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Architectural History

• Research Guides
• Article Databases
• Reference Resources
• Research Collections
• Organizations and Repositories

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Research Guides

• Buildings and Their Architects (Carnegie Mellon University Libraries)

• History Research Guide (Carnegie Mellon University Libraries)

• Pittsburgh Architecture: A Guide to Research (Carnegie Mellon University Architecture Archives)

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Article Databases

Use article databases and related tools to look for articles. Article databases give citation information (i.e. author, title, journal name, date, etc.) about articles in periodicals, and may include an abstract or even the full-text of an article.

• America: History & Life (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  1964- . (Updated monthly.)

• Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  ca. 1900- . (Updated daily.)
  The most extensive index to architectural periodicals. The Avery Index now includes citations dating back to ca. 1900.

• Bibliography of the History of Art (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  1973- (updated quarterly)
  Covers western art (including architecture and archeology) from late antiquity to the present. Includes articles, some books, conference proceedings and dissertations, and exhibition catalogs.

• Historical Abstracts (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  1967-present (updated monthly)
  Database of citations and abstracts to journals articles, book reviews, and dissertations in the areas of history, anthropology, political science, religon, etc. for all countries except the United States and Canada, from 1450 to the present.

• 19th Century Masterfile. (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  ca. 1800 to early 1900s. (Updated irregularly.)
  Index to nineteenth and early twentieth century articles, books and government documents.

• Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture: Tables of Contents
  Check this list of articles published in the Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture series. Locate the articles in individual volumes of:
  
• Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture. Various titles and publishers. 1982-.
  HUNT STACKS-4 728.0973 P467

• Proquest Direct (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  Find articles in magazines and newspapers in all subject areas. The full-text of many articles is available online. Most coverage is recent, but the Historical Databases provide access to the New York Times from 1851-2001 and the Wall Street Journal 1889-1987. The default search searches everything except the Historical Databases. These must be selected to be searched.
  • Historical New York Times
  • Historical Wall Street Journal

• Readers' Guide Retrospective. (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  1890-1982.
  Index to articles in popular magazines and journals

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Reference Resources

Use reference resources such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, and bibliographies to look for background and biographical information, to define terms, and to find citations to additional sources.

• Brief Biographies of American Architects Who Died Between 1897 and 1947

• Contemporary Architects. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994.
  HUNT FA-REF-4 NA680 .C625 1994

• Grove Art Online (Carnegie Mellon users only)
  Online encyclopedia includes articles, bibliography, and image links for selected architects.

• Harris, Cyril M. American Architecture: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1998.
  HUNT FA-REF-4 NA705 .H36 1998

• International Dictionary of Architects and Architecture. 2 vols. Detroit: St. James Press, 1993.
  HUNT FA-REF-4 NA40.I48 1993

• International Dictionary of Historic Places. 5 vols. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1994
  HUNT REF-1 CC135.I585 1994

• Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects. 4 vols. New York: Free Press, 1982.
  HUNT FA-REF-4 NA40 .M25 1982

• Oliver, Paul, ed. Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
  HUNT FA-REF-4 NA208 .E53 1997

• Papers - The American Association of Architectural Bibliographers. 12 vols. New York: Garland Publishing, 1965-1979.
  HUNT FA-REF-4 Z5941 .A5 1965-1977
  Detailed bibliographies representing selected architects.

• Smith, G. E. Kidder. Source Book of American Architecture: 500 Notable Buildings from the 10th Century to the Present. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1996.
  HUNT FA-REF-4 NA705 .S578 1996
  Note the bibliographic essay by Kazys Varnelis, "The Literature of American Architecture" on pages 637-643.

• Vernacular Architecture Newsletter Bibliography
  Citations are for publications since 1979.

• Withey, Henry F. Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased). Los Angeles, New Age Pub. Co., 1956.
  HUNT FA-REF-4 NA736 .W5

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Research Collections

• American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library (Library of Congress)
  Constantly growing online collection of images and other historic records. Includes documentation of buildings, landscapes, cities, and more. Start with the "Collection Finder" link.
  • Built in America: Historic American Buildings Survey / Historic American Engineering Record, 1933-Present
    Measured drawings, photographs, and written histories for thousands of historic structures and sites.

• Historic Pittsburgh (University of Pittsburgh)
  Online collection of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Pittsburgh documents.

• Making of America (University of Michigan)
  A digital library of nineteenth-century primary sources in American social history.

• Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
  Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps on microfilm.

• Urban Planning, 1794-1918: An International Anthology of Articles, Conference Papers, and Reports (John W. Reps, Cornell University)

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Organizations and Repositories

• Carnegie Mellon University Architecture Archives

• Cultural Landscape Foundation

• DOCOMOMO International
  International Working Party for Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighbourhoods of the Modern Movement
  

• Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER)
  

• International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)

• National Historic Landmarks (National Park Service)

• National Register of Historic Places (National Park Service)

• National Trust for Historic Preservation

• Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation

• Society of Architectural Historians (SAH)

• Vernacular Architecture Forum (VAF)

• Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh