'Texas Health Atlas' honored with Texas Library Association award

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
University News Service
April 22, 2014

Texas Health Atlas

Texas Health Atlas, by Texas State University professor Lawrence E. Estaville, along with Kristine Egan and Dr. Abel Galaviz, has been honored with the Texas Reference Source Award for 2014 by the Texas Reference Source Award Committee of the Texas Library Association’s Reference Round Table.

Estaville, of the Department of Geography, has collaborated with Egan on projects such as the Texas School Atlas and Texas Crime Atlas. Egan completed her doctorate in geography at Texas State in 2006.

The Texas Reference Source Award recognizes an outstanding reference tool in Texas history, culture or commerce. Established by the Reference Round Table in 1996, the Texas Reference Source Award recognizes an outstanding reference tool in Texas history, culture or commerce. "Reference tool" encompasses bibliographies, indexes, encyclopedias and other scholarly apparatus. The purpose of the award is to encourage and acknowledge truly superior accomplishments in research and scholarship.

Selection is based on scholarship, style and contribution as a Texas reference source. The Reference Round Table's Texas Reference Source Award Committee reviews all entries and recommends a recipient to the executive board of the Reference Round Table. The award is presented at the Reference Round Table business or program meeting during the following TLA Annual Conference.

Texas Health Atlas, published by Texas A&M University Press, provides valuable insights that can guide the decisions needed for the state’s economic wellbeing and the improved health of its citizens. At a time when nearly a quarter of the 25 million people who live in Texas do not have health insurance — giving Texas the highest uninsured rate of any state — and as policymakers and legislators struggle with rising costs, an aging citizenry and the prospect of more uncertainties for the healthcare system in the years ahead, the need for quick access to accurate information is greater than ever.