ARCH 4723H: Honors Research Methods

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Introduction to Journal Articles

Articles appear in scholarly, trade, and popular periodicals, as well as newspapers. You will typically use a database to search for articles by topic or author.

Databases such as Ebsco Academic Search Complete and ProQuest Central will allow you to limit your search to scholarly journals. These databases are broad and interdisciplinary.

For more specialized resources select from the links in the Quick Links box. If you seek articles on methodology in other disciplines—or on the intersection of architecture and other disciplines—browse resources by subject, select the appropriate discipline, and then look for the databases under Best Bets. Avery Index is best for retrieving articles in architecture.

How Do I Get This Citation?

If you discover pertinent citations to journal articles in your online searches, use Find it! to track down your resources.

You also can search the name of the journal in the Library Catalog (OneSearch). This is your best option if you are working from a print bibliography.

If we don't own or subscribe to the material online, you can obtain rapidly many articles and chapters via the Libraries' Interlibrary Loan service.

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Note on Controlled Vocabulary

Most searchers rely exclusively on keywords to retrieve records in databases. In many cases using keywords works well. If you wish to retrieve more precise results, try searching by the specialized terms of the database, also known as "controlled vocabulary," and often referred to as "descriptors." The order in which you enter your terms can matter as well. For example, often you can best search by author by typing the last name before the first name.

Illustrations in Avery Index

Avery Index will allow you to search for articles with specific types of illustrations. Select "FG Illustrations" from the pulldown menu and type any of the following: aerial photographs, axonometric, charts, color, computer drawings, details, diagrams, drawings, elevations, figures, graphs, illustrations, isometric, maps, models, photographs, plans, portraits, sections, sketches, site plans.

You can combine one or more of these terms with standard terms (e.g., cathedrals).