All -
This is a reply about the "State Funded Informational Databases for K-12
students", but with a request for all, below. I know that many states
use a portion of their federal LSTA allocations to purchase state
databases. Unfortunately, Congress did not support recommended increases
for IMLS funding this year, leaving it basically flat-funded. This is
the same funding source for the Literacy Through Libraries grants, which
will also decrease funding this year. This does not bode well for
continued statewide databases, unfortunately. For more info, see
www.imls.gov.
I know this list sees frequent postings to "call your legislator" about
various Congressional bills, and I wonder how many do. I am working on
an article with the premise that the school library professional is
declining because people are NOT politically active enough, and that
contacting local and national political leaders more frequently is
beneficial. I would like to hear from people who consider themselves
'politically active', and how your contacts made a difference. I would
also like to hear from people who consider themselves politically
INACTIVE, as to why you don't get involved. If anyone shares stories
that could be used in this potential article, I'll follow-up with
permission to edit it into the article text.
Thanks.
__________________________________
Eugene Hainer, Colorado State Library - CDE
303.866.6730 | hainer_g@cde.state.co.us
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 16:59:35 -0600
From: "Dr. Mary Ann Bell" <mbe11@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject: TARGET: State Funded Informational Databases for K-12 students
In Fall 2003 I submitted a query about state funded databases provided
for K-12 students. This was prompted by the fact that the state of Texas
had slashed funding and eliminated our program during summer of 2003. I
was seeking to learn about the fates of such resources in other states
and learned that only one other state, Oregon, had lost funding during
that year. I also learned that most states do indeed fund programs to
provide their students with these valuable and needed informational
databases, such as Ebsco, ProQuest and others. I have revisited this
topic and am happy to report that Oregon has once again come forward
with the state funded databases for their students. Unfortunately, Texas
has not. I will have an article in February's issue of
TEACHER/LIBRARIAN, which will include the status in all states, web
sites for their resources, and other information the topic.
I would like to ask your help with one additional question...Have you
seen a reduction in the number or quality resources provided in your
state? I am hearing that some states do continue to provide resources,
but users are seeing the number of subscriptions scaled back. If that is
the case in your state, I would be very glad for a message sent to me
personally, and I will post a hit. Thanks as always for your help, and
best wishes in this holiday season!--Mary Ann
--
**********************************
Try Curiosity--Dorothy Parker
**********************************
Dr. Mary Ann Bell
Department of Library Science
Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, TX
lis_mah@shsu.edu
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