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Week in Review, December 19th

Dec 19

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.
  • Read about state thresholds for mental disability in inmates facing the death penalty. (Stateline, December 6, 2013)
  • Explore fiscal conditions in the states. (National Association of State Budget Officers, Fall 2013)
  • Examine active shooter incidents across the country. (ABC Action News, accessed December 2013)
  • Track oral health indicators by region. (Council of State Governments, December 3, 2013)
Happy Holidays to all of our readers! Week in Review will return on Thursday, January 9th.

This entry was posted on December 19, 2013 at 3:15 PM and has received 611 views. Print this entry.

Week in Review, December 12th

Dec 12

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.
  • Consider the 2013 state of Texas children. (Center for Public Policy Priorities, December 3, 2013)
  • Examine student debt by state and by college. (The Institute for College Access & Success, December 2013)
  • Review a 2013 report of various health disparities. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, November 22, 2013)
  • Read about homeless veterans and programs targeted at homeless veterans. (Congressional Research Service, November 29, 2013)
  • Explore transportation apps and vehicle-sharing programs. (U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund / Frontier Group, Fall 2013)

This entry was posted on December 12, 2013 at 3:15 PM and has received 690 views. Print this entry.

Interim Hearings - Week of December 16, 2013

Dec 11

posted by TexasLRL in 83rd Session, Interim hearings

Today's Committee Meetings on the LRL website is a calendar of interim committee hearings with links to agendas. Below are resources related to upcoming Interim Hearings.

 

December 18th-19th (12/19 meeting cancelled)

House Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations

Topic: Invited testimony. Pursuant to Rule 4, Section 12, the Committee "may meet in executive session for the limited purpose of examining a witness or deliberating, considering, or debating a decision...."

 

After meeting in executive session the committee may consider and take action regarding matters deliberated in closed session, including planning, scheduling, courses of action, and ongoing committee business.

 

This entry was posted on December 11, 2013 at 8:11 AM and has received 748 views. Print this entry.

Week in Review, December 5th

Dec 5

posted by TexasLRL in Week in review

In this weekly post, we feature online articles and policy reports published recently, and other helpful research tools.
  • Consider the economic impact of private for-profit institutions of higher education. (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, November 20, 2013)
  • Track changes over time in employer-sponsored health insurance. (Kaiser Family Foundation, accessed December 4, 2013)
  • Explore a national database of conservation easement records. (National Conservation Easement Database, September 2013)
  • See maps, graphs, and charts of the uninsured rate of young adults. (U.S. Census Bureau, November 21, 2013)

This entry was posted on December 5, 2013 at 3:15 PM and has received 592 views. Print this entry.

Interim Hearings - Week of December 9, 2013

Dec 5

posted by TexasLRL in 83rd Session, Interim hearings

Today's Committee Meetings on the LRL website is a calendar of interim committee hearings with links to agendas. Below are resources related to upcoming Interim Hearings.

 

December 11th

House Committee on Administration

Topic: The Committee will meet to consider administrative actions, including the adoption of House Committee budgets for the remainder of the interim.  Testimony will not be taken.

This entry was posted on December 5, 2013 at 9:29 AM and has received 664 views. Print this entry.

Twitter: It's Not Just for Tweeting

Dec 3

posted by TexasLRL in Search tips

Part of what makes good research is using the latest, up-to-date information. In today's fast-paced information environment, publications and reports that are even a year old can be outdated, especially if they are discussing legislation. 
 
How do you keep up with new publications on topics that interest you? It turns out that a variety of tools are available. Some people customize their Google News page, while others monitor blogs or RSS feeds. If you're a Twitter user, have you ever thought to build a Twitter list to monitor new developments?  
 
Creating Twitter lists is a great way to distill your Twitter feed into useful, subject-oriented feeds. Viewing a list on Twitter shows you only the tweets of the Twitter users included on that list, and can be helpful if you follow a wide variety of people or organizations.
Instructions for building a Twitter list are here. You do not have to organize everyone you follow into a list, and you can create as many or as few lists as you like. At no point do you lose the ability to view your normal feed, which shows you the tweets of everyone you follow.
 
Here's an example of a list we built for our own use at the library. After the end of the 83rd Regular Session, we wanted to make sure we didn't miss any of the session wrap-ups that state agencies, boards and commissions often publish to summarize legislation in their area. Not all of these entities are on Twitter, but many are, and they are pretty good about tweeting new information related to their agency. We located their Twitter accounts, and organized them into a Twitter list named "State agencies." Being able to monitor state agency updates in a smaller, concentrated feed was an effective strategy for catching session wrap-ups as they were released.  
 
State agencies Twitter list
 
The state agencies list is just one of the Twitter lists we have built for our use here at the library. We also use Twitter lists to monitor various research organizations, as well as keep up with the legal world in Texas. One of our most heavily-used lists brings together the tweets of all current Texas legislators who are on Twitter.  A screenshot of the TXLegislators list on Twitter is below, and you can also view the list on our website at Texas Legislators on Twitter. 
 
Texas Legislators on Twitter

This entry was posted on December 3, 2013 at 10:22 AM and has received 2377 views. Print this entry.