Sample Research Questions
1. Louis Sullivan, the development of the skyscraper and the rebuilding of Chicago after the fire c. 1870.
	Tips: Place your topic in a broader context · Research on an Architect · Research on a City
2. "Modern architecture outside of Europe and the U.S." (The following tips are for those who are at an early stage in choosing a topic.)
	Tips: Architecture by Country · Architecture by Type · Architecture by Style/Period · Specific Buildings and Structures
3. "Mass produced housing as a modern architectural ideal"
	Tips: Research on a Topic · Other Libraries; ILLiad
4. "The importance of iron in 19th-century France; the use of iron in the development of the department store."
	Tips: Journal Articles--key architectural studies database · Which Other Databases to Use? · Full Text
5. "Modern architecture and the car (as an influence on design and/or as a conceptual influence, or as a metaphor for the modern machine age)"
	Tips: How to come up with Effective Search Words-- the story of a sophomore  · Google.Scholar? · Architectural drawings and more

 

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A Library Research Tutorial 1. Social, Cultural, Historical, and Biographical Backgrounds
2. Finding Books
3. Finding Journal Articles
	Key Database Other Subject Databases--Which one(s) to Use?
4. Full Tex, Full Text, Full Text! 5. Searching Google Scholar 6. Visual Research
	· Print Sources · Online Sources (digital Images)

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1. Social, Cultural, Historical, and Biographical Backgrounds
When you need to place your research question in a broader context, here are some good sources to use:

Grove Art Online (The seminal source for art—the online equivalent of the 34 volumes of the print The Dictionary of Art and The Oxford Companion to Western Art, plus updates since the print version.) Here is the entry on Louis Sullivan. This particular entry is written by DAVID VAN ZANTEN, who is currently on faculty in the Department of Art History in Northwestern University. All articles and entries are signed and dated in this source.

 

The following two sources provide an overview of the social, cultural and intellectual history of American architecture.

Encyclopedia of the United States in the Twentieth Century (Ref. E740.7 .E53 1996) In his essay “Architecture”(Vol. 4. p1665), Robert Twombly looks at the following topics on American architectural history in the Twentieth Century: · Architecture and Social Place · Style and Social Agenda, 1890-1910 · The Skyscraper as Icon, 1890-1910 · Altering Habitat: New Agendas for Residential Design, 1900-1930 · The Social Transformation of Modernism, 1922-1940 · Hegemonic Modernism, 1940-1970 · Social Fragmentation: Architectural Chaos, 1970-2000 · Annotated Bibliography

Encyclopedia of American Cultural & Intellectual History (Ref. E169.1 .E624 2001) Paul E. Ivey, in his essay by the same title, “Architecture” looks at American Architecture as cultural expression: · Early Civic and Religious Models · Birth of a National Image of Union · State Capitols, City Halls, Post Offices · Representing Religion · Challenges to the Classical Model · Expositions and National Cultural Identity · City Beautiful and Beyond · Domestic Architecture: Historicism, Individuality, and Conformity · Regionalism to the International Style · The Skyscraper and American Commercial Aspirations · Bibliography

Note: these sources often provides bibliographies. For example, here are some recommended readings on Louise Sullivan and Chicago Architectural History: Robert Twombly, Louise Sullivan: His Life and Work (1986); Daniel Bluestone, Constructing Chicago (1991).

Encyclopedia of European social history from 1350 to 2000 (Ref. HN373 .E63 2001)

Other Background Sources:
Encyclopedia of Architectural Technology (Ref.NA31.E58)
Encyclopedia of Architecture (Ref NA31.E59 1988)
International Dictionary of Architects and Architecture (Ref NA40.I48 1993)
Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World (Ref NA208.E53 1997)
Encyclopedia of American Architecture (Ref NA705.P3 1995)
Dictionary of Architecture and Construction (Ref NA31.H32 1993)

A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture   

Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects (Ref NA40.M25 1982)
Biographical Dictionary of British Architects (Ref NA 996.C6 1995)
Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased) (Ref NA736.W5 1970)
Makers of 20th Century Modern Architecture (Ref NA 680.J628 1997)

Bibliographies
All about old buildings: the whole preservation catalog (Ref NA106.A44 1985)
Sources of modern architecture: a critical bibliography (Ref Z5941.5 .S47 1981)
Sourcebook of Contemporary North American Architecture from postwar to postmodern (Ref NA703.W75 1989)
20th century architecture: a reader's guide / Martin Pawley (book reviews and a bibliography) (Oversize: NA680 .P314 2000 )

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2. Finding Books (in Tisch Library by using Tufts Library Catalog)

• on an architect
• on architecture in a city
• on architecture in a country
• on architecture by type, style, or period
• on specific buildings and structures

Research on an Architect
To research on on a particular architect (a person or a firm), a Subject Search is an effective way to find books in the Catalog. For example:

1. Select to search by Subject 2. Enter last name first.

Search results: 23 books and other types of publications under 8 sub-topics.

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Research on Architecture in a City
For a topic such as " the rebuilding of Chicago after the fire c. 1870 ", we can treat it as a search on architecture in a city. We can start with a keyword search, for example:

1. Select to search by Keyword 2. Enter keywords: chicago and architect* "architect**" searches for architect, architects, architectural, architecture.... The asterisk "*" is called a truncation symbol, a database searching jargon. It's more accurate to use double asterisk "**" in our Catalog, while a single asterisk "*" is sufficient in other databases.)	Selected search results:
Next, look closely at a relevant title and find other ways to refine your search. For example, you can click on a relevant Subject index term (also known as "subject headings" or "descriptors") to gain an overview of the subject and related topics.	The first subject index link, Architecture--Illinois--Chicago will place you in the following subject index screen:

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Research on Architecture of a Country
The research question is, "Modern architecture outside of Europe and the U.S.". When you are at a very early stage in choosing a research topic, a broad search is the way to help you gain an overview of possibilities within a certain scope.

A subject Search is an effective way to find books on architecture of a country. With our particular topic,we will start with a search on Mexico:

Search results:

Another subject search on the region to broaden our search a bit:

A keyword search to include both a country and a region:

Among the 84 books,found by the above keyword search, are titles about certain time periods, a particular architect, and so on. These books should be good starting points for the researcher:

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Research on Architecture of a Certain Type (in a country)

Other examples: "vernacular architecture", "hospital architecture", "art museum architecture", "synagogue architecture", "architecture domestic".
When your subject search does not return any results, try a keyword search, see example above.

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Research on Architecture by Styles or Periods
(use other Libraries)
In addition to the Tufts Libraries catalog, WorldCat is the Catalog of materials held worldwide, and you can request online (ILLiad) books you find in this catalog. The "Modern Latin American Architecture" topic is a good example to use in searching WorldCat.

Search Results:

Substitute "Latin America" with "Mexico" in the above search, we will get the following results:

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Research on a Topic
For a topical search such as "architectural designs of houses in the United States", try a keyword search. For example:
1. Select to search by Keyword
2. The prefix, su: is asking that those keywords are subject index terms, so our search is more focused. The truncated word, hous* will search for house, houses, and housing.

Select search results:

Next, look closely at a relevant title to learn about other keywords and/or subject index terms that you can use to refine the search. For example, you can follow a relevant subject index term to get all other books on the same topic:

By following the subject index link "Architecture, Domestic -- United States-- Designs and Plans", we come to the subject index page, which offers a few other related sub-topics:

If these books are of a broader scope than desirable, we can always try searches in other Library catalogs and move on to search for journal articles.

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Research on a Specific Building

A successful search in the Catalog depends on:
1.	If our collection has a lot of monographs (books of detailed study of a single specialized topic) on that particular building. So the tip is to use books on buildings in a city, country... in addition to books about a specific building.
2.	How flexible we can be with our search terms, because we don't always know the official name of a building.

Search sample 1.

Search sample 2. Not knowing the official name of the building, I used a keyword search:

Search sample 3. a keyword search to include two possibilities--tower or center?

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3. Finding Journal Articles
Key Database

Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals  1934 -
This database indexes more than 1,000 periodicals published worldwide on archaeology, city planning, interior design, and historic preservation, as well as architecture.

Sample research question, "The importance of iron in 19th-century France; the use of iron in the development of the department store."

Enter key phrases and words; "store*" searches for either and both "store" and "stores"

1. Look closely at a relevant record in the search results to get some ideas for further refining the initial search; 2. Follow the relevant subject index terms to get to other records on the topic. 3. Use the bibliography in the article.

We can use the previous subject indexing phrase to do another search:

Here is how we can apply what we have learned about Avery in our next search:

A. 1. Look at iron or ironwork used in "department stores" 2. We have learned that "department stores" is a subject index term in Avery; therefore a Subject Phrase search is more precise than a keyword search.

B. Or look more broadly at iron or ironwork used in architectural design in France during a given time period: **Subject Phrase searches for the exact phrase; Subject searches for any word in a subject phrase.

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Other Subject Databases--Which one(s) to Use?
There are usually more than one relevant source/database (each with its own particular academic discipline/subject focus and/or extensiveness of coverage) for your topic.

Example, journals may be included in one relevant database, but not another. For instance, two important art and art history journals, Art Bulletin and Art History both are indexed in Art Abstracts, BHA, and Expanded Academic ASAP. However, neither of these two journals is indexed in ARTBibliographies Modern. The Avery database indexes more than 1,000 periodicals published worldwide, while JStor includes only 13 architecture and architectural history journals (minus the current years of these journals.)

Example, let me return to the sample the topic, “use of iron in French department stores in the 19th century". After analyzing, more closely, we can decide to try out at least the following three databases, in addition to the Avery Index,— Bibliography of the History of Art, for its emphasis on (American and) European art and historical periods; History of Science, Technology and Medicine, If we want to focus on iron as a building material and technological aspect of architectural constructions; and Historical Abstracts, which indexes scholarly literature in European and world history and culture from 1450 to the present. See a search result at the end of this section. So, if your research topic is on modern architecture in Latin America or Asia, you should also use the databases focused on Latin American studies (PRISMA) or Asian studies (Bibliography of Asian Studies), in addition to the architecture and art databases.

So, to summarize, I quote your fellow students: “using a combination of resources to find what I want instead of giving up on a source if it cannot directly help.” (Oct. 31, 06) "I will be carrying more in-depth searches.” (Oct. 31, 06)

Art and Art History Art Abstracts 1984- .   BHA: Bibliography of the History of Art = Bibliographie d'Histoire de l'Art. Getty Art History Information Program, 1973- Covering European and American art from late antiquity to the present. ARTBibliographies Modern 1974- The scope extends from artists and movements beginning with Impressionism in the late 19th century, up to the most recent works and trends in the late 20th century. A particular emphasis is placed upon adding new and lesser-known artists and on the coverage of foreign-language literature. Humanities Architecture in the Humanities This database connects a piece of architecture to works of literature, film, theater, and art. The connection is made by way of historical or fictional events that took place in the building and are also depicted in other works. The purpose is to demonstrate how architecture's physical attributes imbue these events with certain meanings. Full text Multidisciplinary Database and E-journal Collection Expanded Academic ASAP     Articles from more than 1,500 scholarly, trade, and general-interest publications, including national news and commentary. Coverage is from 1980 to current and is updated daily. Some full text is available. JSTOR

History and Culture Studies America: History and Life 1964- Scholarly literature on the history and culture of the U.S. and Canada. Historical Abstracts 1969- Scholarly literature in European and world history and culture from 1450 to the present. Does not include the United States and Canada.In addition to Historical Abstracts, each of the following three databases focuses on a particular region or culture. Bibliography of Asian Studies An index of Western-language articles, monographs, and book chapters published since 1971.  Index Islamicus The Index Islamicus covers Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim world. It is produced by the Islamic Bibliography Unit of the Cambridge University Library and indexes articles back to 1906. PRISMA publicaciones y revistas sociales y humanísticas full-text scholarly journals in the social sciences and humanities for the interdisciplinary academic study of Hispanic and Latin America, and the Caribbean Basin

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Sample search result on architectural history topics from the database, Historical Abstracts. You can always use the bibliography in a relevant article on your topic.

 

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How to Come up with Effective Keywords to Use?
Here is an excellent story of a sophomore thinking through her research topic and communicating with her research librarian and professor. The topic, “Modern architecture and the car (as an influence on design and/or as a conceptual influence, or as a metaphor for the modern machine age)”.

My (chao chen's, the research librarian in the story) NOT very successful initial searches in the database, ARTbibliographies Modern:, without the benefit of talking with the student to learn more about the topic:

1. My search, “(car or cars or automobile*) and design* and architect*”, found 89 records 2. I examined the subject index terms of the first record and used them for a more focused search. (see next example)

This more focused search found 20 records. Shown here is Record 13.

These results were just not quite within an appropriate scope and depth.

So I took the opportunity to ask some of my typical questions about the research topic, when I received the student’s request for a library research meeting.

-----Original Message----- From: sophomore Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2006 9:43 AM To: Chen, Chao Dear Chao, … I have decided to write about the influence of the car on modern architecture for my final essay. I've had some trouble finding articles that explicitly talk about this connection …. -----Original Message----- From: sophomore Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2006 12:22 PM To: Chen, Chao (Librarian’s comment: I highlighted words I find to be important concepts in the student’s reply.) .... I want to write about the influence of the car on modern architecture. In many ways, the designs of the car and architecture were very related, evolved in tandem, and many architects contributed, like Le Corbusier. He wrote in his book The New Spirit how the car is ideal because it has gotten down to the most essential features and made them the best through trial and error and competition, standardization. I don't really want to focus on car design itself, more on how architecture was affected by the advent of the automobile and how architecture had to change to accommodate cars etc. How theory about architecture changed during the 1900s, mostly before 1960s. So far, I have a few ideas of what architects and buildings I can write about, but I don't know if it would be best to focus on a few or write less about more and cover most of the progression. .... I could also briefly talk about the need for new architecture for garages, parking lots, tunnels, bridges, gas stations, freeways etc. I have also attached two articles I've found that briefly discuss the subject. … (end of message)

These questions gave the student an opportunity to sort out her thoughts on the topic, which provided us with some very useful information in our next search. From: Chen, Chao Sent: Thu 11/16/2006 11:45 AM To: sophomore … If you could tell me how you came up with this topic to begin with, it could help me think about the library research approaches. Do you have some articles that discuss the topic? Authors, architects, designers, architectural historians, theorists who have talked about these concepts and so on? What about car design, shapes/structures, functions, and expressions/symbolism, materials, relationship to the occupants? What are the key themes shared by architecture and cars? I am making wild guesses here with my very limited knowledge about architecture. I am just giving you examples of how I think through the library research process when I have a topic. You are the expert on the subject, so tell me what you know, and we will work together this way. chao (end of message)

Based on the answers, we came up with more searches:

• 1. A general search about “automobiles and architecture”
• 2. A more specific search on “automobiles and Le Corbusier”
• 3. Another topic search on cars and urbanism: (automobile* or car or cars) and (urban* or city or cities)
• 4. Search on automobile related buildings and structures such as parking lots, garages, gas stations.
• 5. Find, in databases, the articles the student provided , so we can a. trace those who have cited the articles and get more articles that way; b. find out if the authors have written other articles; c. examine the keywords and subject terms used to index the articles. Then use them for more searches.

Here are some sample results of our new approaches:

We also tried out the following Art and History databases:

America: History & Life Copyright (c) 2006 ABC-Clio, Inc.

At this point, the student's communication with her professor confirmed that we were moving in the right direction. The professor pointed out that the student’s biggest decision was to decide if she wanted to focus on actual architecture or concepts/ideas—loose ways the car and modern architecture interacted. The student felt rather confident at this point that once she made a choice, she’d be able to find enough readings to write her essay.

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Full Tex, Full Text, Full Text!
A very frequently asked question is, “full text, full text, full text…where are they, online, in print, downstairs, upstairs?” Here is how to find full texts in three different scenarios. (This link takes you to my other library research guide.)

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Searching Google Scholar
A quick, but limited source. See details about Searching Google Scholar. (The searches were done on 4:45 pm Nov. 9 '06.)

A second Search:

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6. Visual Research
Print Sources
Search the Library Catalogs
keyword searches for photographs and other types of illustrations of buildings and structures

Other keyword searches to try out (note the search pattern): (architect* or building*) and united states and pictorial works monuments and pictorial works (architect* or building*) and (illustrat* or photo*)

keyword searches for architectural drawings, sketches, details, designs and plans.

Other keyword searches to try out (note the search pattern): architectural drawing and united states architectural drawing and wright architecture details and (modern or 19th century) architectural rendering architecture designs and plans and (modern or 20th century)

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
A Visual Dictionary of Architecture. Ref NA31 .C44 1995.
American Architecture: an Illustrated Encyclopedia. Ref NA 705 .H36 1998.
English Architecture: an Illustrated Glossary. Ref NA 961 .C87. World architecture index : a guide to illustrations Ref NA202 .T4 1991

Online Sources (digital Images)

Tufts Department of Art History [http://ase.tufts.edu/art/AHwelcome.html] Slide collection and the Artifact database of images for class study. Cities/Buildings Image Archive [Meredith L. Clausen, Architectural History Professor, University of Washington, http://www.washington.edu/ark2/.] “The Cities/Buildings Database is a collection of digitized images of buildings and cities drawn from across time and throughout the world, available to students, researchers and educators on the web.”All files on this site are copyright controlled as indicated. Digital Archive of European Architecture [Professor Jeffery Howe, Boston College, http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/contents_europe.html] Prehistoric to 20th century. International Architecture Database Drawing on the contributions from persons across much of Europe, the International Architecture Database website has served as a valuable clearinghouse for thousands of architectural projects (both built and unrealized) since 1996. Currently, the database contains information on more than 13,000 projects, most from the 20th and 21st centuries. Grove Art Online ARTstor ARTstor is an image database of architecture, painting, photography, sculpture, decorative arts and design, and archaeological and anthropological objects--with associated catalog data--from many major collections.

Library of Congress American Memory Project A gateway to primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the United States. The site offers more than 7 million digital items from more than 100 historical collections. American Landscape and Architectural Design, 1850-1920 This collection of approximately 2,800 lantern slides represents an historical view of American buildings and landscapes built during the period 1850-1920. The collection offers views of cities, specific buildings, parks, estates and gardens, including a complete history of Boston's Park System. A Digital Archive of American Architecture [Jeffery Howe, Boston College, http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/fa267/.] This archive, currently consisting of nearly 1,500 digitized images of American architecture (280 buildings). It surveys the development of architecture in America from the 17th century to the present, with particular emphasis given to local architectural monuments.