Vol. 13, #2 Spring 2008
News from TSLAC
Summary of Legislative Changes (2007 - the 80th Texas Legislative Session)
For the first time in many years, the Depository Program faced no legislative action during the regular session. The program continues to pursue the acquisition of both print and electronic resources from the state government. The State Library is following up on some of the legislative changes from previous sessions, specifically looking at options for providing alternate formats; the program was formerly limited to providing microfiche.
Summary of Rules Changes
TSLAC has adopted no new program's rules (Texas Administrative Code. Title 13, Chapter 3) subsequent to the June 2005 review and restructuring project. Currently, TSLAC is in the process of revising the rules to accommodate TRAIL harvest software, to get better access to existing web pages, and to shorten the length of the retention requirements for web resources:
- New definitions in Rule 3.1 provide guidance on the use of the terms 'complex relational database,' 'publicly distributed,' 'site map,' 'substantive change,' and 'transitory or inconsequential change.' Explication of these terms is necessary in relation to the changes to rules in subsequent sections of the code.
- New language in Rule 3.2 provides guidance to agencies in determining when changes to a web page make it a new version that must be retained as a separate publication.
- The revision of rule 3.4(1) requires an agency to modify its robots.txt file to allow our crawler to harvest its site. TSLAC aims to improve the ability of its harvesting service to access certain types of web sites that currently block "crawling" using a robots.txt file. Currently there are only a few agencies that use the exclusionary file, and its use is primarily to defend against aggressive search engines and spammers that can bring a web site down by eating up bandwidth and taxing a server's ability to handle requests. We have determined that the robots.txt file can be amended to make an exception for our crawler.
- Modification of rule 3.4(2)(A)(ii) requires agencies with web sites that are dynamically-driven (via menus, database searches or java-script actions) to provide an alternative path (such as a hidden link to a comprehensive site map), so that our harvesting software can access all the available information on an agency web site.
- Amendment of rule 3.4(2)(B) eases restrictions on agencies for availability of online resources. The new rule would ask agencies to keep any web page online for six months, rather than two years. The TSLAC harvest of electronic publications should occur on a recurring half-year cycle; keeping a resource on-line for six months should allow TSLAC to capture it. Then agencies can remove superceded resources more quickly, reducing the chance that out-of-date information will be misinterpreted as current by researchers.
- TSLAC adds two new exemptions from the program based on feedback from agency web masters: complex relational databases (due to the impracticality of harvesting such objects) and unedited compilations of information submitted to agencies via forms from regulated groups (due to the private and/or proprietary nature of the information).
The proposed rules should be posted in the Texas Register in February or March, 2008. All interested parties are welcome to submit comments on them. If you would like to review the proposed rules, please contact me or monitor upcoming issues of the Texas Register.
Texas State Publications
Publication of the monthly state documents checklist continues to lag, but we are making some progress. The program plans to cease publishing a print version of the checklist after the December 2006 issue. Thereafter, the checklist will available in an electronic format; the checklist will reduce the amount of "extraneous" information provided in the entries (including directory-type information for agencies as well as series and notes information from the bibliographic record), and the subject index will no longer be compiled (since subject access is readily available through OCLC and other online public access catalogs). You can find the electronic versions of Texas state publications by visiting www.tsl.state.tx.us/statepubs.
Texas Records and Information Locator (TRAIL)
TRAIL is functioning now as an archive of electronic materials. Harvests are scheduled to occur every six months. The vendor performing the harvest and indexing services, the Internet Archive, has recently released enhancements to its system that improved harvesting. A future enhancement to the current TRAIL search interface will implement SRU protocols that will allow search results to link to archived copies (as is the case now) as well as to live web sites. The most recent harvest collected over 3.16 million web pages (334.92 GBs of data). While occasionally there are still gaps in the information, the resources in TRAIL are increasingly numerous, complete, retrievable and available for future access.
Manuals
The manuals for depository libraries and for agency liaisons are still current (excepting directory-type information) and in compliance with the existing statute and rules for the depository program. The much-requested Texas documents classification scheme and cataloging manual update project is not yet under way, but is planned for 2008-2009.
Audit Results
Last spring, the Depository Program was audited for (1) compliance with enabling legislation, (2) opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness, (3) improvement of performance measurement, and (4) sufficient documentation of policies and procedures for effective guidance to staff, management and external clientele. The audit results and recommendations include (1) fundamental compliance with statute; (2) a recommendation that the program transition over time to a depository of principally electronic information, with ongoing research into the challenges associated with electronic information; (3) suggested improvements to the quantitative and qualitative data on performance; and (4) a recommendation that that informational materials such as guidelines and various manuals be reviewed and updated on a predetermined schedule. While most of the above results are of little importance to depository libraries, the recommendation regarding turning our efforts to principally electronic information could have a strong impact on depository libraries. TSLAC agreed to develop a long-range plan regarding acquisition of publications in all formats, to invite stakeholder input during that process, and to investigate the options. I hope that depository libraries will respond to requests for comments on the future direction of the Program when the process reaches the 'customer assessment and comments' stage; expect to hear from the Program in the summer regarding these matters.
Renovation of the TSLAC Main Building
Yes, it is really happening-- the Lorenzo de Zavala building is getting a facelift. This fall the public services areas (Genealogy, Archives and Reference/Documents) were consolidated on the 3rd floor. Over the next two years, access to the Texas documents collection (and all other collections) will be severely limited as most of the materials have been stored off-site. The project will happen in phases, and the building will be occupied during renovation. The first phase will begin in February. The depository program office will move to the ground floor permanently after the space is prepared.
Spring 2008 issue
Lone Star Docs HomeTLA GODORT Home
