This week, the Texas Legislative Reference Library joins libraries across the U.S. in celebrating the dynamic changes that are happening in today's libraries. April 10-16 is National Library Week, a time to highlight the tools and services that modern-day libraries offer to meet the needs of the communities they serve.

During the interim, our work at the library continues full speed. Forming the backbone to much of this work is an active digitization program that puts legislative history resources online at users' fingertips.  As a result of digitization, our patrons can better access library resources, and answering patron questions has been greatly streamlined for our staff. 

Much of our digitization work has been facilitated by the acquisition of high-speed scanners and a book scanner that has enabled us to work with fragile and tightly bound items.

Legislative bill files and committee minutes:

The library is the legal custodian of legislative bill files from the 63rd Legislature (1973) to the present, and scanning these bill files, as well as older bill files in the collection of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, is one of our major ongoing projects. After bill files are scanned, they are made available online through our Legislative Archive System. This system offers basic and advanced searching, and adds value to bill files by linking related newspaper clips, interim reports, and other resources. The system currently contains bills files going back to the 33rd Legislature (1913), and scanning for earlier sessions is in progress.

In a related project, the library has been scanning legislative committee minutes. These are made available through a standalone database on our website, and have also been incorporated into the Legislative Archive System.

Newspaper clipping service:

The library's daily newspaper clipping service began in the early 1970s, and for many years was assembled by cutting articles out of newspapers and pasting them onto sheets of paper. In the last decade, "the clips" has evolved into a nearly paperless service, with articles distributed digitally, and the availability of an online, searchable database of clips. Since many Texas newspapers do not provide historical indexes, the clips database is a favorite, and often crucial, tool for background research, allowing capitol staff to search by subject, headline, or author for articles back to 1901.

For the past several years, each article in the clips has also been linked to any bills, court documents, or reports mentioned in the article. This valuable service makes it simple to locate a list of articles about a bill or to provide a copy of reports and studies referred to (often vaguely) in articles. A recently added feature groups together key court documents related to a case mentioned in a newspaper article.

House and Senate journals:

The library began scanning journals in 2006 with a goal of making the complete collection of House and Senate journals from the Republic of Texas (1836) to the present available online. Legislative journals are a rich source of information that contain the proceedings of the legislature on any given day of session, as well as speeches, gubernatorial documents, and in some cases, legislative research reports.  They are often the only source of legislative history for early bills. 

Since the start of the project, journals from the Republic of Texas (1836) through the 28th Legislature (1903) have been digitized and put online, and most journals from 1951 through the present are also available online. Future phases of the project include making the digitized journals text-searchable and integrating them into the Legislative Archive System.

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• April 21

• "The Digital Divide in Texas Public Schools" (Blog), Texas AFT, March 14, 2016
• "Bridging a Digital Divide That Leaves Schoolchildren Behind," New York Times, February 22, 2016
• "20th Century Living: These Texas Cities Have the Fewest High-Speed Internet Connections," AustinInno, December 7, 2015
• Public School Network Capabilities Study (See November 2015), Texas Education Agency, December 1, 2015
• "Major Effort Underway to Eliminate RGV’s Digital Divide," Rio Grande Guardian, November 19, 2015
• The 2015 State of the States: A report on the State of Connectivity in America's K-12 Public Schools, EducationSuperHighway, 2015
• Broadband and Education - Connecting Students in Texas, Connected Texas, September 2014
• Report to the 83rd Legislature (Charge 3 - Barriers to virtual schools), January 2013 and Committee Handouts/Written Testimony, October 8, 2012, Senate Committee on Education
• Broadband Landscape (maps), Connected Texas

• ERS Retirement Trust Fund FAQ (7 - Why hasn’t ERS given a cost-of-living adjustment or 13th check to retirees since 2001?), Employees Retirement System of Texas, 2016
• Actuarial Valuation Reports for Pension Plans Administered by ERS as of August 31, 2015, Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Company, November 23, 2015 
• 2015 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, Employee Retirement System of Texas, November 16, 2015
• "ERS Requests Changes to Make Trust Actuarially Sound," The Administrator Quarterly Newsletter (Texas State Agency Business Administrators' Association), February 27, 2015
• Path to Stability: ERS at the Crossroads, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, December 2014
• Benefits for State Employees and Public and Higher Education Employees: Legislative Primer, Second Edition, Legislative Budget Board, October 2014

• Psychotropic Medication Utilization Parameters for Children and Youth in Foster Care (5th Version), Developed by Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy, March 31, 2016
• Meeting the Needs of High Needs Children in the Texas Child Welfare System, The Stephen Group, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, November 2015
• Understanding Trauma-Informed Care in the Texas Child Welfare System: Data and Recommendations from the Field, Texas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), October 2015
• Mental Health and Foster Care, National Conference of State Legislatures, May 20, 2015
• Respecting the Needs of Children and Youth in Texas Foster Care: Acknowledging Trauma and Promoting Positive Mental Health Throughout The System: Recommendations of the Texas CASA Mental Health Task Force, Texas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, December 2014
• Mental Health, Common Mental Health Issues for Children, Youth, and Families Involved in Child Welfare, Child Welfare Information Gateway, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

• Permanency Strategic Plan, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, November 2015
• Adoption Disruption and Dissolution, Child Welfare Information Gateway, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, June 2012

• Within Our Reach: A National Strategy to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities: Final Report, 2016, Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities, March 17, 2016  
• 2015 Annual Report and Data Book (Child Protective Services), Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, February 1, 2016
• Protect Our Kids Commission Report, Protect Our Kids Commission, December 1, 2015
• Understanding Texas' Child Protection Services System, TexProtects: The Texas Association for Protection of Children, October 2014

• Office of Refugee Resettlement Annual Report to Congress FY 2014 (State Administered Program), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Administration For Children and Families, Office of Refugee Resettlement, March 18, 2016
• The U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program: A Primer for Policymakers (See “What is the Role of the States”), National Conference of State Legislatures, February 20, 2016
• "Here's How Much the United States Spends on Refugees," Washington Post, November 30, 2015
• The High Cost of Resettling Middle Eastern Refugees, Center for Immigration Studies, November 2015
• Texas Refugee Health Program 2014 Refugee Health Report, Texas Department of State Health Services, Posted September 9, 2015
• FY 2015 Targeted Assistance Formula Allocations (State Letter 15-11, April 14, 2015), Office of Refugee Resettlement, Last Reviewed September 8, 2015
• FY 2015 Social Services Formula Allocations (State Letter 15-04, April 28, 2015), Office of Refugee Resettlement, Last Reviewed September 8, 2015
• Revised Medical Screening Guidelines for Newly Arriving Refugees (State Letter 12-09, July 29, 2013), Office of Refugee Resettlement, Last Reviewed September 8, 2015

• April 11
• April 12
• April 13
• April 14

• April 5
• April 6
• April 7

• Interim Hearings - Week of February 22, 2016, House Committee on Urban Affairs, Charge 2 - Cities' cybersecurity policy, Legislative Reference Library, February 23, 2016

• Medicaid and Long-Term Services and Supports: A Primer, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, December 2015
• Compare Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) Programs, Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, Updated May 1, 2015
• Long-Term Services and Supports Quality Review Biennial Summary Report 2015, Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, January 2015
• Raising Expectations: A State Scorecard on Long-Term Services and Supports for Older Adults, People with Physical Disabilities, and Family Caregivers, AARP, Commonwealth Fund, SCAN Foundation, Second Edition, June 2014

• Audit of Medicaid and CHIP MCO Special Investigative Units (Presentation to House Human Services Committee), Texas Health and Human Services Commission, March 8, 2016
• Audit of Medicaid and CHIP MCO Special Investigative Units, Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Office of Inspector General, February 5, 2016
• Quarterly Report, Texas Health and Human Services Commission, Office of Inspector General, December 2015
• Texas Medicaid and CHIP in Perspective (10th Edition), Texas Health and Human Services Commission, February 2015
• Interim Report to the 84th Legislature (Charge 7), Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, December 2014
• Presentation to the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services: Initiatives to Reduce Fraud, Waste and Abuse, Texas Health and Human Services Commission, August 14, 2014
• Expansion of Medicaid Managed Care, Texas Health and Human Services Commission

• Texas Travel Impacts Data (interactive website on travel economic impact by regions, Senate and House Districts, counties, metro areas, selected cities), Dean Runyan Associates, Prepared for Texas Tourism, Office of the Governor, Texas Economic Development & Tourism, c. 2007-2016
• The Economic Impact of Travel on Texas: 1990-2014p, Dean Runyan Associates, Prepared for Texas Tourism, Office of the Governor, Texas Economic Development & Tourism, June 2015
• Economic Impact of Historic Preservation in Texas: Update 2015, Technical Analysis, Executive Summary (including heritage tourism, Texas Heritage Trails Program, state historic sites), The University of Texas at Austin, Rutgers University, Texas Historical Commission, 2015
• The Economic Contributions of Texas State Parks, Texas A&M University, Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, November 2014
• 2012 Texas Outdoor Recreation Plan, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, 2012
• The Rationale for Recreation Services for Youth: An Evidenced Based Approach, National Recreation and Park Association, 2010

• See how Texas cities' traffic congestion compares to other cities. (INRIX, ©2016)
• Examine charter school discipline data. (The Civil Rights Project, March 15, 2016)
• Consider state Medicaid policies related to prison inmates. (FamiliesUSA, March 2016)
• Access the 2015 Department of Family and Protective Services interactive Annual Report and Data Book. (Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, accessed March 23, 2016)
• Read about housing conditions for farm workers. (Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation, March 4, 2016)
• Review trends in the Texas housing market. (Texas A&M Real Estate Center, March 2016)

• March 29
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• March 31
• April 1