Texas Reference Sources Online (www.txla.org/pubs/trs/trsonline.html) is a project I have been involved with since I edited the art and architecture section of the 5th (and final) print edition in 2004, coinciding roughly with the appearance of the online edition, which is regularly (or, in the case of my sections, irregularly) updated.

In addition to the art and architecture section, I am continuing editor of design and applied arts.

Very recently, I have submitted some two dozen updates to my sections, including the likes of Intimate Modernism: Fort Worth Circle Artists in the 1940s, Texas 100: Selections from the El Paso Museum of Art, Texas Modern: The Rediscovery of Early Texas Abstraction (1935-1965), Abilene Landmarks: An Illustrated Tour, and Texas Quilts and Quilters: A Lone Star Legacy. Expect these to be added to TRS Online in the coming months.

Works included do not necessarily fit the classic definition of “reference" as a source to be consulted for a specific piece of information. I have thought it important to include catalogues and handbooks of important art collections in Texas, even if their emphasis is not the art of Texas. Monographs on individual artists have somewhat arbitrarily been excluded, although certain architects and a documentary photographer or two have been included.

In conclusion, I quote from the TRS Online homepage on the origins and progress of this prodigious project:

“Texas Reference Sources (TRS) is a selective guide to reference works on, or relating to, Texas and Texans. It is designed to supplement the American Library Association's Guide to Reference Books.

This site is a continuation and update of the 5th edition published by the Texas Library Association in 2004. All content and updates for the printed 5th edition are posted on this site. Due to the large number of revisions, additions, and deletions to Texas Reference Sources since its publication in 2004, the online version was determined to have supplanted the print edition by 2008 and remaining print copies of the 5th edition were withdrawn from TLA Publications inventory and are no longer available for sale. Updating of the errata file for the print edition was discontinued in 2006.

As a continuing project of the Reference Round Table of the Texas Library Association, volunteers throughout Texas compiled, edited, and continue to update this work in the hope of providing a useful guide to identifying both printed and electronic resources on all aspects of Texan life, history, economics, government, and culture. John C. Hepner supervises the project as General Editor.”

Submitted by Craig Bunch 5/31/09