Databases / Course Guides / Internet Resources

For scholarly articles:
Because of the interdisciplinary nature of much Urban Studies coursework, you may want to consult our subject pages on Government Information, Economics, Education, Geographic Information Systems, and Statistics in addition to those below.

Academic Search Complete
A “general audience” database that also contains journal literature urban studies issues.

CQ Researcher
This resource produces a weekly newsletter-like publication which focuses on a particular social or political issue in the news.  It provides detailed summaries of the topic and recommends resources for further study.  You can search topics back to 1991.  It's a good place to start.

Sanborn Maps
Large-scale fire insurance maps for the state of Texas, 1867-1970.

ICPSR
From the University of Michigan, the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research "maintains and provides access to a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction, and offers training in quantitative methods to facilitate effective data use."

Sociological Abstracts
This is one of the largest social science databases, indexing journals on urban sociology, policy, planning and forecasting, demography and economic development.  It is not full text.

PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service)
Provides indexing for periodicals, books, hearings, reports, gray literature, government publications, Internet resources, and other publications from 120 countries. 

Texas State Data Center
A host of Texas Census data, population estimates, and other data from state and federal agencies.

For Newspaper content:

Comprehensive listing of the library's electronic news resources can be found at the Online Newspapers Guide.

San Antonio Express-News
Complete full-text content of local and regional news, 1990-current,  including community events, schools, politics, government policies, cultural activities, local companies, state industries, and people in the community.

Lexis-Nexis Academic
Full-text access to over 5,900 news, business, legal, medical, and reference publications. Includes newspapers, magazines, journals, broadcast transcripts, legal citations, and more.

Houston Chronicle
Complete full-text content of local and regional news, 1985-current, including community events, schools, politics, government policies, cultural activities, local companies, state industries, and people in the community.

Course Guides

Prepared by librarians for specific courses, these course guides offer instructions for starting your research, drawing from reference sources, books in the regular collection, and online databases and internet resources.

URBS/SOCI 1316-1 (Drennon)

URBS Senior Seminar 2008 (Drennon)
 

Internet Resources

Here are links to selected communication internet resources in several areas of focus.

Local Resources

Texas State Resources

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Education Resources

Health Resources 

Housing Resources

General Resources 

International Resources

Planning Resources

Urban Geography

 

Please send comments to Jeremy Donald library liaison for Urban Studies.