Landscape Architecture Research Guide

Dictionaries, encyclopedias

Dictionaries and encyclopedias can be good starting places for research. The information they provide ranges from basic facts to scholarly articles. Many have bibliographies or links that can lead to further useful information. Representative titles are listed below.

Online Resources:

• Oxford Reference Online provides full-text of key dictionaries and encyclopedias.  Included are
  Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, Dictionary of Modern Design, Oxford Companion to the Garden, Dictionary of Earth Sciences, Oxford Companion to the Earth, Dictionary of Ecology, Dictionary of Geography, Encyclopedia of Global Change, Dictionary of Weather

• Oxford Art Online, includes Grove Art Online, most extensive art and architecture encyclopedia, accesses scholarly articles which are usually supplemented with bibliographies. Provides links to images.

Library catalogs

• UO WorldCat - Find books and other resources owned by the UO Libraries and throughout the world.

Databases for articles and more

There are hundreds of databases to help you find articles in journals, newspapers, or magazines.  Once you have retrieved an article citation, you'll need to verify that UO has the journal that holds the article if it is not obviously identified as full-text.  Clicking on the  FindText which appears with citations helps you locate an item.  Multi-database searching is a feature that can be employed.  Some useful databases for landscape architecture:

• Web of Science The most comprehensive coverage of science, social scienc, and humanities articles, 1965-present. The database may be searched by keyword or author, or for works that cite a specified author or paper.  It may be used to assess the scholarly impact of individual authors or papers, and trace the lineage of an idea through the scholarly literature.
• Academic Search Premier. Contains indexing for more than 8,000 publications, with full text for approximately 4,600 of these titles. Focuses on academic, social sciences, humanities, general science, education and multi-cultural journals. In addition to the full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for nearly 4,500 journals. Over 3,500 of the full text journals are peer reviewed, while more than 1,600 of the indexed journals are peer reviewed. Full text backfiles go as far back as 1965.
• Avery Index to Architecture Periodicals. Indexes more than 2,000 periodicals published worldwide on architecture, landscape architecture, planning, interior design, and preservation. Coverage is from the 1930s (with selective coverage dating back to the 1860s) to the present.
• UO WorldCat - In addition to library holdings, article citations populate this database, primarily at this time from ArticleFirst, which consists of millions of records from the tables of contents of over 16,000 journal titles.
• Google Scholar. Searches many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations. Links to UO Library holdings in many cases.

Websites

Several excellent gateways/portals to architectural Web resources have been created to identify the best sites among thousands available. Among the best:

• BuildingGreen.com. Important resource includes articles, reviews, and news from Environmental Building News (EBN), product listings from the GreenSpec products directory, and project case studies from the High-Performance Buildings Database.
• GreenSource includes articles, news, reviews, product guide, and descriptive information on sustainable building and landscape designs.
• See also Environmental Design Research Association, Landscape Architecture Virtual Library (Univ. of Toronto), Cyberlandscape: European Green Heritage, National Recreation & Park Association

Maps

• Map & Aerial Photography Library, University of Oregon. A portal to local and digital map resources
• Portland Maps (from City of Portland)
• Eugene Maps (from City of Eugene)

Directories

• ASLA--American Society of Landscape Architects. Includes firms, product profiles and directory, accredited programs, links.Association of Professional Landscape Designers
• See also   Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture. Includes directory of landscape architecture programs; Council of Landscape Architecture Registration Boards.; European Foundation for Landscape Architecture. -- epresents the national professional associations of landscape architects in the European Union.

Images, plans

Some sources for plans and images of architecture:

• ARTStor, over 700,000 architectural images
• Art & Architecture Images (a UO digital collection).  Includes Kenneth Helphand Collection.
• See also  Botanical Image Database--University of Basel ,  Building Oregon (Oregon & Pacific NW architecture), Digital Sanborn Maps (Oregon), Digital Images of Architecture

Building codes, land use plans

• Oregon Codes. 
• Eugene City Code.
• Portland City Code from Portlandonline.com
• UO  Campus Planning & Real Estate.  Site provides online versions of  many campus planning documents.

Horticulture

• American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta
• Native Plant Society of Oregon. A statewide network of 13 chapters and 1000+ members dedicated to the enjoyment, conservation, and study of Oregon's native vegetation.
• Oregon Horticultural Society 
• TreeLink. Includes Urban Forestry Index (Univ. of Minnesota) and numerous links to associated organizations.

Theses and terminal projects

• School of Architecture & Allied Arts Terminal Projects Database

Page author:  Ed Teague, ehteague@uoregon.edu.  Updated: 17 Oct. 2012