Pathfinder for Local History Research

April 2018

Is the research topic a person?

1. Look up the last name in the OPAC.  This should access any TTWC Biography file or book in our collection.
2. Look up the last name in Rescarta. This should keyword access any photograph, old telephone book, clipped obituary, or cemetery inscription.
3. Look up the name in Digital San Marcos Daily Record. This should keyword access any newspaper article from 1976 to the last full year.
4. Look up the name in the Lee’s Index to Hays County Historical & Genealogical Society Quarterlies.
5. Prior to 1948?  Open the digital version of Dobie’s Brief History of Hays County and San Marcos, do a “find keyword” search.

Is the research topic a place (or organization, or event)?

1. Look up the place in the OPAC.  This should access all of the Historic Marker files, National Registry of Historic Places entries, and many others.
2. Specific street addresses use this formula as subject headings in the OPAC: “Streets—[Street name]—[Street number].”  This search is useful for photographs and articles about specific addresses. It is best to use the "classic" version of the OPAC.
3. Look up the place in Rescarta.
4. Look up the place in Digital San Marcos Daily Record.
5. Look up the place in the old paper TTWC index. Not all of the files have been catalogued yet in the OPAC, so the paper index is still important for places, organizations, events.
6.  Look up the place in the Lee’s Index to Hays County Historical & Genealogical Society Quarterlies.
7. Prior to 1948?  Open the digital version of Dobie’s Brief History of Hays County and San Marcos, do a “find keyword” search.