Texas Senate recordings available online

Those interested in a look back at Texas Senate history will want to check out the new Texas State Library and Archives database of Texas Senate audio recordings available here. The project has digitized recordings dating from 1972 to 2006 and includes digitized audio files that represent approximately 25,000 cassette tapes. According to a statement released by the library, “The original tapes were created by and received from Senate Staff Services. The collection includes public committee hearings, floor debates, press conferences, impeachment hearings, and joint meetings with House committees. Before digitization, interested parties were required to physically visit TSLAC in order to play the aging cassette tapes. In the interest of preservation, the original cassettes are no longer available to the public, but can now be accessed 24 hours a day through an online searchable database. The Texas Senate Recordings can be searched by legislative session, keyword, or browsed in their entirety.”