How to Be a Borderlands DetectiveDoing research is like being a detective. You follow clues from one source to another, gathering information on the person or topic you think you may like to research. I'll show you the main sources in the order that I suggest searching them, and then walk you through searching them using the topic " Major Jefferson Van Horne".
So, now, our example: Major Jefferson Van Horne -- Who is he?Handbook of Texas OnlineYou'll find he was the first commander of Fort Bliss in 1849 http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/VV/fva8.html Online Catalog for BooksUse keyword search. We have the book Tribute to Major Jefferson Van Horne (also at the public library) While here, click on the "find at UTEP" button at the top and you'll see letters he wrote back to his superiors, on microfilm at UTEP: http://129.108.99.98/record=b1752341 Also check the El Paso Public Library Catalog & NMSU Library Catalog (especially if you are researching a New Mexico topic) Books on ReserveThese are the standards that you should check first, but there might be more; search the indexes in the back of the books. See all of the books on reserve under Ms. Vise's name. Most of them are for the Borderlands classes.
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The first number (in bold or in roman numerals), is the volume, the second number is the page(s). Password is located to the left of the Reference Desk. The index is
searchable online
.
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Google Books
Search the *full text* of books to
find ones that interest you and learn what library has them. Major Van
Horne is mentioned in these two books, and you can see *previews* of the pertinent
pages at the Google book site.
-
Mexican War Veterans- A Complete Roster of the Regular and Volunteer Troops ...
- Page 19
- The River Has Never Divided Us: A Border History of La Junta de Los Rios
- California Historical Society Quarterly - Page 130
- The River Has Never Divided Us: A Border History of La Junta de Los Rios
UTEP Library's Special Collections and Institute of Oral History
The Special Collections Department of the UTEP Library has a wealth of local history: papers, photographs, manuscripts, maps, etc. Detailed descriptions of the collections that have been processed are online and searchable. Put your term in the "search our site" box. This is very important to do, even if you have searched the UTEP Library's catalog above, because this search engine accesses more terms.
The
Institute of Oral History has
over 1000 interviews, representing
over 1600 hours of tape recorded interviews and more than
20,000 pages of transcript. These materials cover a wide
range of subjects, spanning social, economic, political,
cultural and artistic concerns. Copies of the oral
history tapes, transcripts, indexes, and summaries are
housed in the Special Collections Department, University
Library, UTEP. The public is invited to read transcripts and
listen to tape recordings there. The subject terms are
broad, so if you don't initially find your topic, consider using broader
terms in your
Begin with local papers first. You'll find the microfilms at the UTEP Library and the Main/Downtown public library branch. If you determine your event had national importance, check the
index for the
New York Times (1851-2003)
[
Off-campus
access ]
American Memory is a multimedia web site of digitized
historical documents, photographs, sound recordings, moving pictures, books,
pamphlets, maps, and other resources from the Library of Congress’s vast
holdings.
You may get lucky and find information here! it's
worth a try. There wasn't anything on Jefferson Van Horne, but there's
lots of other information. For an idea, type in "el paso"
Don't forget also to follow any references (footnotes, bibliographies, etc.) that you find in any of these publications. These are sources that those authors used, and when you hunt them down, you may find even MORE information on your topic that you can use.
Detective guide written by
Rachel Murphree
search
. Open the results in a new window to see them all.
Local and National Newspapers
Some of these are:
El azote, La buena prensa, El Ciudadano
, El clarín del Norte, El defensor,
La democracia, El día,
Los dos Américas, El hispano-americano, El
independiente , La justicia, El latino-americano,
El monitor, Las noticias, El observador
fronterizo, El paso del norte , El Progresista, Renacimiento, Sancho Panza,
El Valle del bravo, El zurriago.
Commercial review, The Evening Telegram
, El Paso weekly tribune , Evening Tribune
, Homer Union news (on the petroleum industry),
Monday mercury, The Pass City
independent, The southwesterner (from the
1960s), Ysleta independent.
Library of Congress American Memory Project
Final Tips
As always, if you need help, ask a librarian at the Reference Desk or email
Rachel Murphree (murphree@elp.rr.com) or
Helen Bell (helencarmenbell@gmail.com).
Last updated
January 18, 2008