Every five years, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission solicits proposals from vendors for resources to include in the TexShare Databases package. We’ve received offers from 11 different vendors for 153 separate resources, and we need your help reviewing them!
We’ve set up a survey so that you can try out the resources and leave your comments for us. The survey is available at https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/6760537/TexShare-New-Resources-Survey-FY22. You can review multiple resources in a single session or come back and take the survey as many times as you want to review additional resources. Just be sure to click Submit each time when you’re done reviewing!
The deadline for reviews has been extended to April 8, 2022. Be sure to get them in before then!
You do not need a password to access the survey. After you complete some screening questions in the survey, you will download a password-protected PDF with trial information including links to resources and passwords. It is very important that you download the PDF and use the links to the resources from there, as not all of the links will work if you view the PDF in your browser.
Please feel free to share the survey with librarians, faculty, staff members, students, or library users from TexShare member libraries. Do not share the survey or trial information with anyone who resides outside of the state of Texas. Some resources are geofenced and only available in the state.
Here are some of our most frequently asked questions. We’ll add to this list as new questions come in, so feel free to send us your questions! Please contact texshare@tsl.texas.gov and we’ll do our best to help you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. My favorite electronic resource isn’t included in the trial. Can you add it?
A. Unfortunately, no. We are dependent on vendors to propose electronic resources, and if it’s not listed on the trial then it wasn’t offered to us. State purchasing rules require us to use the solicitation process for statewide electronic resources, so we don’t have as much flexibility as individual libraries have in choosing what to provide.
Q. Are all of the resources available for all TexShare member libraries?
A. No. For the first time ever, we’ve allowed vendors to offer resources for subsets of TexShare members. Some resources are offered for public libraries only, and a few others are offered for combinations of member types. The column “Audience” on the password-protected PDF says which library types are included in the offer.
Q. When will the new contracts be in place?
A. Most of our current contracts expire on June 30, 2022, and we expect to have the new contracts in place before those expire (see https://www.tsl.texas.gov/texshare/databasecontractlistfy2022.html for a current list of resources with contract information). We won’t have as much time as usual to implement any new resources, which we know is a problem across the state. Our plan is to send out the list of approved resources in May and to have implementation information available by June 1. STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES.
Q. How much do these resources cost?
A. A lot! We spent roughly $10 million on TexShare electronic resources for the current year, and that is roughly what we have on hand to spend for new contracts. Unfortunately, we can’t tell you at this stage what the vendors have asked for the individual resources on offer this year.
Q. Will the solicitation affect the amount we have to pay in TexShare Databases participation fees?
A. No. For state fiscal year 2023 (Sept. 1, 2022 – Aug. 31, 2023) your participation fee is expected to remain the same as it was for the current year, although the one-time ARPA subsidy will not be available. Although some types of libraries may gain or lose individual resources, we expect the overall package to be comparable in size and variety to what we have now.
Q. I’m confused by the information for some e-resources on the password-protected PDF. Multiple logins are listed. Which one am I supposed to use?
A. Some e-resources require individual user accounts to get the most out of the resource. To prevent your having to share your personal email and other information, we’ve set up accounts that you can use. Unfortunately, if you pick an account that’s already being used by another person, you may not be able to access all information in the resource — videos might not play, or you might see other errors. If that happens, you should try another login from the list. Note that if you have a personal user account for any resource, if you sign into that account you might be taken out of the trial version of the resource. Please use the accounts we have provided, if possible.
Because we are using shared logins, you may also see information about tests in progress, recently viewed items, or other activity created when someone else used the account before you. Please do your best not to share anything personal in test responses, etc., as it will probably be viewable by the next person to use the login.
Q. I have a question about EBook Central. When I click on a collection name, I’m taken to EBook Central, and I can’t tell which e-books are included in the collection. How can I tell what’s being offered?
A. Title lists for the various EBook Central collections are available from TSLAC. Please contact us if you require that information for evaluation purposes.
Q. I get an error when I try to access a resource. What should I do?
A. We’re getting reports of periodic login errors for some EBSCO and ProQuest e-resources. In general, if you get an error, go into your browser and try clearing your cache and deleting any saved cookies. Another thing to try is to switch browsers. If you still can’t login to the resource with the credentials provided for the trial, please contact texshare@tsl.texas.gov.
Q. I don’t understand the login process for Gale Presents: Udemy.
A. When you click on the Udemy link from Gale’s trial page, you’ll download a file with different logins for different regions of the state.Click on the link for your region to go to the Udemy site. Note that we are experiencing intermittent errors with these links — if you arrive at a page that says Sign In Texas Libraries – TexQuest/TexShare, you’ve experienced an error. We’re having the best success if you copy the URL and manually paste it into the URL bar of your browser.
If all goes correctly, you’ll arrive at a Gale Presents: Udemy page with information about the resource on the left side of the screen and “How do I Get Started?” on the right, below the banner. Click the orange button that says “Sign In/Create a Udemy Account.” From there, you’ll get a screen that has a space for a username and password. Don’t use those. If the email account on the spreadsheet listed for your region is a Gmail account, click “Sign In with Google.” If the email account is Outlook, click “Sign In with Microsoft.”
Q. We already subscribe to a resource offered in the trial. What happens if the resource is added to TexShare?
In general, we require vendors to provide full or partial refunds, or some other credit towards other e-resources, for any libraries that have existing subscriptions to resources we license for the state. However, until we’ve negotiated the contracts we can’t guarantee that.
More to come! Please send your questions to texshare@tsl.texas.gov.
