Library Research Guides: Frontera: Home

Library Search

What's a call number and how do I use it?
Library of Congress classification system
Online Databases A-Z
Links to newspaper, magazine and video databases and more

Background Information -- Try Reference Sources

Credo Reference

Credo is an easy-to-use tool for starting research. Gather background information on your topic from hundreds of full-text encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, quotations, and subject-specific titles, as well as 500,000+ images and audio files and over 1,000 videos

Local Newspapers, Journals and Magazines

Wondering how to research local history? Follow our steps to "Be a Detective" by taking your topic keywords through the following sources.

Local Newspapers, Journals and Magazines

Search each topic in the sites below. There will not be information in every site. Don't get discouraged!

El Paso Times Newspaper

Full text coverage of El Paso Times and other historic El Paso newspapers from 1881 to the present. Articles from the most recent five days are excluded.

El Paso Matters
See Elections pulldown for coverage of local elections including voter guides.

"El Paso Matters is a member-supported nonpartisan media organization that uses journalism to expand civic capacity in our region. We inform and engage with people in El Paso, Ciudad Juárez and neighboring communities to create solutions-driven conversations about complex issues shaping our region." -- website
El Paso Inc.
El Paso Inc. is divided into three sections intended to provide intelligent, upscale readers with each week's most relevant and interesting stories on the people and events that affect their lives. Section A, Main News, focuses tightly on business, economic and financial news of local interest. Section B, Lifestyle, covers civic, charitable, philanthropic, social and lifestyle events. Section C, Your Money, covers economic news the financial markets and helps readers navigate the increasingly complex world of personal finance. To access archives request username and password from librarian.
The City Magazine El Paso/Las Cruces
can search each issue OR google search tcm2021 AND topic
The Prospector
The Prospector has been serving UTEP’s community since 1915. Winning numerous awards, both editorial and advertising, The Prospector is read regularly by UTEP students, staff and faculty. The Prospector covers on-campus and off-campus news, entertainment and sports events.
Prospector (Archive)
UTEP student newspaper archive

Broader Focused News Databases

You may find more information in these databases if your topic or person is better known outside of El Paso.

**Use Access World News to view the Texas Monthly including daily digital updates. Click the A-Z sources link at the top of the page and type Texas Monthly. Search for "el paso" to get ideas on topics or use your specific topic as a keyword.

Access World News (NewsBank)

A comprehensive news collection ideal for exploring issues and events at the local, regional, national and international level. Its diverse source types include print and online-only newspapers, blogs, newswires, journals, and broadcast transcripts.Includes major Texas newspapers and Texas college and universities student newspapers
Newspapers.com Texas Collection
Search Texas historical newspaper archives online. Find 271 papers and 38,877,512 pages on Newspapers.com. Research historical Texas newspaper archive databases and old news articles to help uncover your genealogy and family history now.
Newspaper Source Plus
Provides selected full text for nearly 40 national (U.S.) and international newspapers. Also contains full text television & radio news transcripts and selected full text for more than 389 regional (U.S.) newspapers including 15 from Texas. Updated daily.
http://search.ebscohost.com/

Google Custom Search AND Google Books

This is a custom Google search box to perform a "QUICK" search of many web resources that may not be conclusive. It is highly recommended to visit and search the sites individually.

Google Books
Search full-text of books, see previews of pertinent pages.

Historical Sources

Handbook of Texas
Specialized encyclopedia. Be sure to check article bibliography for further sources.
Password (Journal of the El Paso County Historical Society)
Online index to the journal. Also search the entire site using keywords. The first number (in bold or in roman numerals), is the volume, the second number is the page.
Institute of Oral History (UTEP)
contains over 1000 interviews covering a wide range of subjects, famous and ordinary people. Be sure to search on various terms, such as the diseases, public health, physicians, hospitals, nurses, etc. Most interviews are digitized / full text.

2023 Morales Index Combined
Online pdf index to El Paso historian Fred Morales' many local history books on areas of town such as the Segundo Barrio, Chihuahuita, Smeltertown, Downtown, Aoy and Bowie Schools, Cemeteries, Ciudad Juarez, the History of Transportation and much more! Does not include his History of Bowie High School: 1922-1973. Compiled by EPCC Librarian Marsha Labodda

eReserves at EPCC
Searchable full text of each Fred Morales' book
UTEP History Resources (Digital Commons)
an almost one stop portal for UTEP It includes their magazine NOVA articles, dissertations, photo and special archives, and archive of Prospector (student newspaper) articles.
Complete list of the archival holdings in the C.L.Sonnichsen Special Collections Department. (UTEP Library)
Many of these manuscript collections are not yet available in the UTEP Library. If there isn't an online record, but the collection looks useful for your topic, call ahead to ask the librarians. (915) 747-5697
DIGIE.ORG
DIGIE stands for Digital Information Gateway In El Paso. DIGIE is a vast collection of images and videos exploring El Paso’s past and present. It examines its people and its many cultures on giant 3-D touch-sensitive TV screens at the Museum of History and on a mobile Mini-Digie as well. Our Mini-Digie will be transported to classrooms, malls, community centers and other locations where citizens gather so everyone has the opportunity to experience and be included in El Paso’s digital history.
Congresional Record 1994-present
Congressional Record Bound Edition 1873-2017
Depending on your topic, you could "strike gold" in the record of everything the US Congress has done in its sessions since the late 1800s.
Portal to Texas History
Texas history materials: photos, maps, city directories, newspaper articles ( El Paso newspapers early 1900s only) journal articles and more .. Worth a quick search on your topic.

Podcasts and Video Streams

Podcasts from WKRG Public Radio in Las Cruces, NM
Includes Fronteras, Newsmakers, and more
Only in El Paso (PBS El Paso)
Only in El Paso tells positive and unique stories about people and places one can find only in El Paso, TX. This series is created by PBS El Paso. Each episode focuses on the El Paso area and explores topics such as arts, culture, music, living on the border, economic growth, and more.
El Paso HIstory TV
archive of El Paso, Texas history and heritage that begins to explain the historic assets of El Paso County, Texas and the surrounding area.
EPCC-TV
El Paso Community College Television (EPCC TV) is a dedicated platform that produces high-quality television programs focused on El Paso Community College (EPCC). Includes history, arts, culture and more of the local area.

Websites and Social Media

Web sites / Social Media

Think carefully about the sources you are finding and using.

Currency - How recent is the information?
Reliability - What kind of information is included in the resource? Is it balanced? Does the creator provide references or sources for data or quotations?
Authority - Who is the creator or author? Who is the publisher or sponsor? What is the author's or publisher's interest (if any) in this information?
Accuracy - Is the content readable? Is the content truthful? Is the content correct?
Purpose/Point of View - Is this fact or opinion? Is the creator/author trying to sell you something; persuade you about something?

Check the acronym. Did your website pass the CRAAP Test?!

*Criteria adapted from the CRAAP Test, Meriam Library, California State University, Chico

C.R.A.A.P Worksheet - South Central College

Recording of Library Research Class

ENGL 1302 Richard Barakat - Library Research Class

Looking for a Topic to Research?

Consider these topics for which there are multiple sources already found:

Andress, Ted Prominent attorney and civic leader who was killed at the El Paso Airport in 1959. Andress High School is named after him.
Annunciation House / Ruben Garcia long running immigrant assistance organization that is in the news now
Armendariz, Albert Sr. WWII veteran, Judge, civil rights attorney and a founder of MALDEF.
Bath Riots The dark history of "gasoline baths" at the border 1917
Bookstores
Breweries / Craft Beer Festival
Chávez Cano, Esther Human rights activist who fought against the crimes against women and children in Ciudad Juarez and founder of Casa Amiga.
Center Against Sexual and Family Violence
El Paso Laundry Strike 1919
El Paso Murals
El Paso Schools and Segregation
Enriquez, Gaspar nationally known San Elizario artist
Femicide in Juarez decades long killing of women often returning from work in maquiladoras. decades long killing of women often returning from work in maquiladoras. Can also research various activists: Castro, Lucha or Chávez Cano, Esther or Escobedo, Marisela
Gandara, Margarita "Mago" Orona loved and respected woman muralist who lived in El Paso and Juarez
Immaculate Conception Church downtown El Paso
Kress Store (history and start of remodeling downtown)
Love, Dr. Jerome Nationally known Ysleta physician who had a mobile office and delivered babies in the Lower Valley, 1930s-1940s.
Military figures: Angeles, Felipe General in the Mexican Revolution, Camacho, Isaac Fabens/El Paso Vietnam era POW, Chapin, John Letcher (Capt) WWII Purple Heart recipient, Gunn, Ira Pearl Military Nurse Anesthetist buried in Arlington Cemetery
Richardson, Nolan Nationally known African American basketball coach raised in the Segundo Barrio
Schuster Family El Paso medical leaders
Silex, Humberto famous labor organizer with ASARCO
Washington, L.W. founder of El Paso NAACP
Wigwam Theater / Paranormal Society
Women aviators/pilots
Wyler Tramway, history, second closure, back in the news

Browse our list of people, places and much more to find a research topic

Librarian Evaluation

Librarian Rachel Murphree Student Evaluation Fall 2025
Reference Librarian
rmurphre@epcc.edu
(915) 831-8874

Librarian

Rachel Murphree (NW)

she, her

Email Me

Contact:

Northwest Library

(915) 831-8874

Subjects: Art, Humanities & Communication, Border History, Government

Border History Archives in Town

Go here when you know as much as you can already! Call ahead for public access.

Border Heritage Center
To request assistance or to speak with staff regarding BHC collections, which include a vertical file (collections of newspaper articles, brochures, photos, etc.) that may be available.

The BHC reference desk is open to calls Monday-Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Please feel free to email the Border Heritage Center directly if preferable.

Phone: 915-212-3218 Email: LibBorder@elpasotexas.gov
Border Heritage Center Digital Collections
Explore Our Collections
Dive into historic photographs, postcards, maps and publications.
UTEP Special Collections Department
On the 6th floor of the UTEP Library, the Special Collections department has a wealth of local history: papers, photographs, manuscripts, maps, etc. Detailed descriptions of the collections that have been processed are online and searchable.
El Paso County Historical Society
The archives at the Historical Society contain DIFFERENT sources from Password! Call ahead ((915) 533-3603) to see if your topic may be in their archives.
McCall Neighborhood Center for African American history
McCall Neighborhood Center. Museum and archives of African American history in the Southwest. 3231 East Wyoming Avenue, El Paso, TX 79902 915.566.2407
NMSU Library Archives & Special Collections
Institute of Historical Survey Foundation
Located in Las Cruces, this is a premier historical archive for southwestern research. Index to their archives is on their website.

Frontera: Home

About Frontera

Library Search

Background Information -- Try Reference Sources

Local Newspapers, Journals and Magazines

Local Newspapers, Journals and Magazines

Broader Focused News Databases

Google Custom Search AND Google Books

Historical Sources

Historical Sources

Podcasts and Video Streams

Websites and Social Media

Web sites / Social Media

Recording of Library Research Class

Looking for a Topic to Research?

Librarian Evaluation

Librarian

Border History Archives in Town