LibGuides: Texas History: Reference and Bibliographies

Getting Started: Reference and Background Information

If you use Wikipedia as a first step in your research, you are already using background information to get started with research. Background information helps you:

pre-research your topic
learn more about theories and concepts
define terms
find key terms you can use to search for additional sources

Handbook of Texas
Find nearly 27,000 encyclopedic entries on the influential people, eras, and events of Texas history. Also see the special sections on African American Texas and Tejano History.
Texas Historic Sites Atlas
The Atlas features more than 300,000 site records, including data on Official Texas Historical Markers and National Register of Historic Places properties in Texas. Also included are cemeteries, courthouses, museums, and sawmills across the state.
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects of historical significance.
SAH Archipedia: Texas
SAH Archipedia is an authoritative online encyclopedia of the U.S. built environment organized by the Society of Architectural Historians and the University of Virginia Press. It contains histories, photographs, and maps for many structures and places. These are mostly buildings, but as you explore SAH Archipedia you will also find landscapes, infrastructure, monuments, artwork, and more.

African American Studies Center
Unlimited users.
Updated regularly. A comprehensive collection of scholarship focused on the lives and events which have shaped African American and African history and culture, coupled with sophisticated technology permitting precise search and browse capabilities. Features over 7,500 articles from Oxford's authoritative reference works, approximately 100 primary sources with specially written commentaries, over 1,000 images, over 100 maps, over 200 charts and tables, timelines to guide researchers through the history of African Americans and over 6,000 biographies.
Gale eBooks
Unlimited users.
Updated regularly. A database of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources. Fully searchable across all files.

For more information on ebooks see the Ebook Guide

Select Reference

Handbook of Texas Music
Publication Date: 2012
Texas Place Names
Publication Date: 2020
Old Army in Texas: A Research Guide to the U.S. Army in Nineteenth Century Texas
Publication Date: 2021
A Guide to Sources of Texas Criminal Justice Statistics
Publication Date: 2011

Select Bibliographies

Dissertations and Theses Relating to African American Studies in Texas: A Selected Bibliography, 1904-1990
Estudios Tejanos: A List of Historical Literature on Mexican Americans in Texas (1995)
Exploring the Afro-Texas Experience: A Bibliography of Secondary Sources about Black Texans (2000, Print Only)
The History of Texas Business: A Selected Bibliography (1995)
San Antonio History Matrix
A searchable bibliography of sources on the history of San Antonio from the early 18th century to the late 20th century.

A bibliography is list of bibliographic citations, (also called Works Cited, Literature Cited, Reference List) at the end of a journal article or book that lists the sources used by an author.

They can be great research tools that bring together citations from articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, conference proceedings, primary sources, and other academic sources about a specific topic.