Research in Planning

Planning

The following is a selected list of resources for starting research in Planning. Specific guides for the cities of Gresham, Salem and Springfield have been prepared for the Sustainable City Year.  See also the specific guide for Biking and Walking.  For further assistance, contact Tom Stave in the Document Center, at tstave@uoregon.edu. 

Starting Your Research

These sources can help you identify a topic for your research. Some provide an overview of a specific issue and suggest other materials which might be useful for your research. Others help you to notice a topic that might be of interest to you.

Bibliographies and Guides
Use these sources to identify writings or organizations relevant to particular planning topics and issues:

  • CPL Bibliographies. [Z5942.C69]
    This ongoing series by the Council of Planning Librarians has been indexed in:
  • Comprehensive Index...1958-1978 DOCUMENTS REFERENCE [Z5942.C65]
  • Annotated Bibliography and Index...1979-1989 [Z5942.C69 no. 253]
  • Annotated Bibliography and Index...1990-1995 DOCUMENTS REFERENCE [Z7164.R33D74 1995].
    Since 1996 the bibliographies have been published in the Journal of Planning Literature (below).
  • Journal of Planning Literature. DOCUMENTS REFERENCE [HT165.5.J68]
    This is the primary continuing bibliography of planning books and articles. Since 1995 it has included the CPL Bibliography series (above).
  • Information Sources in Urban and Regional Planning: a Directory and Guide to Reference Materials; DOCUMENTS REFERENCE [Z5942.D87 1994]
    Edward E. Duensing. This contains a useful listing of planning-related organizations, professional societies and trade associations.

Subject Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Use planning dictionaries to clarify terminology and to understand concepts and practices. As their emphases vary, it is a good idea to consult several different dictionaries:

  • Dictionary of Environment and Sustainable Development; DOCUMENTS REFERENCE [HC79.E5G518 1996]
    Alan Gilpin.
  • Encyclopedia of Community Planning and Environmental Management; DOCUMENTS REFERENCE [HD108.6.S38 1984]
    Marilyn Spigel Schultz and Vivian Loeb Kasen.
  • A Glossary of Zoning, Development, and Planning Terms; DOCUMENTS REFERENCE [NA9108 .A545 no. 491/492]
    Michael Davidson and Fay Dolnick.
  • Land-use Lingo: a glossary of land-use terms. DOCUMENTS-LC [HD107.8.H65 2001]
    Timothy a. Holveck.
  • Land-use Planning in Oregon : a No-nonsense Handbook in Plain English; DOCUMENTS REFERENCE, AAA [HD211.O7R64 1987]
    Mitch Rohse.
  • The Language of Cities: a Glossary of Terms; KNIGHT REFERENCE, AAA REFERENCE [HT108.5.A24]
    Charles Abrams.
  • The Latest Illustrated Book of Development Definitions; DOCUMENTS REFERENCE [HT167.M683 2004]
    Harvey S. Moskowitz and Carl G. Lindbloom.
  • Planners Dictionary.  [DOCUMENTS REFERENCE NA9108.A545 no.521/522]
  • Public Administration Dictionary; DOCUMENTS REFERENCE [JA 61.F69 1995]
  • Survey of Zoning Definitions; [KNIGHT NA9108.A545 no. 421]
    Tracy Burrows.

Finding articles
To look for articles in journals, newspapers, or magazines, you will need to start with an index. An index will allow you to look by subject or a few keywords which describe your topic or by author.

  • Journal of Planning Literature DOCUMENTS REFERENCE [HT165.5.J68].
    JPL is the only index devoted exclusively to current books and articles in the field of planning.
  • GEOBASE
    GEOBASE covers worldwide literature in geography, ecology, and related disciplines including urban and regional planning. GEOBASE contains citations to journal articles and books from 1980 to the present.
  • Google Scholar.  Use this link to Google Scholar in order to enable the UO's  Find Text access to full text of articles.
  • PAIS
    PAIS: Public Affairs Information Service provides references to journal articles, books and book chapters, conference proceedings, government documents, and statistical directories in the area of public affairs. Many planning-related journals are included. Coverage begins in 1972.
  • SocAbstracts
    Sociological Abstracts provides access to the latest research in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences, including community development and the social aspects of planning, since 1963.
  • Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
    The Avery Index indexes more than 2,000 periodicals published worldwide on archaeology, city planning, interior design and historic preservation, as well as architecture. Coverage is from the 1930s (with selective coverage dating back to the 1860s) to the present.
  • TRID online
    TRID (Transportation Research Integrated Database)--formerly TRIS--provides access to over 900,000 bibliographic records covering transportation research published in books, journal articles, technical reports and the media.
  • Web of Science
    The most comprehensive coverage of science and social science articles, 1975-present. The database may be searched by keyword or author, or for works that cite a specified author or paper.
  • Academic Search Premier
    Academic Search Premier contains indexing for more than 8,000 publications, with full text for approximately 4,600 of these titles. ASP focuses on academic, social sciences, humanities, general science, education and multi-cultural journals. Full text backfiles go as far back as 1965.
  • ArticleFirst
    ArticleFirst consists of nearly two million bibliographic records from the tables of contents of over 13,000 journal titles in many fields, including a large number of planning journals, from 1990 to the present.
  • Google Scholar.  Be sure to use the link provided here to enable "FindText" to access the full text of the articles found through Google Scholar.

Return to top

Finding Books, Theses and Terminal Projects

  • UO Library Catalog
    Identify books by topic, title or author; identify journals and magazines owned by the UO Library. To find journal articles on your topic, use the databases listed in the section above. Once you have a citation, you can check the library catalog by doing a title search on the name of the journal to see if we have it here.
  • PPPM Theses and Terminal Projects.
    Theses written by masters students in the Dept. of Planning, Public Policy and Management may be located through the UO Library's catalog. Terminal projects written by graduate students in PPPM and its predecessor programs are not cataloged for the main collections, but are kept in a separate collection in the Knight Library's Document Center. They may be identified through a special database.
  • Summit Union Catalog
    Summit is the merged catalog of the Orbis Cascade Alliance of 30 academic libraries in the Northwest. You can borrow books not owned by the UO Library by selecting the Request Item option. Orbis works only for books. If you want to request a journal article, you'll need to fill out an interlibrary loan form.
  • WorldCat
    Worldcat provides access to library catalogs from around the world. The database contains bibliographic records describing books, journals, maps, government documents, manuscripts, etc., which may be requested through Interlibrary Loan.

Return to top

Statistics

Locate statistical data to describe a situation, analyze a problem, or support a claim. Reference staff in the Knight Library's Document Center can assist with hard-to-locate data.

Return to top

Finding Maps and Images

The UO's large collection of maps, aerial photography is located in the Document Center, on the first floor of the Knight Library. This is also the location for datasets for use in geographic information systems (GIS) applications.

Images may be used to investigate specific sites, examine existing generic planning and design elements, or to illustrate presentations and publications.

Return to top

Web Resources

1501 Kincaid Street, Eugene, OR 97403-1299 | T: (541) 346-3053 | F: (541) 346-3485