Welcome
Welcome to the research dashboard for ARH 7040 - Metropolis. The dashboard provides quick links to the resources you need for your research and assignments. Whether you are online or on-Grounds, UVA Library services and support are available to all students.
Your Librarian
Your Librarian is Rebecca Coleman
Rebecca can help with: refining your topic, gathering research, finding images and site documentation, locating maps and data, organizing your research, citations, and more! She can meet with you in-person or online via Zoom.
Request content any time
- I need scanned chapter(s) from a print book in the LibraryNOTE: this option is available to graduate students and faculty only at this time.
Ask a Librarian
Sign Up for Library events
Sign up for Library orientations, workshops, and events with our online calendar. UVA Library programming is offered in-person and online.
Search for academic articles
Academic databases contain peer-reviewed articles, images, reports, news, and more. These are the most used databases for architectural history research.
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowFind articles from most online scholarly journals plus some books and Web sites. Use Advanced Search if you get too many results; use Preferences to turn on links to Find@UVa and RefWorks.
- EBSCOHost Databases This link opens in a new windowOver 40 databases of journal articles, books, and other documents in many subject areas. Menu allows searching multiple databases at the same time
- Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals This link opens in a new windowFind articles and book reviews in architecture, urban design, historic preservation, and urban planning in journals from many countries. Coverage begins in the 1930s, but some journals are indexed back to the the 1860s. Many citations include abstracts.
- Journal FinderDetermine whether UVa has a subscription to a journal either online or in print. Use this to navigate to the full text of the article of it is online and to obtain the call number, location, and availability of a journal volume or issue.
- VIRGO Article SearchNOTE: This search does NOT include a large number of articles and journals that the library owns in *print*. To discover those, use subject-specific databases.
Find Books
- Virgo: UVa Libraries Catalog This link opens in a new windowVirgo lists books, journals, videos, audio, manuscripts, and Internet resources owned or licensed by the University Library (Main, Brown, Clemons, etc.), Health Sciences Library, Law Library, and Darden School Library.
- WorldCat.org This link opens in a new windowOnline listing with locations of books, videos, manuscripts, and other materials in thousands of libraries worldwide. Some UVa books are not included. UVa users will see full records and holdings; others will get brief information.
- Google BooksWhen researching lesser-studied topics (small towns, for example), Google Books can help you find books that mention your topic. Google Books searches the full-text of books that Google has scanned. If Google doesn't offer the full text, just plug the title back into VIRGO.
Find Maps
- Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970 This link opens in a new windowFire insurance maps for American cities showing building footprints. Very detailed.
- Historic Maps - New York Public LibraryFind historic maps from the NYPL collection by zooming in to an area of interest.
- David Rumsey Map CollectionThe historical map collection has over 37,000 maps and images online.
- Historic Maps - US Library of Congress Map CollectionsMaps and atlases from the Library of Congress collection.
- Perry-Castañeda Library Map CollectionAn amazing collection, located at the University of Texas at Austin Library, of over 2,000 current and historical maps from around the world arranged by geographic location including older edition CIA maps.
- British Library Image Search (includes maps)Digitized images and maps from the collection of the British Library
Reference Resources
Reference resources include dictionaries, encyclopedias and other sources that offer access to factual information. Many of these resources are deeply focused on particular subjects, which can help you to find the appropriate definition for a particular discipline or time period.
- Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new windowComprehensive encyclopedia of the visual arts of Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and the Pacific with links to tens of thousands of images.
- Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new windowA large collection of basic information on many subjects drawn from reference books published by Oxford University Press.
- Oxford Handbooks Online This link opens in a new windowOxford Handbooks Online brings together leading scholars to discuss research and the latest thinking on a range of major topics. Each Handbook offers thorough introductions to topics and a critical survey of the current state of scholarship in a particular field of study, creating an original conception of the field and setting the agenda for new research. The articles review the key issues and major debates, and provide an original argument for how those debates might evolve. UVa has access to all subjects.
Historic Newspapers
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new windowNew York Times, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Defender, Chicago Tribune, Norfolk Journal and Guide, Pittsburgh Courier, NY Amsterdam News, Baltimore Afro-American, Washington Post, and The Guardian & The Observer.
- Access World News This link opens in a new windowThis comprehensive news collection is ideal for exploring issues and events at the local, regional, national and international level. Its diverse source types include print and online-only newspapers, blogs, newswires, journals, broadcast transcripts and videos. It currently contains over 9,600 sources from 160 countries.
- Chronicling America: Historic American NewspapersSearch and view newspapers published from 1836 to 1922. States covered include Virginia, Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana,Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee,Texas, Utah, Vermont and Washington.
Google Tips & Tricks
These tips can help you locate better information on the web, faster. But remember- a lot of information is not freely available on the web, no matter how well you search!
- Put quotation marks around words that you want to stick together as a phrase
- Add "site:.gov" to the end of your search to ONLY search websites on government domains
- Add "site:website.com" to search only the content of a specific site (for example: charlottesville.org!)
- Add "filetype:pdf" to ONLY search for information you think is likely to be in PDF format (reports, documents, etc.)
- Use the minus sign or dash to eliminate results that are off target (Example: food system -digestive)
- Remember that Google is only a computer, and doesn't understand the concepts in your search. So, try your search using different keywords and phrases that mean the same thing.
Download library apps and software
- Libkey Nomad Browser ExtensionUpon finding an article on any website, Libkey Nomad identifies if the Library has access (and directs you to the full PDF of the article), or if not, directs you to Interlibrary Loan to allow you to get quick access to any article, anywhere.
- ZoteroAnother free alternative to Refworks - collect, organize, cite and share your research sources. Downloads to your web browser on your personal computer. Is especially good for saving and linking to digital objects and web pages.