814-865-3614
Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
-- Selectively indexes journal articles and reviews on architecture and landscape architecture (including archaeology, decorative arts, interior design, furnishings, city planning, and housing) which appear in more than 2,500 design journals. Indexing is fairly up-to-date and goes back to 1919 (and some scattered items from even earlier).
Other useful Periodical Indexes:
ARTbibliographies Modern
-- 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. You can combine this index with the Avery Index and search them together.
Sustainability Science Abstracts
-- Indexes resources related to sustainable development and conservation of natural resources. Coverage is from 1995 to date.
ProQuest (Multiple Databases)
-- Indexes articles in more than 5000 general interest magazines, journals, and newspapers. Unlike the indexes above, this one contains full text (sometimes without the illustrations) or page images (looks like real paper publication) to over 2,000 of the journals it indexes, and full text to 150+ newspapers. The beginning date for the indexing varies widely, but usually only includes that past decade or so.
Tips for finding journal articles:
When you have chosen articles in a periodical index, click the "Get It!" button. A window will open that finds an electronic version of the article or searches The CAT to find a paper version. For articles on paper, be sure to note the call number of the journal and location as given in The CAT and also the volume number and year from the periodical index.
The CAT - Penn State Library Catalog
-- The CAT is the online library catalog for the Penn State University Libraries and contains bibliographic records for materials owned by the Libraries in all formats -- books, videos, etc. It tells you which journals the Libraries have but does not list the articles in the journals. For that see the periodical indexes (Articles & Databases) listed above. If the book you want is charged out or at a distant location, click the "I Want It" button. A window will open instructing how to have the item retrieved for you within a few days.
Tips for finding books:
Most buildings do not have entire books written about them. Search the library catalog by the building name. If that doesn’t work, search by the architect’s name (for a book on the architect’s works). Many buildings and architectural firms may be known by multiple names. Try variant names. Be certain that you are spelling the names correctly. Many architects and firms do not have entire books written about them, but they will often appear in various periodicals. If The CAT does not provide what you want, try a periodical index (Articles & Databases) listed above or ask the library staff for assistance.
Surveys are books that discuss landscape architecture over some period or throughout some country, etc. They can be very helpful as a way of browsing through works that have become recognized as greats. The surveys listed below contain numerous pictures and plans.
Landscape Design: A Cultural and Architectural History (book)
Rogers, Elizabeth
-- A well-rounded history of landscape architecture.
Landscape Design: USA (book)
Landscape Design: UK (book)
Lam, George
-- Well-chosen and well-illustrated recent works by various designers, organized by types such as plazas, parks, residential, etc.
The Landscape of Man: Shaping the Environment From Prehistory to the Present Day (book)
Jellicoe, Geoffrey and Susan
-- The history of landscape design told mostly in pictures.
Landscapes in History: Design and Planning in the Eastern and Western Tradition (book)
Pregill, Philip, and Nancy Volkman
-- Another good history of landscape architecture.
Specialized encyclopedias can help you get the quick information you might need during several stages of your project. They cover broad topics (such as "college") very concisely, but also explain more specific subjects (such as "parterre"). The entries are written by noted authorities and provide references for further research.
Oxford Art Online (electronic resource)
-- A compendium of historical information on all aspects of the visual arts, including entries for people, places, major works, styles, periods, techniques, etc.
McGraw Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology (book)
McGraw-Hill Book Company
Access Science: McGraw Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology (electronic resource)
-- A high-quality encyclopedia containing articles on most aspects of science and technology.
Environmental Encyclopedia (book)
Bortman, Marci
Environmental Encyclopedia: Gale Virtual Reference Library (electronic resource)
-- Articles on technical terms, famous disasters, important people, and key organizations.
International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences: Science Direct (electronic resource)
-- Articles reviewing scholarship on most major topics in an impressive array of disciplines.
Biographical dictionaries can be similar to encyclopedias, except that the only type of entries in biographical dictionaries will be for people. Like specialized encyclopedias, the best biographical dictionaries refer you to additional sources of information.
Dictionary of Today’s Landscape Designers (book)
Nicolin, Pierluigi
-- Selects 85 important names in current landscape design and provides: country, year of birth, a list of major works, selected bibliography, a few color photos of works, and a brief critical statement for each designer. Sometimes a brief statement by the designer.
Nearly all of the books and journals in the Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library are well-illustrated. However the over sized books (with a "Q" at the end of the call number) often have the best quality illustrations. Some good advice on finding pictures in any format is on the Picture Sources web page.
Image Databases at Penn State
-- The University Libraries maintain and subscribe to several digital image databases. Together they provide Penn State people with nearly 2 million images – all considerably larger than the average size posted on free web sites and with more reliable descriptions.
One Image Database at Penn State that has lots of architecture images is:
Worldwide Building and Landscape Pictures
Of course there are many free sites where you can find digital images, but many of them have the images in databases that cannot be found through Google or Google Images. Here are two (of several) good ones for architecture:
American Landscape and Architectural design, 1850-1920
Library of Congress - American Memory
-- Scans from old lantern slide images from 1850 to 1920, representing the work of an assortment of landscape architects throughout the United States.
Cities and Buildings Image Archive
University of Washington Libraries - Digital Collections
-- Scans from old lantern slide images from 1850 to 1920, representing the work of an assortment of landscape architects throughout the United States.
Periodicals are also good sources of images. The Avery Index may also be used to locate specific types of illustrations of buildings (such as plans, sections, etc.) by using the Physical Description search option. For more information, see our Guide to the Avery Index.
We have compiled the following Research Guides on Special Topics related to Architecture & Landscape Architecture:
