Research Guides: Architectural Studies: Start Your Research Here

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Subject-Focused Encyclopedias

Need to select a research topic or find background information?

The Reference Collection includes a variety of different sources, such as: subject-focused encyclopedias, handbooks, almanacs, maps/atlases, statistical compendiums, dictionaries, and more. Look here to find introductory articles on subject-related topics. The broad perspective offered by such articles often proves helpful for narrowing research topics before pursuing more in-depth information.

This guide provides some recommendations for encyclopedias and other reference resources that might provide helpful information relating to your topic.

Recommended Subject-Focused Encyclopedias

Dictionary of Architecture

Reference Collection (Second Floor)

Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture

Electronic Resource

Dictionary of Ecodesign: An Illustrated Reference

Electronic Resource

Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art

Electronic Resource

Dictionary of Modern Design

Electronic Resource

Elements of Style

Reference Collection (Second Floor)

Encyclopedia of 20th-Century Architecture

Reference Collection (Second Floor)
Volumes 1-3

Encyclopedia of Detail in Contemporary Residential Architecture

Reference Collection (Second Floor)

Encyclopedia of Housing, Second Edition

Electronic Resource

Greenwood Encyclopedia of Homes Through American History

Reference Collection (Second Floor)
Volumes 1-4

Greenwood Encyclopedia of Homes Through World History

Reference Collection (Second Floor)
Volumes 1-3

Grove Encyclopedia of American Art

Electronic Resource

Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art and Architecture

Electronic Resource

Historical Dictionary of Neoclassical Art and Architecture

Electronic Resource

Historical Dictionary of Romantic Art and Architecture

Electronic Resource

Interior Design and Architecture: Critical and Primary Sources

Reference Collection (Second Floor)
Volumes 1-4

Oxford Companion to Architecture

Electronic Resource
Volumes 1-2

Oxford Dictionary of Architecture

Reference Collection (Second Floor)

Short Guide to Writing about Art

Reference Collection (Second Floor)

Universal Principles of Design

Electronic Resource

Visual Dictionary of Architecture

Electronic Resource

Visual Dictionary of Interior Architecture and Design

Reference Collection (Second Floor)

Architecture Since 1400

Electronic Resource

A Global History of Architecture

Electronic Resource

Modern Architecture: A Critical History

Main Collection, 3rd Floor

Modern Architecture

Electronic Resource

Recommended Image Databases

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Artstor (ITHAKA) This link opens in a new window Provides a number of image collections relating to the arts, antiquities, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences.
Artstor Public Collections (ITHAKA) This link opens in a new window “Features approximately 1.3 million freely accessible images, videos, documents, and audio files from library special collections, faculty research, and institutional history materials, as well as hundreds of thousands of open access images from partner museums.”
Graphic Design Archive (Rochester Institute of Technology) -- Free Database This link opens in a new window “The Graphic Design Archives at RIT [Rochester Institute of Technology] document and preserve the work of significant American graphic designers active from the 1920s to the 1950s. In addition, selected contemporary designers working in the modernist traditions are also included."

Recommended Encyclopedia Databases

Working from off campus? If so, you will need to log in with your Kean Google username and password.

Gale eBooks (Gale Cengage Learning) This link opens in a new window A comprehensive collection of reference resources such as subject-focused encyclopedias and dictionaries, available in a single database.
Grove Art Online (Oxford University Press) This link opens in a new window Features a comprehensive, scholarly art encyclopedia with worldwide coverage of Western and non-Western art from prehistory to the present. The database provides access to thousands of searchable images and links to additional resources. NOTE: Permits only eight simultaneous users.
Oxford Art Online (Oxford University Press) (VALE) This link opens in a new window Key reference for art; offers artist biographies as well as subject entries on artworks, genres, historical periods, and so on; includes Grove Art Online. The database also provides access to some 40,000 image links and 5,000 images contained within Grove Art Online. NOTE: Permits only eight simultaneous users.

Recommended Multimedia Databases

Working from off campus? If so, you will need to log in with your Kean Google username and password.

Films on Demand Films on Demand provides access to "video and multimedia for academic, vocational and life-skills content." Use the "View by Subject" menu to access videos in various subject areas, such as "Humanities & Social Sciences," "Business & Economics," "Science & Mathematics," "Health & Medicine," "Guidance & Counseling," and "Archival Films & Newsreels." The collection includes over 500 films for Art & Architecture.

Recommended Statistics Databases

The following databases provide access to statistics and other kinds of data.

Working from off campus? If so, you will need to log in with your Kean Google username and password.

PolicyMap This link opens in a new window Features an online GIS mapping tool that allows users to create interactive maps and plot data by geographical location. Data indicators provided include demographics, education, income, housing, employment, health, crime, and much more.
Social Explorer This link opens in a new window Provides easy access to maps and reports of U.S. Census data from 1790 to the present; the Religious Congregations and Membership Study from 1980 to 2010; population, health and social care, and labor market data from the 2011 United Kingdom Census; U.S. crime data from the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); U.S. County Health Rankings & Roadmaps; European demographic data from Eurostat; population data from the 2011 Canadian census; and demographic and socioeconomic data from World Development Indicators (World Bank).
Statista This link opens in a new window Presents data as infographics and features reports on over 80,000 topics, including media, business, healthcare, politics, society, technology, and education.

Architectural Studies

My Profile

Ask a Librarian

Related Research Guides

Subject-Focused Encyclopedias

Recommended Subject-Focused Encyclopedias

Dictionary of Architecture

Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture

Dictionary of Ecodesign: An Illustrated Reference

Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art

Dictionary of Modern Design

Elements of Style

Encyclopedia of 20th-Century Architecture

Encyclopedia of Detail in Contemporary Residential Architecture

Encyclopedia of Housing, Second Edition

Greenwood Encyclopedia of Homes Through American History

Greenwood Encyclopedia of Homes Through World History

Grove Encyclopedia of American Art

Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art and Architecture

Historical Dictionary of Neoclassical Art and Architecture

Historical Dictionary of Romantic Art and Architecture

Interior Design and Architecture: Critical and Primary Sources

Oxford Companion to Architecture

Oxford Dictionary of Architecture

Short Guide to Writing about Art

Universal Principles of Design

Visual Dictionary of Architecture

Visual Dictionary of Interior Architecture and Design

Architecture Since 1400

A Global History of Architecture

Modern Architecture: A Critical History

Modern Architecture

Recommended Image Databases

Recommended Encyclopedia Databases

Recommended Multimedia Databases

Recommended Statistics Databases

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