Key Databases
Architecture, Architectural History, Art, and Design Databases
- Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowComprehensive listing of journal articles on architecture, covering the history and practice of architecture, landscape architecture, city planning, historic preservation, and interior design and decoration.
- Art, Design, and Architecture Collection (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowScholarly and trade articles, books, and conference proceedings in the fields of visual and applied arts, as well as architecture.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowArchive of scholarly articles in the humanities, social sciences, and other disciplines. Useful for research in art and architectural history.
- DETAIL Inspiration This link opens in a new windowImage and reference full-text online database. It contains more than 4,000 international project documentations from the print magazine DETAIL. The database contains detailed project descriptions, drawings, pictures and information on architects and, more recently, manufacturers.
Interdisciplinary, Humanities, and Social Sciences Databases
- Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new windowA multidisciplinary database useful for researching a broad range of topics. Includes newspaper, magazine, and academic peer-reviewed articles.
- Web of Science, Core Collection 1975-present This link opens in a new windowWeb of Science is a database that broadly covers all of the sciences with strengths in natural sciences, health sciences, engineering, computer science, materials sciences. Great for interdisciplinary research, it also includes coverage of social sciences, arts, and humanities.
- Project MUSE This link opens in a new windowFull articles from scholarly journals in the humanities, including religion, literature, philosophy, cultural studies, women's studies, film and the arts.
- American Periodicals Series, 1741-1940 (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowDigitized images of the pages of 1000 American magazines and journals published between 1741 and 1900. A source for information on historic structures.
- Humanities International Complete (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new windowJournal articles, books, and other published humanities sources from around the world.
- PAIS International plus Archive (Proquest) This link opens in a new windowBroad coverage of the social sciences, from 1915 to present. International in scope. Abstracts of books, journal articles, conference proceedings, and many government publications.
Sustainability-focused Databases
- GreenFILE (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new windowTry GreenFile for information on sustainable architecture, green buildings, climate change, and materials reuse and recycling.
- Building Green This link opens in a new windowProvides comprehensive content on sustainable design practices and green building materials. Shares expertise and lessons learned from design experts working in the field. Builds context for sustainable design strategies and what makes a building product or material green.
Public Policy Databases
- Policy Commons This link opens in a new windowReports, working papers, policy briefs, data sources, and media drawn from a directory of more than 21,000 IGOs, NGOs, think tanks, and research centers.
- PolicyFile This link opens in a new windowU.S. foreign and domestic policy papers and gray literature, PolicyFile is updated weekly with abstracts and links to the latest reports, papers, and documents from think tanks, research institutes, and agencies.
Additional Databases
- Business Source Ultimate (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new windowArticles from academic journals, magazines and trade publications covering a range of business topics. Useful for researching the business aspects of architecture: urban development, project management, project financing.
- Compendex This link opens in a new windowCovers all branches of engineering and is a useful source for materials on the technical aspects of architecture.
- Computers & Applied Sciences Complete (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new windowA good source for resources on sustainable architecture, green building, and construction techniques.
Accessing Full-text Articles in Avery Index
Search by keyword or phrase in the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals. Click on an article record in your search results to open the Details page. Click on the "Check for full text" button in the top right corner. This will run a check for that article in the library's holdings and subscriptions. You will be led to: 1. A Scholar OneSearch record with a link to access the article online; 2. A Scholar OneSearch record for the print periodical which published the article. Use the citation information (year of publication, volume and issue number, and page number, etc.) to find the article in the print periodical.; or 3. A Scholar OneSearch record saying that the Northeastern University Library does not have direct access to the online or print article. You will need to request it from another library via interlibrary loan.
Search Strategies
- Architecture Research: Search Tips and StrategiesThis handout lists strategies you can use to improve your searching in the databases. There are tips for narrowing down your search results, as well as improving the relevancy of those results.
Not Sure if it's Peer-Reviewed?
- Ulrichs Web This link opens in a new windowUse Ulrich's Web to check if an article you have found through a database is from a peer-reviewed journal. First, type in the name of the journal into the main search bar. Then, look for the referee icon to the left of the journal title. This will indicate that the journal is refereed, or peer-reviewed. Please note that editorials and book reviews are not considered peer-reviewed articles even though they are published in a peer-reviewed journal (they do not undergo the same publishing process).
Key Periodicals
- USModernist Library: Architecture Magazine LibraryOpen digital collection of major US 20th-century architecture magazines. Includes many issues of Architectural Record.
Interlibrary loan
- ILLIAD log-in (Opens in new window)Need a book, book chapter, or article not available at Northeastern? Current US-based Northeastern faculty, staff, and students can request materials that aren't available at the Northeastern University Library through ILLIad, our interlibrary loan software.
Research Tutorials
Need some quick help? Check out our library tutorials to get started with your research project, search more effectively, or evaluate the sources you find.