The University of Adelaide Library

Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design

Finding information in the Library for aspects of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design

The Library Catalogue tells you what books, reports and journals the Library contains and where they are located. When you use the Catalogue you will know either which book or journal article or electronic database you want, ie. have a reference, or have a topic about which you need information. The following notes provide examples to address each of those situations in relation to architectural issues.
A Library Catalogue Tutorial is available for a more complete coverage of the Catalogue features.

Following up references to a book

(1) When you know the details of a book,

type the title in the Search for: bar, leaving the default at Search by: Title - Omit beginning 'The', A', etc. eg.

Search for: Responsive environments Search by: Title(all items)

Important NOTE - do not type the initial article before the title.
Important NOTE - if the book title includes the word and which might be shown also as & try both versions or do a Keyword sehitectureh.

Results
The Search Results: report shows your search strategy and the number of titles which match that search strategy, followed by a numbered list of the titles arranged alphabetically by title. If you want to see the most recent edition first, go to Sort by at the top or bottom of the titles list, and pull down to Date (latest first).
Click on the number in square brackets [ ] to the left of a title, for the Record view, a full description of that item, including the Location: Call Number: and Status: (whether or not the item is on loan) for each copy.
Use the previous and next icons to move backwards or forwards through the list of titles.

Output
Use Save Options (at the bottom of the display) to use the Print/Save or Email or Save To Bookbag functions.
To collect more than one record at a time, click in the check box from the column to the left of a title to mark each record to be saved in a set to Print/Save or Email or Save To Bookbag later.

Important NOTE - if your search results in more than 50 titles and you want to mark titles from the second or subsequent screens, click on Retain Selected before going on to the next screen of results.

Extend the search
Follow the links at Subject Heading(s): or Other Author(s): to get a list of other books on the same topic or by the same author.

(2) If you are uncertain of the exact title of a book,

select Guided keyword search and type words from the title and the author’s surname in the Search for: bar, leaving the default operator at all of these and selecting from Search by: Author and Title eg.

Search for:

Search by:

Remember to truncate words in a keyword search if you are unsure of the exact word in the title or of the name, eg.

Search for:

Search by:

Results
The Search Results: report shows your search strategy and the number of titles which match that search strategy, followed by a numbered list of the titles arranged according to a Relevance algorithm. If you want to see the most recent books first, go to Sort by at the top or bottom of the titles list, and pull down to Date (latest first).

Another use for Guided keyword search is when you are seeking a paper from a conference, symposium, congress, meeting, etc. Use words selected from the name of the conference and/or from its sponsors, in the Author and Title search, eg.

Search for: architectur? conference australia [leave the default at] all of these Search by: Author and Title

Following up references to a journal article

The Library's Catalogue does not list individual articles from journals. However your reference will tell you in which volume and on what pages of the journal your article will be found, so you need to search under the title of the journal or use keywords from the journal name.

(1) Select Basic search,

and type the full title of the journal in the Search for: bar, changing the default at Search by: to Journal Title eg.

Search for: Architecture Australia Search by: Journal Title

Results
The Search Results: will display the titles corresponding to your search. Click on the number in the column to the left of a title for the Record view, a full description of that item, including the Location: Call Number: the range of volumes that the Library Has: and Status:(whether or not the item is on loan) for each copy.

Compare the information provided at Library Has: with your reference to see that the Library indeed has the issue that you need.

Where the Library has paid a subscription for access to the electronic version of a journal, click Link to e-Resource: to go to the full text site.

Search by: Journal Title is particularly useful when you are trying to find a journal with a short or single word title which could be the name of a book , eg.

Built environment
Landscape architecture
October

(2) Select Guided keyword search

for those journal titles which are difficult to find on the Catalogue, for example, where the journal title includes the name of a society, institution, association etc. Type words from the name of the organisation, together with the title in the Search for: bar, leaving the default operator at all of these and selecting from Search by: Author and Title eg.

Search for:

Search by:

Journal of the American Institute of Architects

Finding a specific electronic database

When you know which database you want,

select Basic search and from Quick Limit: (left-hand column) select Electronic Resources then type the title in the Search for: bar, leaving the default at Search by: Title(all items) eg.

Search for: ARCH Search by: Title(all items)

The Search Results: display gives the Record view for the database, or a list of the titles corresponding to your search. From the Record view click on the Link to e-Resource: to go to the database site. You will need your student number and PIN for authentication as many of the electronic resources are restricted to use by University students and staff.

Important NOTE - remember to re-set the Quick Limit: to None before you do a new search.

When you know want to see what databases are available go to Indexes and Databases for Built Environments I

What does the Library have on my topic?

To find books on a topic you have a number options on the Catalogue.
(1) In Basic Search using Keywords (using and, or, not)
(2) In Basic Search using Subject Heading
(3) In Guided keyword search using Keywords from Subject Heading

(1) In Basic Search from Search by: select Keywords (using and, or, not).

This option finds groups of characters or search terms from anywhere in the Record view including words from the title, author's name(s), publisher, place of publication, subject headings, notes, series title, and groups of numbers from the ISBN and the call number.

In the Search for: bar type words to describe your topic, then click on Search, eg.

Search for: rendering Search by: Keywords (using and, or, not)

Using the Boolean operators (and, or, not) will enable you to make your search more specific and effective.

Where you have more than one concept, type the AND operator between your search words so the Catalogue will find records which include each search word, eg.

urban AND ecology finds 189 records which include both of these words somewhere in a record.
Where you want both singular and plural forms of a word, truncate the word and add a question mark ? to the stem, eg.
building? AND adelaide
Where you know of alternative words for a concept, enclose the string of the words within round brackets ( ) and type the OR operator between each word, eg.
(house? OR dwelling? OR apartment?) AND (architect? OR builder? OR designer?)

Use phrase searching where your concept is more efficiently described than words combined with the AND operator. Put the phrase in inverted commas, eg.

Search for: "air conditioning" Search by: Keywords (using and, or, not)

This option can be used to search for books by Call Number. Treat the call number as a phrase, eg.

Search for: "720.92" AND "W949?" Search by: Keywords (using and, or, not)

See the list of Dewey Decimal Classification numbers as used for books and journals on art and related subjects in the Barr Smith Library.

(2) In Basic Search from Search by: select Subject Heading.

With this option finds it is necessary to have the exact subject heading, eg.

Search for: Architecture, Domestic Search by: Subject Heading

Determine the appropriate headings for your search by
- observation of Subject Headings in the Record view from the results of previous searches, or
- from the Library of Congress Subject Headings which the Library uses to assign subject descriptions to each book. A set of these five large red volumes is kept near the Information Desk, Level 3, South.

See Also: in the left-hand column of the Subject Browse display, provides a list of other Subject Headings which exist for aspects of the topic, eg.

References for: Urban policy) Reference info See Also: City planning
See Also: Community development, Urban
See Also: Housing policy
See Also: Land use, Urban
See Also: Urban beautification
See Also: Urban renewal
See Also: Urbanization
Sub-headings can be added to search for a specific aspect of a Subject, eg.
Architecture--Philosophy
City planning--Social aspects
Office buildings--Design and construction
Further sub-headings may be available for increased specificity, eg.

Architecture--Decision making--Citizen participation
Buildings--Conservation and restoration--Ecomonic aspects

Sub-headings for the name of a country, state or region can be added to many Subject Headings, eg.
Architecture, Modern--20th century--Japan
Cities and towns--Europe
Urbanization--Developing countries

Further sub-headings can be added for a specific place, eg.
Architecture and energy conservation--South Australia--Adelaide

Subject Headings not listed in the Library of Congress Subject Headings
Proper names are automatically allowed as subject headings. Among such headings are:
names of individual architects or firms, eg.
Foster, Norman, 1939-
Archigram
names of individual cities, states or regions, eg.
Adelaide Hills (S. Aust.)
Ahmadabad (India)--Buildings, structures, etc.

names of particular buildings, eg.
Old Parliament House Adelaide, (S. Aust.)
Sydney Opera House

(3) In Guided keyword search from Search by: select Subject Heading

This option allows you to search on individual words from a Subject Heading in any order, eg.

Search for: architectur? australia 20th [leave the default at] all of these Search by: Subject Heading
this search will pick up all of the records which include each of 20th and australia and any words beginning with the stem architectur in a Subject Heading.

Use both search bars to combine words that you know from useful subject headings, eg.

landscape architecture [leave the default at] all of these
AND
environmental aspects [leave the default at] all of these
This search finds 19 records which include these two pairs of words in a Subject Heading.

Alternatively, if you are interested in environmental aspects of either architecture or landscape, change the default, for example:

landscape architecture [change the default to] any of these
AND
environmental aspects [leave the default at] all of these where either of the words must appear in a Subject Heading. This is a broader search and finds 169 records.

If you are not happy with the results of your searches or want some help with using Boolean operators to create your search strategy, please contact your Research Librarian, Kay Leverett, Barr Smith Library, Level 3, South, phone 34659 or email: kay.leverett@adelaide.edu.au

Other useful features of the Catalogue

Save Options

Save individual records or a set of records from your Catalogue search. Having the file in electronic format is a convenient way to store information that can be copied and pasted into the list of references for your essay.
At the display of Search Results: select the individual records of interest by clicking in the box in the left hand column.
Go to Save Options (at the bottom of the display) and select Print/Save or enter your email address and Email the selected records to your account or Save To Bookbag collecting a number of records in one file before using Print/Save or Email. Instead of selecting individual titles you may choose All on page or Selected on page or Selected all pages.

Links to records sharing the same author, series, or subject heading

At the Record view click on a Subject heading, Author's name or Series title to get a list of 50 headings, starting with the heading you selected. Click on the number to the left of a Subject heading, Author's name or Series title, to display up to 50 titles sharing that Subject heading, Author's name or Series title.

Display list of results by date

The default order of results is Relevance in the keyword searches, and alphabetically by Title for other searches.
To see the most recent publications first, at Search Results: go to Sort by: (above the list of titles for your search) and pull down to select Date (latest first). The system will re-sort the titles and present them in reverse-date order, the most recent publications first. This can be useful if you are looking for the latest material on a topic, or the most recent edition of a book. You can also Sort by: Author to put your results in alphabetical order by each author.

Search History

This function provides a list of the searches done in your session, with links back to the search results.

Under Searched for: click on the appropriate search strategy to bring back the results of that search.

Under Edit: click on the number in the left hand column to return to the search screen, with your search terms in the search bar. Note that the search options do not necessarily reflect those chosen for the original search, so remember to check before doing an amended search.