The Austin History Center strives to make information about Austin and Travis County readily available to the public. Our books, periodicals, and much of our media collection are listed on the Austin Public Library's online catalog. Our other materials may be accessed using a variety of in-house indexes, catalogs, databases, and research guides. Our Reading Room staff is available to assist people in the use of these items.
If you cannot visit the Austin History Center in person or if you need to ask a question preliminary to your visit, you may submit your question, using the Austin History Center AHCLink Service. This service links customers with the Austin History Center reference librarians, who will research questions and respond by e-mail. The AHCLink Service is designed for specific questions with short, factual answers.
Please use the Patron Copy Order Form and Agreement to request copies of items, such as obituaries or articles from newspapers and magazines, which come from copyrighted sources. Since the form requires your signature, it must be mailed or faxed to the Austin History Center. Please note that the Austin History Center reserves the right to refuse to fill any copy request because of potential damage to a fragile original or other concerns. We will make every effort to quickly inform customers if we cannot fill an order.
If you cannot come to the History Center and your project is one that requires in-depth research, you may wish to consider hiring a researcher from the Texas State Library's Private Researchers List.
Since our collection is so extensive and multifarious, you might want to read about the many components of our collection. Also, the research guides listed in the box on this page may help you find appropriate resources for your topic of interest.
Short questions about Austin and Travis County can also be answered by calling the Austin Public Library's Telephone Reference at (512) 974-7400.
For fun, try to answer fifteen of the most Frequently Asked Questions about Austin.
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