyndon Johnson, with his Democratic colleagues in the Senate, and with the Supreme Court. In addition, cartoonists sent Dirksen between 50 and 60 original sketches on equally diverse topics.

Going out for bid now is not a good idea for TSLAC.  By the time they evaluated databases, selected and started implementation we would be at the end of the funding cycle with nothing to show.  If they go ahead and implement the above package collectively from EBSCO and negotiated a new database contract for the year two implementation that might be a good option.  If they were able to provide a Catalog option for databases with reduced pricing for the other databases that would be ideal.  I am not sure that bidding databases and selecting a new one in the second year is going to provide us with a very good implementation rate to show usage and continuation of funding for year 3.

As we all know training and implementation of a database is difficult.  Stability is tantamount in long term use and success.  Many of us are already using EBSCO and if that is the Public/Academic database it is wise to teach our children to use these efficiently so as they move on in life they have the skills to use these in other settings as life long learners.

Just a couple of thoughts…  Comments?  Love to hear your argument!

David