Appeal to Pledges
Letter for TexShare Users
16 March 2004
To All Texshare Stakeholders:
As you know, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission,
in partnership with the TexShare Advisory Board and the
Electronic Information Working Group, provides a core
set of databases to TexShare libraries. In order to keep
this core strong, TSLAC has reestablished a database fee
structure to supplement state and federal funding for
the database service. TSLAC is able to renew most TexShare
database subscriptions for the July 2004 – June
2005 subscription period. However, even with the money
collected from fees, the state budget will not stretch
far enough to renew two databases: HeritageQuest andSTAT!Ref.
We need your help to retain statewide access to these
databases.
Genealogy is America’s number one hobby. For the
genealogists that use your library for research access
to Heritage Quest is vital. Heritage Quest provides electronic
resources for genealogists with complete census indexing
and remote access allowed for researching genealogy from
home. STAT!Ref provides full text access to current medical
textbooks. Interest in consumer health is growing and
students in undergraduate and graduate medical programs
find this resource vital for their education.
TSLAC and the TexShare Electronic Information Working
Group are initiating a pledge drive for HeritageQuest
and STAT!Ref. Consortia in other states have used this
approach successfully. To retain HeritageQuest, we must
raise $243,000; STAT!Ref will cost $165,000. Can your
library, perhaps in conjunction with your local genealogical
or historical society, local county medical associations,
or faculty in social sciences or health sciences, make
a pledge to help retain statewide access to HeritageQuest
and STAT!Ref?
We can achieve the lowest possible price for a subscription
to either database through a statewide consortial buying
agreement. By participating in the pledge drive libraries
will pay a lower price for access than what they would
have to pay if they subscribed to the database as an individual
institution. They will be helping maintain access to electronic
resources for all Texans, which is one of the fundamental
principles of TexShare, Texas’ largest library consortium.
Because we must renew the databases in July, we don’t
have very much time to secure pledges. Please fill out
and return the attached pledge form and survey by May
1, 2004, so that these two comprehensive resources are
not lost to Texans. Your library (or other community organization
that may wish to pledge) will not be invoiced for your
pledge amount unless we have received sufficient pledges
to cover the cost of the database subscription. We must
collect funds by July 2004. If we do not raise enough
money to renew these databases on a statewide basis, we
will convert them to TexSelect databases. As TexSelect
databases, your library could subscribe to either or both
databases at consortium negotiated reduced prices, but
statewide access for all TexShare members would be lost.
Thank you for your support in providing these rich resources
to your communities.
Sincerely,
Peggy D. Rudd
Director and Librarian
Enclosures
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
HeritageQuest and STAT!Ref
PLEDGE DRIVE FORM & SURVEY
