Graphic for Our Web Policies and Disclaimers

Our Web Policies and Disclaimers

Thank you for visiting our Web site and for your interest in our Web policies and disclaimers. On this page, you may link to our policies and disclaimers on the following topics:

Alternative Formats and Accessibility
Privacy Policy
Compact with Texans
Cookies
E-mail
High-value Open Data Sets
IP Addresses
Linking to Sites Other Than Our Own
Social Media Web Properties Terms of Use
Online Database Service
Online Order Forms
Online Registration Forms for Training and Continuing Education Workshops
Intellectual Rights and Ownership
Security
Web Site Statistics

Other Helpful Links

Contacting the Webmaster | Contacting the Director and Librarian | Agency Information | Public Information Act | Contact Us | Fee Schedule

Our Web Policies and Disclaimers

The content that is published on or collected via our Web site is public information as described in the Public Information Act. The following discloses the information gathering and dissemination practices for the Texas State Library and Archives Commission Web site:

Effective Date: April 22, 2013

Alternative Formats and Accessibility

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) is committed to making its Web site accessible to all users, and complying with the Texas Administrative Code 206.50 Accessibility Standard. All Web pages and electronic documents published to the agency Web site that are built, updated, or revised after the effective date of this policy must comply with the TAC 206.50 standards. TAC 206.50 establishes only a minimum standard for accessibility and Web pages; agency staff responsible for publishing to the agency Web site are encouraged to go beyond the minimum whenever possible.

TSLAC welcomes comments on how to improve the Web site's accessibility for users with disabilities. If site visitors using assistive technology find that the format of any material on the agency Web site interferes with their ability to access the information, they should contact the Accessibility Coordinator. The e-mail to the Accessibility Coordinator should include:

  • Nature of the accessibility problem
  • Preferred format in which to receive the material
  • Web address of the requested material
  • Contact information for the site visitor

Further information on accommodations and resources for persons with disabilities can be found at the Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities website at http://governor.state.tx.us/disabilities/

Privacy Policy

We do not collect personal information on our users in the logs we keep to compile our Web site statistics. See the Web Site Statistics section on this page for more information about the information we do collect.

"Cookies" are used to authenticate registered users of online databases. For more information please see the Cookies section on this page.

Electronic mail questions or comments or web forms sent to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission containing personally identifiable information will only be used to respond to your request. We may redirect your message to another government agency or person in order to better answer your question. See the e-mail section on this page for more information.

TSLAC’s website uses persistent, first-party cookies with web-based forms for such purposes as collecting survey results, providing online registration for TSLAC-sponsored events, collecting and reporting of continuing education activities, and recording computerized geographic data. Personally identifiable information collected from web-based forms is used only for the purpose specified (survey results, online registration, etc.). To the extent personally identifiable information is collected, TSLAC will adhere to all statutory requirements in protecting citizen data.

Please note that any information entered may be subject to interception via common Internet tools. Business email addresses are not considered confidential under the Texas Public Information Act. To help ensure your privacy, we recommend using a business email address rather than a personal email address when such information is requested.

Cookies

The TSLAC website may use cookies to provide interactive pages, compile reports, and to authenticate users. TSLAC does not use cookies for other purposes. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however, please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.

E-mail

In keeping with the provisions of Government Code §441, we consider e-mail messages to be official state records. E-mail messages are managed in accordance with the agency's authorized records retention schedule and e-mail messages residing on agency computers will be made available to the public upon request under the Public Information Act unless the record fits an exception to disclosure described in Government Code §§552.101 through 552.132.

High-value Open Data Sets

Senate Bill 279 (83R) requires agencies to provide a link and description for their open data set(s) to Texas.gov. View the links and descriptions provided by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission on the Texas.gov Open Data page.

IP Addresses

We use visitors' IP addresses to help diagnose problems with our Web server, and to administer our Web site.

Linking to Sites Other Than Our Own

Our Web site contains links to Web sites other than our own. Even though we attempt to ensure the accuracy and usefulness of our own Web site, we make no claims about the accuracy of materials and Web sites other than our own.

External links to other sites are intended to be informational and do not have the endorsement of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of other such Web sites.

Social Media Web Properties: Terms of Use

By visiting any social media web property operated by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, users agree to abide by the terms set forth below and must abide by applicable state and federal laws, such as copyright and defamation laws, as well as the terms of service, terms of use, privacy policies, and other requirements of any communications platforms used.

A social media web property is defined as: Software or service provided via the Internet used to communicate and share information between people, especially customers or constituents, and where customers, constituents, or the general public share in the creation and development of content. Links to our social media web properties can be found here.

TSLAC is not responsible or liable for content posted by any public user in any forum, message board, or other social media resources, and such user comments do not reflect the opinions and/or position of TSLAC.

  • User Participation - Users participate at their own risk. Users are responsible for their comments, photos, username, and any other information provided on TSLAC’s social media web properties including ensuring permission has been granted for submitted content.
     
    • Users are expected to uphold the highest standards of ethical behavior and to use TSLAC social media forums for constructive communication related to information, library, reading, records management, history, and related information services topics.
    • Posts and comments are public and may be viewed by all users.
    • Users should be careful about posting any private or personally identifiable information, as defined in Tex. Code Bus & Com. Sec. 521.001 et. seq.
    • Posts and comments that include sensitive personal information are subject to removal, unless the subject of the information contacts the PIO office and receives express consent for the disclosure of that information.
    • See the section on intellectual property for more information.
       
  • Monitoring - All published Texas State Library and Archives Commission social media content is subject to monitoring. This content may take the form of digital text and images. User-generated posts will be rejected or removed if possible when the agency considers the content of a post:
  • Used without permission or in violation of copyright or trademark laws (at the time of agency discovery).
  • Off-subject or out of context
  • Contains obscenity or material that appeals to the prurient interest
  • Contains personal identifying information or sensitive personal information, as defined in Tex. Code Bus & Com. Sec. 521.001 et. seq.
  • Contains offensive terms that target protected classes
  • Is threatening, harassing, discriminatory, defamatory or otherwise deemed inappropriate by our agency
  • Incites or promotes violence or illegal activities
  • Contains information that reasonably could compromise public safety
  • Advertises or promotes a commercial product or service, or any entity or individual
  • Promotes, endorses, or contains disparaging language about political campaigns, candidates or office holders
  • Contains personal attacks or insulting statements directed toward an individual
  • Are of a repetitive or “spamming” nature (the same comment posted multiple times)

Users who violate these terms of use may be blocked from TSLAC's social media web properties.

Accessibility -  Every effort will be made for content (such as images, posts, videos and comments) on social media web properties operated by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission to be placed on features that are accessible. However, the agency’s social media properties derive from third party sites, and each third party site applies its own policies to a given social media property. Since accessibility requirements apply to the content contained in the media, and not in the features of the third party site, content posted on third party sites is duplicated on other channels from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. For people with disabilities, Web content and documents in other formats are available on request. See our accessibility policy above for more information. Suggested alternative access for users with disabilities:

TSLAC social media sites are third party sites and have terms of service and policies that are not governed by TSLAC or the State of Texas. These third-party sites are not official TSLAC websites and the third party’s website terms of service and policies apply.

Online Database Services

Users of online database services may change their information, or opt out of these online databases services by using the following methods:

  1. E-mail: databases@tsl.texas.gov
  2. Send mail to the following postal address:
    Library Development and Networking, Texas State Library and Archives Commission, PO Box 12927, 1201 Brazos Street, Austin, Texas 78711
  3. Or call the following telephone number: 512-463-5465

In order to activate registration to the database services, the information users submit on the registration forms is submitted to the database providers. Check TexShare membership eligibility requirements for use of the online resources.

Online Order Forms

Our library development, training, and resource sharing services may provide online order forms for requesting materials such as reading club informational items, newsletter subscription requests, and grant guidelines. The contact information is used to complete these requests.

Our Interlibrary Loan service links to an online order form for librarians and registered library patrons to request interlibrary loan materials. The email address entered on the online form is used to notify patrons on the status of requested orders.

Texas residents wishing to register to borrow from the Library Science Collection, check out materials from the Library Science Collection, and request subject information in the field of library and information science can use a form provided online. Contact information is requested in accordance with the Texas State Library & Archives customer service policy on registration. Persons outside of Texas are urged to use the interlibrary loan services of their local library to acquire items from the Library Science Collection.

Online Registration Forms for Training and Continuing Education Workshops

Our training and continuing education workshops provide online registration forms requiring users to give contact information (such as their name and e-mail address) in order that we may contact the user when necessary and to make arrangements for workshops. See our Continuing Education page for links to our various workshops and trainings.

Intellectual Rights and Ownership

To the best of our knowledge, works produced by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission and appearing to customers, visitors, users, constituents and the general public on any of our web properties (website, social media, blogs, etc.) are not copyright protected. This designation does not apply to works of other State of Texas websites and websites of local governments, which may be protected by copyright. Please keep in mind:

  • The Texas State Library and Archives Commission has registered the logos and program names of TexShare, TexQuest, TExpress, and Library of Texas as service marks with the Texas Secretary of State. Registered service marks cannot be used without permission.
  • Other people may have rights in the work itself or in how the work is used, such as publicity or privacy rights. Privacy and publicity rights protect the interests of the person or people who may be the subject of the work. To learn more about the difference between copyright and privacy and publicity rights, see the Library of Congress website.
  • You cannot use a Texas State Library and Archives Commission work in a way that implies endorsement by the agency or an agency employee. An agency work includes but is not limited to images, text, audio, video, presentations, and electronic documents in any format.
  • Works prepared for the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by independent contractors may be protected by copyright.
  • Not all information that appears on our web properties is considered to be a Texas State Library and Archives Commission work. For example, it is possible that some or all of the images, text, audio, video, presentations, and electronic documents in any format on our web properties may be protected intellectual property not owned by this agency, but used by permission of the rights holder. To ensure that you don’t mistakenly use protected intellectual property from our web properties, send questions or comments to info@tsl.texas.gov.

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission may receive and hold copyrights transferred to it by assignment, bequest, or otherwise.

Creative Commons License

Except where otherwise noted, third-party content that may be submitted to this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Visitors to this website or to any of our social media web properties agree to grant a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free license to the rest of the world for their submissions to www.tsl.texas.gov and  agency social media web properties under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Security

This site has security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. Unauthorized use of this Web site is an offense under the Texas Penal Code.

You may contact our Webmaster if you have questions about our Web security measures.

Web Site Statistics

We use online analytics tools to create monthly summary statistics of our Web site's usage. These statistics are used to reflect usage summaries such as: general access (number of visits received, pageviews), resources accessed (our most and least popular pages), activity statistics (outbound links), referrers and keywords (search engines and sites that point to our site), and browsers and mobile devices.

The following information is collected for this analysis:

  • Visits - The number of unique sessions initiated by visitors.
  • Pageviews - A view of a page on our site that is being tracked by the Analytics tracking code.
  • Average Time on Site / Page
  • Traffic Sources - From direct traffic, referring sites, search engines, or mobile devices.
  • Browser Share - Top 3 for visits.
  • Mobile Visitors by Platform - Top five platforms are counted.
  • Top US Visitor
  • Top International Visitor
  • Percent of Overall Visitors From Texas
  • Top Outbound Link

Contacting the Webmaster

If you have any questions about our Web policies and disclaimers statement, the practices of our site, or your dealings with our Web site, please contact:

Webmaster
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
P.O. Box 12927
1201 Brazos Street
Austin, Texas 78711-2927

e-mail - webmaster@tsl.texas.gov

Contacting the Director and Librarian

Comments or complaints regarding programs and services of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission may be addressed to:

Assistant State Librarian
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
P.O. Box 12927
1201 Brazos Street
Austin, Texas 78711-2927

Phone: 512-463-5460  Fax: 512-463-5436
e-mail - director.librarian@tsl.texas.gov

We also welcome compliments and suggestions!

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Page last modified: May 20, 2020