(1999). Blazing new TRAILS in Texas. Library Computing, 18, 143-150.

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission has developed a new Governmental/Glogal Information Locator Service (GILS) system. It is called the
Texas Records and Information Locator (TRAIL) service. It employes traditional library methodology and state-of- the-art Internet technology to guide Texas citizens and Texas State agency staff to State government information that is primarily electronic in nature.
The funding for this project comes from a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Science. The primary architect and developer of the TRAIL system is Allen Mullen and he can be reached at: amullen@tsl.state.tx.us.

(2000). Texas State Library Provides First Implementation of Z39.50 Bath Profile; Blue
Angel Technologies and SIRSI Corporation Enable Unprecedented Interoperability. Business Wire. August 14, 2000.

The Texas State Library and Archives Commission announced on August 14, 2000 that along with Blue Angel Technologies, SIRSI Corporation, and State Library personnel, the State Library has implemented the first cross-domain web application to use the Bath Profile in a production environment. This service is designed to make information easier to access to all Texas citizens. The State Library has combined the database service of the State Library's online catalog of holdings and the Texas Records and Information Locator Service (TRAIL).

For more information:
Texas State Library Archives Commission: http://www.tsl.state.tx.us
Blue Angel Technologies: http://www.blueangeltech.com
SIRSI: http://www.sirsi.com

(2000). SIRSI announces system implementations. Information Today, 17, 63-64.

In October of 2000 SIRSI Corporation announced that it has along with Blue Angel Technologies assisted the Texas State Library in implementing the Bath Profile that gives library users access to a variety of databases at one time. With this, users can search the library's online catalog and 150 Texas state agencies for information on one screen. Bath Profile establishes interoperability between the two services, the online catalog which is powered by SIRCI and TRAIL (Texas Records and Information Locator) by Blue Angel Technologies.

(2001). "Virtual desktop" span digital divide. American Libraries, 32, 27-28.

The city of Houston unveiled a new program called SimHouston on August 20, 2001 that will give any resident with a library card free access to e-mail, word processing, and spreadsheet software, and 25 megabytes of secure storage space for documents. The pilot version was demonstrated at the Smith Library branch. Thirty-five other library locations hope to have the system installed by the end of October, 2001. City government offices will also be migrated to the system later. A contract with Internet Access Technologies
(IAT) is still being negotiated.

(2001). R.R. Bowker signs pact with Texas State Library for web access. Worldwide Videotex Update, 20,

The Texas State Library signed a huge agreement with a publisher of bibliographic information, R.R. Bowker. Librarians, students, researchers and other users will have access to booksinprint.com and ulrichsweb.com (provides information about periodicals). The agreement will make it easier for the book buying community to search for information. It is available to the 600 libraries statewide who participate in TexShare. Funding for the implementation was available through the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board. This article appeared on Decemer 1, 2001.

Rogers, M. (2001). EBSCOhost access for TexShare. Library Journal, 126, 26.

EBSCO Publishing's EBSCOhost is now available to TexShare participants. The purchase of EBSCOhost by the Texas State Library will give libraries access to many full-text databases including Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost is also being used by the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (WASP) whose goal is to provide access to scientific and scholarly information to and from developing countries such as Africa. Several African countries will have access to the databases. No funding source is mentioned. The article was published in Oct. 15.