Find Sources - UGS 303: Music, Protest & Social Movements - Drott - LibGuides at University of Texas at Austin

Find Background information

If you've ever used Wikipedia, you already know the value of encyclopedias for background information. These specialized encyclopedias available through the Libraries can help you in the same way. Use them to understand the historical context of your song and topic.

Gale eBooks
Hundreds of encyclopedias on all subjects
Grove Music Online
Music encyclopedia

Find Journals, Magazines and Newspapers

Library databases and Google can't be searched the same way so take a few moments to come up with a search strategy before diving into a database.

Step 1: Think about the key concepts of your topic and search those instead of an entire phrases or sentences.

Step 2: Think of other terms you could use that are synonyms or related (they could be a broader or narrower aspect). This often requires that you do a little background research to learn more.

Step 3: Connect your terms using AND and OR:

Remember -

AND narrows your topic (use AND between terms if you want them all to appear in your results)
OR broadens your topic (use OR between terms if you want any, not all, to appear in your results)

Generate Keywords from a Topic
This tool can help you create search terms and formulate an effective search.

Libraries Search Box
Search across many of the library collections at once.

Google Scholar
Search for scholarly sources using a Google search. Use this link or the link on the Libraries home page so that you will be prompted for your EID rather than hitting a paywall.
Academic Search Complete
Scholarly and non-scholarly articles across subjects
America: History and Life
Scholarly articles on US and Canadian history
Chicano Database
Articles on Mexican American and Latinx topics
JSTOR
Scholarly books and articles on all topics
Music Index
Articles in the field of music
Race Relations Abstracts
Articles on all aspects of race relations
SocINDEX with Full Text
Scholarly articles in the social sciences

Austin American Statesman (Historical)
Main newspaper for Austin.
Includes articles about the shooting of Joe Cedillo and Reies Lopez Tijerina.
Dallas Morning News (Historical)
Main newspaper for Dallas.
Includes articles about the Pharr Riot and Reies Lopez Tijerina.
El Paso Herald and El Paso Times (Historical)
Main newspaper for El Paso.
Includes articles about Reies Lopez Tijerina and the Pharr Riot.
Hispanic American Newspapers
Hispanic newspapers in Spanish and bilingual.
Includes articles about the Pharr Riot and Reies Lopez Tijerina.
Independent Voices
A collection of alternative press newspapers, including The Rag from Austin and Latino newspapers.
Includes articles about Joe Cedillo and Reies Lopez Tijerina.
Readers' Guide Retrospective
Articles from popular, general-interest magazines.
Includes articles about Reies Lopez Tijerina.

In the Libraries Search Tool: Look for the "get pdf or "available online" link. If it says it is only available in print, click Get a Scan to have the article scanned and emailed to you (for free).
In GoogleScholar: Look for the html or pdf link (and you may have to log in with your EID). If you don't see either, look for the View it @ UT link.
In Library Databases: Look for the pdf, full text, or hmtl link. If none are available, look for Find it at UT to find it in another database.

If none of those work or there is no Find it at UT option, look up the article title in the Libraries Search tool to see if we have it.

If you can't find it, request it (for free) through Interlibrary Loan and we'll email it to you.

Ask a Librarian

Chat With Us

EID login required