TexShare Databases: Helping You Discover History
Whether you are satisfying personal curiosity, starting a paper, or selecting a dissertation topic, beginning historical research can be a daunting task. Depending on your topic, you may find that you need to supplement your local library's print collection with additional coverage. The electronic resources offered by TexShare present a wide range of historical materials suitable for information seekers of many diverse needs. In this pathfinder I will profile several TexShare databases that can help you with your historical research.
Does TexShare offer access to any electronic history books or encyclopedias?
TexShare subscribes to NetLibrary.com, a digital library featuring tens of thousands of e-books and encyclopedias. Many of these texts are scholarly works of historiography, while a wide range of encyclopedias is also available. NetLibrary offers simultaneous author, title, subject, and full-text searching of all its titles, making this a first-stop database for basic to advanced historical research. A few examples of the e-books in this service include:
- "It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own" : A History of the American West by Richard Wright.
- Afghanistan : A Modern History : Monarchy, Despotism or Democracy? : the Problems of Governance in the Muslim Tradition by Angelo Rasanayagam.
- St. James Encyclopedia of Labor History Worldwide : Major Events in Labor History and Their Impact
Can you recommend a TexShare database that features both scholarly and popular historical articles?
Academic Search Premier is an excellent multi-disciplinary database that allows users to search thousands of scholarly and popular publications simultaneously. To use Academic Search Premier, simply access the database from the TexShare Web site or from your library's database link, and:
- enter your search terms and keywords in either the Basic or Advanced search screens
- use Boolean operators such as AND and OR provided in the drop-down boxes to narrow or broaden your search
- specify whether you would like to find only full text or scholarly items
- you also have the option to search within a specific publication, or to search for a specific document type such as an abstract or a bibliography
Where can I find biographical information on famous historical figures?
There are many ways to find biographical information about historical figures in TexShare databases. The following three resources are particularly strong in this area:
- HeritageQuest - Use Heritage Quest to find genealogical and historical data from U.S. Censuses until 1930 while also searching an index of 6,500 history and genealogy periodicals (PERSI), Revolutionary War pension information, and gaining full-text access to 25,000 local and family histories.
- Student Resource Center Gold - This database profiles multi-disciplinary reference works, biographies, essays, overviews, primary works, and periodical articles. Biographical and historical data are well-represented, and a unique searchable timeline feature provides concise overviews of time periods.
- Literature Resource Center - For historical and biographical information relating to famous authors or literary movements this database is an ideal resource. It features biographical data on over 120,000 indexed authors, providing a personal 'literary-historical timeline' for each.
Is there a database that features historical information on international governments as well as military history?
- Military and Government Collection - International military and national history are covered in this comprehensive database. Users can search a collection of periodicals, academic journals and other content for current and historical content on all branches of this military. This resource provides full text coverage of close to 400 journals and periodicals, and also includes full text access to 245 pamphlets as well as indexing and abstracting services for more than 500 titles.
Can I do primary historical research in newspapers and magazines with any of the TexShare Databases?
- Academic Search Premier indexes the popular American periodical The Nation from 1866 to the present, while Infotrac Custom Newspapers and Master FILE Premier provide citations and full-text access to newspaper articles dating to the mid-1980s.
Where can I find information about Ancient history?
- History Study Center - The database, History Study Center, is a vast collection of historical material about global history from ancient to contemporary times. Resources include documents from primary source texts, articles from atlases, biographical collections, and encyclopedias. Users can view video clips, and browse through collections of historical photos, woodcuts and political cartoons. There is also full text coverage of 60 journals.
Is there a database that provides historical data about other countries?
- World History Collection – For historical information about Africa, Asia, North and South America, Europe and the Middle East, the World History Collection is an excellent resource for a global perspective on history. The database covers topics such as anthropology, art, culture, economics, government, heritage, military, politics and regional issues. With full text coverage of over 140 journals dating from 1964, including peer-reviewed journals, users will definitely want to search this collection.
For further information on TexShare databases send questions and comments to texshare@tsl.state.tx.us.
This page was written by Char Booth in Spring 2005.
This page was reviewed by Barbara Jorge in Spring 2006 and revised by Wendy Thompson in Spring 2007.
INF 382S: Library Instruction and Information Literacy, taught by Dr. Loriene Roy
School of Information,
The University of Texas at Austin