You can find almost anything in Google, but have you ever wondered if you're searching in the most efficient way? If so, take a look at some of the tips and shortcuts explained in the links below. Google can do amazing things in one click, like find population and unemployment rates, define any word or phrase, or even help you track the status of arriving or departing U.S. flights. It also has the capacity to handle precise word searching, allowing you to narrow your search results and save time.  For learning these tips and tricks, we liked the three websites below, however additional information can be found by visiting Google's Inside Search Features page.

Google Search Features: Learn about the different types of information you can find in one click, as well as more advanced search techniques like searching on the synonym of your search term, or using the plus (+) operator. 

 
















Basic Search Help: This page contains general recommendations for getting the best out of your Google search. Among other things, the folks at Google suggest keeping your search simple by using as few terms as possible and by using highly descriptive (unique) words.

This entry was posted on August 15, 2011 at 8:00 AM and has received 1927 views. Print this entry.

• Consider the state of the Gulf Coast. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, July 14, 2011)
• Find state laws relating to immigration enacted between January and June 2011. (National Conference of State Legislatures, August 9, 2011)
• Check out a profile of teachers in the U.S. (National Center for Education Information, 2011)
• Read about a Texas law designed to keep college students on four-year path. (Stateline, August 10, 2011)

This entry was posted on August 11, 2011 at 3:05 PM and has received 1257 views. Print this entry.

One of the library's recent acquisitions, a report published by the Houston nonpartisan advocacy group Children at Risk, takes an in-depth look at Texas' new juvenile mental health courts. These specialty courts are designed to aid juvenile offenders who suffer from mental illness. Their focus is on treatment and rehabilitation rather than incarceration. The report, Texas Juvenile Mental Health Courts: An Evaluation and Blueprint for the Future, begins with a concise overview of these specialized systems. It then focuses on four major courts in Austin, El Paso, Harris County, and San Antonio. For each court, the researchers describe the process juvenile offenders go through, the services the court offers, and the potential outcomes of a case. They also provide demographic and offense statistics. Finally, each court is evaluated on success rates and cost-effectiveness. Individual case histories are included throughout this section, adding a personal touch to the numbers. The report's second section lays out a "blueprint for the future." After a brief overview of the advantages of juvenile mental health courts, the authors offer specific, detailed guidance to policymakers and local leaders who are considering establishing these courts in their communities. The discussion takes readers step-by-step through the process of setting up a mental health court system and is punctuated with real-world examples from the courts described in section one. The authors conclude with policy recommendations from various stakeholders and Children at Risk itself. These recommendations address funding, staffing, and evaluation concerns. Along with the rest of the report, they provide a good starting point for those interested in learning more about this new breed of specialty court.

This entry was posted on August 9, 2011 at 9:22 AM and has received 1797 views. Print this entry.

• Read about how local governments are outsourcing services, including public libraries, to save money. (Stateline, August 1, 2011)
• Find a list of cell phone and texting laws by state. (Kaiser Family Foundation, July 2011)
• Review recent regulatory action affecting oil and gas air pollution standards. (Environmental Protection Agency, July 28, 2011)
• Use a chart to compare recessions and recoveries over the decades. (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, 2011)
• Consider the impact of the Budget Control Act (debt ceiling agreement). (Congressional Budget Office, August 1, 2011)

This entry was posted on August 4, 2011 at 3:10 PM and has received 1135 views. Print this entry.

This entry was posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:55 AM and has received 4349 views. Print this entry.

• Explore how the drought affects recreational water sports, lake levels, and aquifer-dependent wildlife. (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, July 25, 2011)
• Review how the federal debt ceiling, whether raised or not, may affect the states. (National Conference of State Legislatures, July 19, 2011)
• See which states face creditworthiness rating reviews as a result of the federal government creditworthiness rating review. (Moody's, July 19, 2011)
• Consider how the diets of American children are affected by more dining outside the home. (American Dietetic Association, July 25, 2011)

This entry was posted on July 28, 2011 at 3:04 PM and has received 1098 views. Print this entry.

We often get asked if we work when the Legislature is not in session. The answer is: yes. During the interim our staff is busy offering the same services we do during session, including our daily news clipping service, research assistance for legislative staff, state agencies and members of the public, current awareness services such as our weekly Current Articles list, Twitter feed and blog, and our work assembling original bill files. We also spend time enhancing existing library resources and creating new ones. In past interims, we've developed systems to put legislative interim reports, constitutional amendments and governor documents online in searchable databases. Some of our long-term projects, such as our Texas Legislators database, have been ongoing for several years.

A project that we began developing in 2002 and that is also ongoing today is our Legislative Archive System, a project in cooperation with the Texas State Library and Archives Commission to scan and organize original legislative bill files and make them available online. Since its inception, over 100,000 bill files have been scanned and cataloged in the system.  That's all bills from the 76th Legislature (1999) back to the 50th Legislature (1947). We're now scanning bills from the 49th Legislature (1945), and the materials are more fragile and have special handling requirements. Most of the bills, for example, have been for decades folded into thirds. To scan these, it is necessary to first humidify and flatten them. Here are pictures of the equipment we use to do this.

    

While it may be surprising that we use rubber trash cans, bricks and wooden boards to treat these materials, this is a standard procedure used by many libraries and archives.

In addition to our ongoing projects, we're excited to release soon a new resource containing scanned committee minutes from past sessions. Until now, these have been available in hard copy only, so this should be a great help to researchers. Stay tuned for more information about this and other future resources.

This entry was posted on July 27, 2011 at 8:36 AM and has received 1480 views. Print this entry.

This entry was posted on July 21, 2011 at 3:04 PM and has received 1212 views. Print this entry.

Texas Legislators: Past & Present, recipient of the "Model Historical Database" award, contains biographical information, terms of service, and committee service of members of the Legislature back to the 15th Legislature (1876). The database can be searched by name, session, gender, chamber, party, leadership roles, committee membership, and home city and county.

This entry was posted on July 20, 2011 at 10:04 AM and has received 2746 views. Print this entry.

• See how obesity may affect America's future. (Trust for America's Health, July 2011)
• Cool off at the nation's clean beaches. (Natural Resource Defense Council, June 2011)
• Determine the cost of college with a new online tool at the College Affordability and Transparency Center. (U.S. Department of Education, June 30, 2011)
• Note that a newly funded research network will be exploring the potential health effects of the oil spill resulting from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. (National Institutes of Health, July 7, 2011)

This entry was posted on July 15, 2011 at 8:58 AM and has received 1180 views. Print this entry.