Penn State University Libraries - Larch 361W

Biographical Dictionaries & Dictionaries

One reason we like search engines is that it helps, as we begin a topic to get two things at once:  something to read so that we learn-as-we-go, and some leads to further information.  Specialized encyclopedias and biographical dictionaries also do this, so th3y can be fine places to get a quick start in learning about a designer or an important site. They summarize a lot of other published information. Good examples, like those below, give the basic background for each person or firm, explain the significance, list major works, and select some of the most important publications for further reading. This type of brief summary, at the beginning of your exploration, can help you make better choices as your research progresses. The popularity of Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org) is an indication of how helpful encyclopedias can be. If you use Wikipedia, always check the “History” tab to see the number of edits and editors for each article. Articles with more revisions tend to be of higher quality.  Also check the “Talk” tab, where the Wiki-editors critique the article.

Contemporary Architects, 1994. (book)
-- Selects major living architects and working firms as well as a few architects from the past who are thought to exert an important influence on contemporary architecture. Complete lists of works and good biographies. Statements by the architect frequently accompany the entries as do assessments by a critic.  Contains some landscape architects.

Contemporary Artists, 2002. (book)
-- Same as Contemporary Architects, above, but for artists, including those who do land art or earthworks.

Dictionary of Today’s Landscape Designers, 2003. (book)
-- Selects 85 important names in current landscape design and provides: country, year of birth, a list of major works, selected bibliography (often including parts of more general books), two or more color photos or works, a teeny black and white portrait photo, and a brief critical statement for each designer. Sometimes a brief statement by the designer is quoted.

Encyclopedia of New York City, 1995. (book)
-- People, places, events, and issues throughout the city’s history.  NOTE: For encyclopedias on other U.S. Cities, type the name of the city and “encyclopedias” in The Cat as a “subject heading” search...Or browse the Arts and Humanities Reference collection (2nd floor of Pattee) between the classification numbers F2 through F900.

Guide to Great American Public Places, 1996. (book)
-- 200 nominations for “great” places were gathered from designers, critics, developers, and elected officials. A panel chose 60 of them and Longo took pictures and wrote assessments for each. Selected bibliography is provided at the end for each great place.

Oxford Art Online  (electronic encyclopedia) 
-- A huge compendium of historical information on people, places, major works, styles, periods, techniques, etc. Covers all of the visual arts including some landscape architecture. (Although it is much stronger on historical than contemporary topics. It does, however, contain entries for many contemporary land artists and mention of many important landscape projects.)

Oxford Companion to the Garden  (e-book)
Oxford Companion to the Garden, 2006.  (book)
-- Articles on nearly 1000 famous gardens worldwide, from ancient legend to recent land art. Also designers, themes, etc.

Pioneers of American Landscape Design, 2000. (book)
-- Roughly 170 significant people in the history of landscape design in the U.S.  Names 3 important publications about each person.

Shaping the American Landscape: New Profiles from the Pioneers of American Landscape Design Project, 2009. (book)
-- About 150 more designers in the same format as the earlier Pioneers book.

For shorter bios and definitions (without recommended readings) see the “Dictionaries” under the More tab.

Periodical indexes are designed to direct readers to articles and reviews in magazines and journals. Each of the ones listed here can be used to find articles on a particular topic or by a specific author.  Most of these focus on a specific discipline, so can be superior to the general sources for exploring the relevant discourse community.  Note that in these databases, you are not searching the full text of the articles, but only the authors, titles, and brief summaries.  Once you have chosen articles that you want to read, click on the “Get It” button. That will open a window that will do three things: if we have an electronic copy of the article it will offer you a connection to it, it will offer to search The CAT to see if we have a paper version, and it will offer to submit an “Inter-Library Loan” request for you. (This last option attempts to obtain the article from another library – which usually takes a couple of weeks.)

Artbibliographies Modern (database)
-- This indexes publications about modern art -- beginning with Impressionism in the late 19th century, up to recent trends. It covers land art, public sculpture, and some other types of built works. Indexing began in 1974 and includes more than just articles – some books, dissertations, etc. Click "Specific Databases" to combine this with the Avery Index or others.

Must Use!
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals (database)
-- This is the most important periorical index for landscape design.  It indexes journal articles and reviews on architecture and landscape (including archaeology, decorative arts, interior design, furnishings, landscape design, city planning, and housing) which appear in more than 2,500 journals in these fields. Indexing is fairly up-to-date and goes back to 1919 (and some scattered items from even earlier). If you click on "Specific Databases" you can combine the Avery Index with Artbibliographies Modern or environmental science databases, etc. and search across all of them. The Avery Index is especially good at locating specific types of drawings (plans, sections, elevations, etc) that illustrate the magazine articles. (Notice the "Physical Description" box toward the bottom of the search screen.)

The CAT
-- When you use LionSearch, you are searching all of the records in the Penn State Libraries’ catalog (The Cat) but the results can often be lost in all of the other resources that are retrieved.  Sometimes it helps to search The CAT directly.  It contains virtually all of the holdings of the University Park Libraries as well as those of the many other campuses of Penn State. Note that most library catalogs only have a single record for each magazine title; they do not include records for each of the articles in a magazine. (For that, see the "Periodical Indexes" section.) As with any database, you may need to try several methods of searching in order to get good results. If the book you want is charged out, or owned only at another campus, or simply not where you expected it to be, click on the “I Want It” button and fill out the form. The book will be retrieved and held for you at a library service desk. Special note: When searching people with unusual names (like “Dreiseitl”) a “Keyword” search usually works well. But when designers have very common names (like “Susan Child”) it is often more efficient to use the “Begins with (Browse)” search, specifying the name first as an “Subject Heading” and again as an “Author.”

Architecture and landscape guide books or “travel guides” provide key information on important designed works in a geographical arrangement.  The brief entries usually give the names of designers, dates (often of each campaign or remodeling) and often some interesting context.  They are also indexed by designer, building, and place names. Here is a selection of the guidebooks for New York City:

Barnes & Noble Complete Illustrated Map and Guidebook to Central Park (book)
Berenson, Richard L. and Raymond Carroll
-- A well rounded guide to Central Park that covers everything from the history and design to the flora and fauna located within.
 
Landmarks of New York : an Illustrated Record of the City's Historic Buildings (book)
Diamonstein, Barbaralee
-- Documents the places designated by the NYC Landmarks Commission: mostly buildings, but with lots of info on historic districts, parks, and a list of sites brought before the Commission, but not designated.
 
The Art Commission and the Municipal Art Society Guide to Manhattan's Outdoor Sculpture (book)
Gayle, Margot and Michele Cohen
-- This comprehensive guide excels in it's coverage of two contrasting eras of public art in New York, the proliferation of honorary monuments in the late 19th & early 20th centuries and the boom of nonobjective sculpture in the 1960's & '70's.
 
Guide to New York City Landmarks (book)
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
-- Lots of buildings but each section begins with a description of relevant historic districts.
 
AIA Guide to New York City (book)
White, Norval and Elliot Willensky
-- Although mostly buildings, this is pretty good at including urban and landscape design information.

You can locate guide books for other cities in The CAT but using the “Advanced Search” screen. Type the name of the city in one box and change the pull-down menu for that box to “Subject Heading.” Then type “Guidebooks” (one word) in the second box and change the pull-down to “Subject Heading.” Then repeat the search with “Buildings” instead of “Guidebooks.”  You can also find many by browsing the Architecture and Landscape Architecture Reference shelves.

As you are reading or writing you may find professional jargon that is unfamiliar.  Specialized dictionaries may be necessary to understand the way the term is used in design.  Here is one example. 

A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (electronic dictionary)
-- About 6000 terms defined as used in these professions.

Many more specialized dictionaries are available in the Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library reference shelves – more that should be listed here.  So ask for help.