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Databases & Electronic Resources

Related to Architecture &

Landscape Architecture

This section of our web site is not yet complete. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Book Databases

Journal Databases

Digital Images

Other Electronic Resources

To access ALL Databases & Electronic Resources that the University Libraries offer, please go to E-Resource List (A-Z).

Book Databases

Books at Penn State:

CAT - PSU Libraries Web Catalog

The online catalog of materials owned by Penn State Libraries. All formats (books, journals, audiovisuals, maps, recordings, etc.) are included. Circulation status for individual items also provided.

Coverage: Presently contains about 2 million titles. Updates: Continuous up-to-the-minute as new records are added.

Books located elsewhere:

VEL - CIC Virtual Electronic Library

The Virtual Electronic Library — "The VEL" — is a project of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC). The VEL provides access and mutual borrowing for the 500,000 students and 35,000 faculty and research staff of the CIC (Big Ten universities and the University of Chicago) to a mega-library consisting of the 13 combined institutions, any sub-group of those institutions, or any single institution. Through the VEL, a user at any CIC libary can search and borrow the materials at any other CIC library, as easily as at one's local library.

The VEL lets you use a Web interface, customized here at Penn State, to access The Penn State VEL (consisting of The CAT, Penn State's online catalog, as well as several locally mounted databases). It also lets you access the CIC VEL (the online catalogs of the Big Ten). Plus ... you can search the multiple databases of the Penn State VEL or the CIC VEL catalogs simultaneously!

In addition to accessing the catalogs of the CIC VEL, authorized Penn State users can REQUEST library materials from any CIC library, just as if they were at their own library.

The VEL can be an excellent source for materials for Arch & LArch students, as several of the Big Ten Universities have programs in Architecture, Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning.

E-ZBorrow (PALCI)

PALCI stands for the Pennsylvania Academic Libraries Connection Initiative. In addition, to Penn State, other participating libraries include: Temple University, University of Pittsburgh and over 50 other Pennsylvania, New Jersey and West Virginia academic libraries.

In addition to accessing the catalogs of other PALCI Libraries, authorized Penn State users can REQUEST library materials from any PALCI library, just as if they were at their own library.

PALCI can be of use for Arch & LArch students, as Carnegie-Mellon, Drexel, Lehigh, Penn, Philadelphia University and Temple are all participating universities.

WorldCat

WorldCat includes over 38 million records for books, periodicals, magazines, and any other type of material cataloged by OCLC member libraries. The database includes records for material as early as the 11th century.

Center for Research Libraries

The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) is an international not-for-profit consortium of colleges, universities and libraries that makes available scholarly research resources to users at member institutions. CRL's outstanding collections include more than five million volumes of research materials rarely held in North American libraries.

Note: While an online catalogue is available at this site, Penn State patrons must make requests for materials via the University Libraries Interlibrary Loan Department.

Dissertations & Theses (ProQuest)

With more than 2 million entries, Dissertations & Theses is the single, central, authoritative resource for information about doctoral dissertations and master's theses. Dissertations published from 1980 forward include 350- word abstracts written by the author. Master's theses published from 1988 forward include 150-word abstracts. Titles available as native or image PDF formats include free twenty-four page previews. UMI offers over 1.8 million titles for purchase in microform, paper or electronic formats.

Coverage: 1861 to date.

Updates: monthly (usually between the 20th and 25th day)

University Libraries Interlibrary Loan

Interlibrary Loan obtains material not owned by the Penn State University Libraries from other libraries and document delivery sources. Interlibrary Loan service is available to all Penn State faculty, students and staff who are currently registered with the University Libraries.

Journal Databases

The University Libraries provides access to numeorus databases that index journals and periodicals on a broad range of topics available on the E-Resource List (A-Z). Below is a list of databases that cover topics related to Architecture & Landscape Architecture.

Keep in mind that Penn State does not carry every journal indexed in these databases. You will need to search the CAT - PSU Libraries Web Catalog to see if a particular journal is carried by Penn State. Penn State also provides electronic access to many journals. To see if a particular journal title is provided electronically, use the E-Journal Title Search. Articles from periodicals not at Penn State can be requested via Interlibrary Loan.

Some databases are linked to the CAT - PSU Libraries Web Catalog via the Get it! button as shown to the left. Clicking a Get it! button will allow you to automatically search Penn State's collections for both print and electronic journals. Get it! will also take you directly to the Interlibrary Loan interface if necessary.

Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals

A database guide for Avery is posted here.

References to articles on architecture and design, archaeology, city planning, interior design, historic preservation, and landscape architecture.

Coverage: 1930s (with selective coverage dating back to the 1860s) to the present - Updates: Weekly - Indexes more than 2800 journals

Art Index (1929-1984 via Art Index Retrospective)

Art Index (1984 - present via Art Abstracts)

The most commonly used periodical index for the visual arts (painting, sculpture, graphic arts, photography, decorative arts, crafts) and, to a lesser degree, related disciplines (including some urban design, architecture, design, cinema, scenic design, museology, cultural criticism, and critical theory). Most of the journals indexed are published in English, but a selection of French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Dutch titles are included. In addition to articles and reviews, individual works of art unaccompanied by text (often gallery ads) are indexed. The indexing goes back to items published in 1929. This index has been divided into two separate databases: Art Abstracts, which covers roughly 1984 to present (and adds brief abstracts for literature indexed since 1994), and Art Index Retrospective, covering 1929 to 1984.

Arts and Humanities Citation Index

Part of the Web of Science conglomerate, this index covers numerous arts and humanities journals. It also provides users with the ability to track known citations in the literature.

Coverage: 1975 - present

Bibliography of the History of Art

The Bibliography of the History of Art indexes and abstracts art-related books, conference proceedings, dissertations, and articles from 2500 periodicals as well as exhibition and dealer's catalogs. Developed at the Getty Information Institute, it includes and extends the coverage of two art indexes: RAA (Repertoire d'Art et d'Archeologie) from 1973 to 1989 and RILA (International Repertory of the Literature of Art) from 1975 to 1989.

Coverage: 1973-Present

Updates: Quarterly

CumInCAD
(Cumulative Index of Computer Aided Architectural Design)

A database guide for CumInCAD is posted here.

CumInCAD is a cumulative index of publications about computer aided architectural design. It provides abstracts to thousands of papers in journals and conferences and it provides the full text and illustrations for more than half of the papers. When asked to logon, create your own ID and password.

AGRICOLA (agriculture & related sciences)

AGRICOLA is the National Agricultural Library's bibliographic database. It has over 3.3 million bibliographic records of journal articles, theses, patents, software, and technical reports related to agriculture and related subjects including ecology, entomology, environment, forestry, horticulture, rural sociology, soils, water, and other related topics. The following are indexed: journal articles, books, book chapters, USDA, State Experiment Station, State Extension service publications.

Coverage: 1970 - present (some older materials); indexes journal articles, books, book chapters, USDA, State Experiment Station, State Extension service publications.

Updates: Monthly

CAB Abstracts (agriculture, nutrition and global health)

CAB Abstracts is a comprehensive file of over 8500 journals as well as conference proceedings, theses and annual reports. The journals included in CAB Abstracts cover: plant sciences, entomology, soils, forestry, agricultural economics, agricultural engineering, rural recreation & tourism, management and conservation of natural resources, and other related topics.

Coverage: 1973- present

Updates: Weekly

America: History & Life

America: History and Life includes about 400,000 annotated or abstracted references to American and Canadian history. Published since 1964, the database includes over 2,000 journals worldwide, including state and local historical journals as well as historical articles from hundreds of major humanities and social science journals. It also includes thousands of book and media reviews, citations to published books, and dissertations.

Compendex (engineering)

The combined Compendex®, Ei Backfile & Inspec® databases allow for searching on a broad range of topics within the scientific, applied science, technical and engineering disciplines.

Coverage: 1884 to present

Updates: Weekly

NTIS (engineering, science & social sciences)

NTIS, or National Technical Information Services, is a multidisciplinary database that reports on research in the U. S. and other nations in the fields of engineering and the sciences, with some coverage in areas including education, business, economics, health sciences, government policy, sociology, etc.

Coverage: indexes government sponsored reports and research, 1964-Present

Updates: Bi-weekly

Digital Images

Art, Architecture, and Landscape Pictures

This database provides access to digital images from four of Penn State’s collections:

Art History Department Visual Resource Selections:

Worldwide Building and Landscape Pictures:

The O'Connor/Yeager Collection:

University Park Campus History Collection:

The full database is available to Penn State users only.

ARTstor (pictures of art, architecture, and visual culture)

ARTstor is a database of digital images of works of art and of artifacts of visual culture, intended to support teaching, research and learning in visual culture and related fields. The database contains hundreds of thousands of good-quality images and is growing rapidly. It is comprised of ten major collections that may be searched separately or simultaneously:

The Image Gallery:

The Art History Survey Collection:

The Carnegie Arts and the United States Collection:

The Hartill Archive of Architecture and Allied Arts

The Huntington Archive of Asian Art:

The Illustrated Bartsch:

The Mellon International Dunhuang Archive (MIDA):

The Museum of Modern Art Architecture and Design Collection:

Native American Art and Culture from the National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution:

Schlesinger History of Women in America Collection:

Access to this new project, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is currently provided as a test to a limited number of institutions. Please send your comments or questions about this new service to Henry Pisciotta (henryp@psu.edu).

CAMIO (Catalog of Art Museum Images Online)

CAMIO (Catalog of Art Museum Images Online) offers rights-cleared, high-quality art images for class projects, art history and studio art programs, course Web sites, lectures, presentations, and research resources.

Authorized uses of these images include: 1. Classroom instruction and related activities; 2. student assignments; 3. public display or public performance in a university museum, gallery or similar facility including use in exhibit labels and other components of the exhibit; 4. public display or public performance as part of a professional presentation at a seminar, conference, or workshop, 5. use in a student or faculty portfolio, including non-public display thereof, and 6. use in a dissertation, including reproductions of the dissertation for personal use and library deposit.

Updates: annually

Newspaper Photos (AccuNet/AP Photo Archive)

This database only works for “newsworthy” architecture & design. An average of 800 state, regional, national and international photos are added daily to the AP Photo Archives. After a year, approximately 200 of the best daily photos are retained permanently.

Permitted uses of these images include: 1. printing copies for educational and research use; 2. creating PowerPoint presentations, slides, and multimedia presentations when usage is confined to the licensed institution; 3. posting on a secure web site available only to authorized users; 4.e-mailing single images to an individual e-mail recipient.

Other Electronic Resources

Agropedia (agriculture encyclopedias)

A collection of agriculture encyclopedias, including: Encyclopedia of Animal Science; Encyclopedia of Plant & Crop Science; Encyclopedia of Agricultural, Food, & Biological Engineering; Encyclopedia of Water Science; Encyclopedia of Soil Science; and Encyclopedia of Pest Management.

Dictionary of Art - Grove Art Online (an illustrated encyclopedia of art)

The Dictionary of Art is the world’s foremost encyclopedia of the history of the visual arts in all media: architecture, ceramics, decorative arts, design, drawing, sculpture, and others. All cultures from prehistory to the 1990s are included. 41,000 articles on people, places, civilizations, religions, media, and other specific topics were initially written by recognized scholars for the 1996 paper publication. These are updated continuously and illustrated with drawings and diagrams and links to web sites with color pictures.

International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences

The International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences is the online equivalent of the 24 volume encyclopedia published in 2002. Content is organized around more than 30 primarily interdisciplinary topical areas of active research and significant promise (for example, memory, crime and violence, markets, modernization), combined with the categories: Overarching Topics,Disciplines, Intersecting fields, and Applications. Includes extensive indices, searchable full-text, and embedded electronic reference links. Annual updates are planned for release from 2004.