U.C. Berkeley Library Web
Environmental Design Library
Finding Local Information: American Cultures
The Basics: Research Tools
Directories
Finding Books
Finding Journal Articles		 Special Resources:
Encyclopedias
General Plans
Newspapers
Statistics & Data
Codes 		Maps
Images
Special Collections
Local Guides & Sources
Historical Societies & Museums
Local & UCB Libraries 
Finding Local Information: American Cultures is a bibliographic research guide to finding U.S. community-specific information in the UC Berkeley libraries, the community, and on the web, in the context of the built environment and with an emphasis on San Francisco Bay Area and California ethnic communities. This guide is intended especially for the use of UC Berkeley Landscape Architecture 141 A/C students.  For further assistance, please consult the Environmental Design Library reference staff, 210 Wurster Hall.

UC Berkeley faculty, registered students, and staff who are off campus may use items marked UCB Only or UC Only by using The Library's proxy service.

Last updated: 2 July 2008 Conditions of Use

    The Basics:
    Research Tools:
     Reading the Physical Environment | Interviewing | Researching Local History | Keeping a Journal
    Reading the Physical Environment: See also Finding Information on Buildings & Places for stimulating questions to ask about places, and tools to find answers.
  1. Architecture everywhere: investigating the built environment of your community, by Joseph A. Weber. Tucson, AZ: Zephyr Pr., 2000.
    2. EnvDesign NA705 W43 2000
  2. Close-up, how to read the American city, Grady Clay Phoenix, ed. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Pr., 1980.
    3. EnvDesign HT153 C585 1980
  3. Getting to know your 20th-century neighborhood, by Greta Terrell. Washington, DC: National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1996. Historic Preservation Information Booklet. Focuses on American neighborhoods developed from 1900-1950; identifies architectural styles and landscaping trends.
    4. EnvDesign NA7208 T47 1996
  4. The Hieroglyphics of space: reading and experiencing the modern metropolis, Neil Leach, ed. London: Routledge, 2002.
    5. EnvDesign HT111 H45 2002
  5. Looking at cities, by Allan B. Jacobs. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Pr., 1985. See especially Chapter 3, "Clues," pp.30-83. Very useful presentation of the physical indicators that help the observer interpret an urban environment.
    6. EnvDesign HT166 J262 1985 Reserve & circulating
  6. Observing and interpreting the urban environment: case study, Prescott & South Prescott, Oakland, California, by Allan B. Jacobs. Berkeley: Institute of Urban and Regional Development, Univ. of California, Berkeley, 1982. Working paper  no. 374. A case study demonstrating techniques of community observation and anaylsis.
    7. EnvDesign HT393 C2 C25 W6 no.374
  7. What style is it?: a guide to American architecture, by John C. Poppeliers, S. Allen Chambers, Jr. Rev. ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, 2003.
    8. EnvDesign NA705 P6 2003
  8. Real places: an unconventional guide to America's generic landscape, by Grady Clay. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Pr., 1994. Includes 124 common places, for example, bypass, district, hangout, lovers leap, parade route, porno district, shortcut, and skyline.
    9. EnvDesign E169 04 C57 1994
  9. [Stylistic] glossary, IN: The Guide to architecture in San Francisco and northern California, by David Gebhard, et al. Rev. ed. Salt Lake City: G.M. Smith, 1985, pp. 553-583. Guide to San Francisco Bay Area architectural styles.
    10. EnvDesign NA735 S35 G831 1985 Reference Desk, Reference, & circulating

    Interviewing:
  1. Interviewing for social scientists: an introductory resource with examples, by Hilary Arksey and Peter Knight. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1999.
    2. Main Stack HM526 A75 1999
  2. Interviews: an introduction to qualitative research interviewing, by Steinar Kvale. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1996.
    3. EnvDesign HM48.9 K9 1996
  3. Learning from strangers: the art and method of qualitative interview studies, by Robert S. Weiss. NY: Free Pr., 1995.
    4. EnvDesign HN29 W42 1995

    Researching Local History:
  1. Discovering the history of your house and your neighborhood, by Betsy J. Green. Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica Pr., 2002.
    EnvDesign E159 G686 2002 Reference
  2. Doing community history, prepared by the San Francisco Community History Project. San Francisco: The Project, 1983.
    3. EnvDesign F869 S3 S305 1983 Reference
  3. Nearby history: exploring the past around you, by David E. Kyvig and Myron A. Marty. 2nd ed. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Pr., 2000. Excellent, well-organized manual.
    4. EnvDesign E180.5 N98 2000
  4. Public places: exploring their history, by Gerald A. Danzer. Nashville, TN: American Association for State and Local History, 1987.
    5. EnvDesign E180 D36 1987
    Keeping a Journal:
  1. Glyphix for visual journaling: drawing out the words within, by L.J.C. Shimoda. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press, 2002.
    2. EnvDesign BF697.5 S43 S47 2002
  2. Keeping a nature journal: discover a whole new way of seeing the world around you, by Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E. Roth. 2nd ed. North Adams, MA: Storey Books, 2003.
    3. EnvDesign QH81 L595 2003
  3. Making & keeping creative journals, by Suzanne J.E. Tourtillott. NY: Storey Books, 2001.
    4. EnvDesign PN4390 T68 2001
  4. Window of self: a diary is forever: instructions, techniques and history for the diary writer , by Raymond Lee Zager. Corralitos, CA: Diary Library of Corralitos, 2003.
    5. NRLF B 4 667 985
  5. Writing to grow: keeping a personal-professional journal, by Mary Louise Holly. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1989.
    6. EnvDesign LB1775 H58 1989


    Directories:  Community web sites are good sources of directories of contact people. Local telephone books can be helpful, too.
  1. abagOnline (Association of Bay Area Governments) Well-organized links to San Francisco Bay Area cities, counties, and regional organizations.
    2.
    http://www.abag.ca.gov/home.html
  2. Bay Area directory: city and county governments. Oakland: ABAG.
    3. EnvDesign JK8731 A78 latest ed. Reference Desk
  3. California local government  information website  (UC Berkeley, Institute of Governmental Studies Library) A well-organized web site of links to California local governments' web sites, including directories of city & county web sites.
    4. http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/library/localweb.html
  4. State and local government on the net: a directory of official state, county, and city government websites
    5.  U.S. only.
    http://www.statelocalgov.net/index.cfm


    Finding Books & Related Materials: Tip: Start with Melvyl® for the most complete coverage of UC Berkeley library holdings. For additional tips, see the Guide to Library Catalogs.
    Here are selected subject terms for searching the online catalogs. Remember that you can combine subjects or subjects and keywords.:
    Acculturation
    Alienation (Social psychology)
    Americanization
    Assimilation (Sociology)
    City and town life--[place name]
    Community
    Community life--[place name]
    [Ethnic or racial group], e.g.: 
    Afro-American#
    Asian-American#
    European American#
    Hispanic American#
    Indians of North America
    Italian American#
    Japanese American#
    Racially mixed people

    [Ethnic/racial group]--Cultural assimilation
    [Ethnic/racial group]--Economic conditions     		[Ethnic/racial group]--Segregation
    [Ethnic group]--Ethnic identity
    Ethnic neighborhoods--United States
    Ethnicity
    Gentrification
    Hispanic American neighborhoods
    Human geography
    [Religious or sexual orientation group]--Identity
    Immigrants--United States
    Landscape--Social aspects
    Landscape architecture--Psychological aspects
    Landscape architecture--Social aspects
    Minorities--[place name]
    Minorities--[place name]
    --Economic conditions
    Minorities--Housing-- [place name]
    Minorities--United States--History
    Multiculturalism--[place name]
    		Neighborhood
    Parks--[place name]
    Plazas--[place name]
    Popular culture
    Public spaces
    [Racial group]--Racial identity
    Racism
    Segregation
    Social ecology
    [Place name]--Social life & customs
    Social values--United States
    Streets
    Suburban life--[place name]
    Suburbs--[place name]
    Trails
    Urbanization--United States
    Working class whites--United States
    Zoning, Exclusionary

    Here are examples of ways to search for specific areas or neighborhoods within a city:
    Aquatic Park (Berkeley, Calif.) 
    Chinatown (San Francisco, Calif.) 
    Embarcadero (San Francisco, Calif.)
    Haight-Ashbury (San Francisco, Calif.)
    Hunters' Point Naval Shipyard    		 Mission Bay (San Francisco, Calif.) 
    San Antonio District (Oakland, Calif.) 
    South Berkeley (Berkeley, Calif.)
    Telegraph Avenue (Oakland, Calif.) 
    Treasure Island (Calif.)


    Finding Journal Articles:   The selected indexes listed here may be helpful; in addition, the following lists of journal indexes and abstracts may be useful:   Architecture, City Planning, Environmental Planning, and Landscape Architecture.   To boost your article retrieval skills take a drop-in class at Moffitt Library.  For UC or UC Only indexes and databases, go to The Library's home page; go to Find Information and select Articles.

  1. Academic search complete via EBSCO - UC Only  Indexes articles in more than 1,500 general interest journals and scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and general sciences. Abstracts and full text available for many titles indexed. There are many book review citations, especially in the humanities and social sciences.
    2.
    Coverage: 1980--.
  2. Alternative press index and archive via FirstSearch/OCLC - UCB Only   Citations are drawn from roughly 380 alternative, radical, and left publications.  Useful for identifying community-based and alternative public policy perspectives on housing, land use, the environment, etc., outside of the mainstream.  Most journals aren't indexed elsewhere.
    3. Online coverage:  1991--.
    Paper ed.:  1969--; Doe Stack HM101 A12 A55
  3. AltPress watch via ProQuest - UCB Only A full text resource that covers newspapers, magazines, and journals of the alternative and independent press. Good for environmental justice and environmental policy issues. East Bay Express is included starting 6/01.
    4. Coverage: 1995--.
  4. America: history and life via EBSCO - UC Only  Contains article abstracts and bibliographical citations of reviews and dissertations on the history and culture of the U.S. and Canada from prehistoric times to the present. Excellent index for American cultural history and popular culture.
    5. Online ed.: 1982--.
    Paper ed.: 1954--; Doe Stack E3 A43
  5. Anthropology plus via Eureka/RLG - UC Only  Contains citations to articles and essays in the fields of anthropology and archaeology. Subjects covered include art history, landscape history, ethnohistory, geography, folklore, geology, and history. Useful subject terms include: cities and towns history [name of place]; city planning history; extinct cities; land settlement patterns [name of place]; and, urbanization history.
    6. Coverage: 1984--.
  6. Avery index to architectural periodicals via CSA - UC Only  Indexes articles in 1,000+ periodicals in architecture, planning, urban design, & related disciplines.
    7. Online ed.: 1890--; paper ed.: 1890-1995, EnvDesign fNA8 C64 1973 Index
  7. Bibliography of native North Americans on disc  (CD-ROM Network) - UCB Only Includes 70,000 citations from books, journal articles, essays, conference papers, and U.S. government documents covering 17 broad regions comprising 290 ethnic groups of native North America, from the 16th century to 1992.
    8. Online ed.:  Library networked workstations
    Paper ed.:  Ethnographic Bibliography of North America, 1941-1990. Various editions and locations.
  8. Black studies database - UCB Only Digital version of indexing from The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of The New York Public Library. Indexes over 150 journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, pamphlets and reports relevant to the Black experience and the African Diaspora.
    Coverge: 1948-1986.

    -----. Black studies on disc (CD-ROM Network) - UCB Only Provides current access to the Catalog of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Index to Black Periodicals.
    Coverage: 2004--; Library networked workstations.
  9. Chicano database via Eureka/RLG, Univ. of California. Indexes all types of materials on Mexican-American topics, and since 1992, materials on other Latino cultures.
    10. Coverage: 1967--.
  10. Geography via SilverPlatter - UCB Only Covers the international literature in physical and human geography, providing access to information from over 2000 journals, monographs, books, conference proceedings reports, and theses.
    11. Coverage: 1990--.
  11. HAPI online; Hispanic American periodical index - UC Only  Includes citations to articles, documents, book reviews, and original literary works in more than 500 social science and humanities journals on Latin America, the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, and Hispanics in the U.S. Links to selected full text articles via Ingenta or JSTOR.
    12. Coverage: 1970--.
  12. IngentaConnect - UCB Only Provides full-text access to domestic and international scholarly & academic publications, in a wide range of subject areas, including city planning.
    Coverage: Varies.
  13. International index to Black periodicals (IIBP) - UCB Only Includes current and retrospective bibliographic citations and abstracts from 150+ scholarly and popular journals, newspapers and newsletters from the U.S., Africa, and the Caribbean, and full-text coverage of core Black studies periodicals, 1998 forward.
    14. Coverage:  Varies, 1910--.
  14. Journal of planning literature. This excellent publication lists and abstracts recent books and journal articles, arranged by subject, including community development, discrimination, and urban sociology.
    15. Online ed.: 1997--.
    Paper ed.: 1985/86--; EnvDesign NA9000 J687 Index
  15. JSTOR - UCB Only  A full-text archive of interdisciplinary scholarly journal literature, including sociology, African-American studies, and political science.
    16. Coverage: Varies.
  16. Left index via BiblioLine - UCB Only   Provides access to international leftist and radical scholarship, including citations and abstracts and some full text from journals, books, links to internet documents, etc. Topics include ecology & environment, race & ethnicity, social & cultural theory, sociology, etc.
    17. Coverage: 1982--.
  17. Native North Americans on disc (CD ROM Network) - UCB Only Includes 70,000 citations from books, journal articles, essays, conference papers, and U.S. government documents covering 17 broad regions comprising 290 ethnic groups of native North America.
    18. Online ed.: 1984--; Library networked workstations.
  18. Sociological abstracts via CSA - UC Only Indexes journal articles, book chapters, & reviews from over 1,900 journals, books, book chapters, and reviews in the social sciences. Excellent source for public policy topics.
    19. Online ed.: 1963--.
    Paper ed.: 1952--; Main Stack HM15.5 S6 Library use only
  19. Urban studies & planning via CSA - UCB Only. Provides indexing to and full text of 12 journals published by SAGE Publications and participating societies, some journals going back 37 years.
    20. Coverage: Varies.
    Special Resources:
    Encyclopedias:    To find encyclopedias on a topic, in Melvyl® search by subject, adding the term encyclopedia to your subject word(s).
  1. American immigrant cultures: builders of a nation, David Levinson, Melvin Ember, eds. 2 vols. NY: Simon & Schuster Macmillan, 1997.
    2. Doe Refe & Moffitt Refe  E184 A1 A63448 1997
  2. The Asian American encyclopedia, Franklin Ng, ed., NY: Marshall Cavendish Corp., 1995.  6 vols.
    3. Main-Library use only, S-S/EAsia-Ref  E184 O6 A827 1995; Ethn Studies  E184 A8 N52 Ref
  3. Encyclopedia Britannica online - UCB Only 
    4. http://www.uclibs.org/PID/12593
  4. Encyclopedia of African-American culture and history, Jack Salzman, David Lionel Smith, Cornel West, eds. 5 vols. and 2001 supplement.  NY: Macmillan Library Reference USA, 1996.
    5. Doe Refe E185 E54 1996 & 2001 suppl.
  5. Encyclopedia of multiculturalism, Susan Auerbach, ed.  6 vols.  NY: Marshall Cavendish Corp., 1994.
    6. Main  E184 A1 E58 1994 Library use only
  6. Gale encyclopedia of multicultural America, Robert von Dassanowsky, contributing ed.,  2nd ed.  3 vols.  Detroit: Gale Group, 2000.
    7. Moffitt Refe & Doe Refe  E184 A1 G14 2000
  7. Handbook of Hispanic cultures in the United States, Nicolas Kanellos, Claudio Esteva-Fabregat, general eds., Houston: Arte Publico Press, 1993-1994.
    8. Doe Refe & Moffitt Refe  E184 S75 H365 1993; Ethn Studies E184 S75 H264 1993 v.4  Ref.
  8. Harvard encyclopedia of American ethnic groups, Stephan Thernstrom, ed.  Cambridge, MA: Belknap Pr., 1980
    9. EnvDesign  E184 A1 H35  Reference
  9. The Hispanic almanac: from Columbus to corporate America, Nicolas Kanellos, ed., Detroit: Invisible Ink, 1994.
    10. Ethn Studies HN3 H454 1994 Reference

    General Plans: General plans are an excellent source of local planning information. General plans have many synonyms, among them comprehensive plan, development plan, land-use plan, master plan, and urban plan. Simply stated, a general plan is "the official statement of a municipal legislative body which sets forth its major policies concerning desirable future physical development..." (Kent, The Urban general plan, 1964).

  1. Finding general plans (UC Berkeley, Library) A guide to finding general plans, with a California emphasis.
    2. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/genplans.html

    Newspapers:  Sometimes the only record of a hot community issue is in the local media. In addition to the indexes listed here, some newspapers are available full-text on the web; information regarding archives of older issues is sometimes available at these sites. For a list of online full-text American and international newspapers, go to the The Library's home page; go to Find Information and select Articles, and then select News Article Databases.
  1. Access world news via NewsBank - UCB Only Full-text database of articles from regional, national, and international newspapers and newswires, including many California papers such as Contra Costa Times (1995-current), Fresno Bee (1986-current), Santa Rosa Press Democrat (1994-current), Sacramento Bee (1984-current), San Francisco Chronicle (1985-current), and San Jose Mercury News (1985-current).  Articles are available the day after publication.
    2. Online coverage: Varies.
  2. AltPress watch via ProQuest - UCB Only A full text resource that covers newspapers, magazines, and journals of the alternative and independent press. Good for public policy issues. East Bay Express is included starting June 2001.
    3. Online coverage: 1995--.
  3. California newspapers (News Link) Organized by place within broad categories (e.g., dailies, business, alternative).
    4. Online coverage: Varies.
  4. Ethnic newswatch via ProQuest- UC Only  Full-text coverage of approximately 200 newspapers and other periodicals published by ethnic and minority presses in the U.S. Good resource for ethnic community information. Indexed in English and Spanish.
    5. Online coverage: 1960--.
  5. Lexis-Nexis academic - UCB Only  Indexes more than 6,000 newspaper and journal titles, including ethnic and regional newspapers, and provides some articles full-text.
    6. Online coverage: Varies.
  6. New America media. Includes the full text of many ethnic news media, many with English translations, as well as NAM original articles.
    7. Online coverage: Varies.


    Statistics & Data:  Here's a small selection of statistical resources. For a more comprehensive list, including some full-text, see Statistics & data for city planning: United States; American focus with a California emphasis.

  1. ABAG data center (Association of Bay Area Governments) Great source of San Francisco Bay Area economic and demographic statistics. Here is a selection of the categories available. ---Population and demographics ---Land use and maps ---Real estate and housing.
    2. http://www.abag.ca.gov/abag/overview/datacenter/
  2. American factfinder  (U.S. Census Bureau) Users can create a variety of tables, reports, or maps with information on their community.
    3. http://factfinder.census.gov/java_prod/dads.ui.homePage.HomePage
  3. Bay Area census (Metropolitan Transportation Commission & the Association of Bay Area Governments) Very useful and well-designed site. Aggregates Census 2000 data for the nine Bay Area counties. Includes maps.
    4. http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/
  4. California county profiles (Calif. Dept. of Finance) Compilation of selected economic, social, and demographic data for California and its 58 counties.
    5. Online access: http://www.dof.ca.gov/html/fs_data/profiles/pf_home.htm
    Paper ed.: 1996--; Main Stack HA262 C68; latest in Doe Refe
  5. California demographics (Calif. Dept. of Finance, Demographic Research Unit) Includes California demographic data, selected full-text reports and papers, catalog of publications, etc.
    6. http://www.dof.ca.gov/html/Demograp/druhpar.htm
  6. Federal government statistics (UC Berkeley, Library) A directory of useful links to social and demographic data, including the U.S. Census Bureau.
    7. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/doemoff/govinfo/federal/gov_usstat.html#population
  7. Projections...: forecasts for the San Francisco Bay Area to the year..., population, households, income, employment. Association of Bay Area Governments. Oakland: ABAG. Provides a wealth of demographic data and projections for the 9-county region, each county and city.
    8. EnvDesign HD5726 S4 P72 latest Reference Desk; Reference
  8. Racial and ethnic diversity, by Cheryl Russell. 4th ed. Ithaca, NY: New Strategist Publications, 2002. Consists of statistical profiles drawn primarily from 2000 Census data.
    9. EnvDesign  E184 A1 R87 Reference 5th ed. on order

    Codes:
  1. California local codes and charters  (UC Berkeley, Institute of Governmental Studies Library) Comprehensive directory of online full text California municipal codes and charters.
    2. http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/library/calcodes.html
  2. Municipal codes online  (Seattle Public Library)  Comprehensive directory of links to full text American municipal codes on the Web.
    3. http://www.spl.org/selectedsites/municode.html


    Maps: 

  1. Earth Sciences & Map Library (UC Berkeley)  The largest collection of maps in northern California and one of the largest university map collections in the United States.  Supplementing its superb collection is an excellent comprehensive directory of online map collections and resources.
    2. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/
  2. Aerial photographs:
    • Catalog of aerial photography (UC Berkeley, Library) Searchable catalog of the Earth Sciences & Map international aerial photo collection, with special strength in California images. Site also includes links to other campus aerial photo collections.
      • http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/air-catalog.html
    • The Earth Sciences & Map Library has an excellent collection of aerial photos of California, 1939--present. A master index is available in the Earth Sciences Library. Some digitized aerial photos of the San Francisco Bay Area are available on The Library's SunSite:
    3. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/EART/AerialPhotos/
  3. Maps worldwide Searchable international online collection of aerial photographs.
    http://www.mapsworldwide.com
  4. TerraServer-USA (Microsoft Co.) Searchable repository of aerial photographs and satellite images of places in the United States.
    5. http://terraserver.microsoft.com/
  5. Plat maps, also called fire insurance maps, show a variety of details, including actual lot boundaries, special uses, building materials and building footprints. For a perspective on ways to use plat maps for research, see Cathy Moulder's article, Fire insurance plans as a data source in urban research: an annotated bibliography of examples, in Art reference quarterly, V.1:3, 1993. See also Plat Maps--California.
    6.
    • Digital Sanborn maps, 1867-1970 (UMI) -UCB Only  Site provides digital access to more than 660,000 large-scale maps of more than 12,000 American towns and cities. The maps "are large-scale plans containing...information such as the outline of each building, the size, shape and construction materials, heights, and function of structures, location of windows and doors. The maps also give street names, street and sidewalk widths, property boundaries, building use, and house and block numbers."
      http://sanborn.umi.com/
    • Fire insurance maps (UC Berkeley, Library)  Links to description of and indexes to fire insurance maps.
      http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/sanborn.html

      -----. Fire insurance maps in the Library of Congress: plans of North American cities and towns produced by the Sanborn Map Company: a checklist, compiled by the Reference and Bibliography Section, Geography and Map Division. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress: U.S.  Govt. Print. Off., 1981.
      EnvDesign HG9771 U54 1981 Reference; Earth Sci HG9771 U54 1981 Reference with microforms
    • U.S. historical city maps (Univ. of Texas, Austin) Digitized maps from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection at the Univ. of Texas at Austin.
      • http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/historic_us_cities.html
  6. Plat maps--California (Sanborn Insurance Company): Available on microfilm. Originals of various dates and cities are available at the Library of Congress, Bancroft Library, Oakland Public Library, and the California Historical Society.
    • Sanborn fire insurance maps: California 1884-1952 || Index
      Earth Sci Microfilm 31073
    • Sanborn maps of California, 1911-1991 || Index
      Earth Sci Microfilm 77648
  7. Thomas Bros. maps: Excellent street maps in book form. Volumes for Bay Area counties are available at the Environmental Design Library Reference Desk. Other volumes available in the Earth Sciences/Maps Library.


    Images:
    Using images for research:
  1. Image-based research: a sourcebook for qualitative researchers, Jon Prosser, ed. Bristol, PA: Falmer Pr., 1998.
    2. EnvDesign GN347 I43 1998
  2. Visual methodologies: an introduction to the interpretation of visual materials, by Gillian Rose.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2001.
    3. EnvDesign & Main Stack P93.5 R67 2001
    Image sources:
  1. Access to archival databases (AAD) (U.S. Natl. Archives & Records Administration) Searchable databases of records in the U.S. National Archives: print, still photos, film, video, etc. Can retrieve digital copies of selected textual documents, photographs, maps, and sound recordings.
    2. http://aad.archives.gov/aad/
  2. American landscape and architectural design, 1850-1920, Harvard Univ. This collection of approximately 2,800 lantern slides represents an historical view of American buildings and landscapes built during the period 1850-1920.  Offers views of cities, specific buildings, parks, estates and gardens. In addition to photographs, views include plans, maps, & models.  Also indexed in the American Memory project.
    3. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/award97/mhsdhtml/aladhome.html
  3. American memory (U.S. Library of Congress) Multimedia collections of digitized documents, photographs, recorded sound, moving pictures, and text from the Library of Congress' Americana collections, representing a rich archive of images and text on U.S. urban history.
    4. http://rs6.loc.gov/amhome.html
  4. Archives of American gardens, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. The Archive contains thousands of photographic images, which are searchable through the Smithsonian's archives, manuscripts, and photographs catalog.
  5. California heritage project (UC Berkeley, Library). A "digital" archive containing photographs, pictures, and manuscripts from the collections of the Bancroft Library.  Includes many historical images of San Francisco Bay Area places.
    6.
    http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CalHeritage/
  6. Historic American building survey/Historic American engineering record, U.S. National Park Service. The HABS/HAER collections contain more than 363,000 measured drawings, large-format photographs, and written histories for more than 37,000 historic structures and sites dating from the 17th to the 20th century. See also California HABS.
    7.
    Images:
    • Historic American buildings survey (HABS) [microfiche]. Organized by state. Collections include photographs and written historical and descriptive data. Search the catalogs for title Historic American Buildings survey [name of state].
      EnvDesign MICROFICHE  call number varies

      • -----. Historic American buildings survey: California: measured drawings... [photocopy] Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). 4 vols. 1934. Photocopy from the microfilm copy in the Library of Congress.
      EnvDesign NA730 C2 H49 Reference

      -----. Historic American buildings survey (HABS). California [microfiche]. Teaneck, NJ: Somerset House, 1980.  Photographs and written historical and descriptive data.
      EnvDesign MICROFICHE.5224
  7. Historic American building survey/Historic American engineering record - HABS/HAER (U.S. Library of Congress, American Memory) Contains searchable digitized images from the HABS/HAER collections.
    http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/
    8. Indexes to the collection:
    • America preserved: a checklist of historic buildings, structures, and sites recorded by the Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record. 60th anniversary ed. Washington, D.C: Library of Congress, Cataloging Distribution Service, 1995. Indicates types of illustration and documentation included in records for historic buildings, neighborhoods, and sites, e.g., photogrammetric images, measured drawings, etc.
      EnvDesign E159 A37 1995 Reference
    • HAER checklist: 1969-1985. By state and county, a list of images in the Historic American Engineering Record collection, including factories, bridges, and other "non-building" structures.
      EnvDesign E159 H1361 1985 Reference
    • California architecture: historic American buildings survey (HABS), by Sally B. Woodbridge. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1988. Includes a "Catalogue of buildings included in the Historic American Buildings Survey of California," pp.105-269.  Illustrated.
      EnvDesign NA730 C2W65 1988 Reference
  8. Image sources for the built environment (UC Berkeley, Library)  A list of links to web sites of images of the built or designed environment.
    9. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/pict.html
  9. San Francisco history center: historical photograph collection (San Francisco Public Library) Copies of the images may be ordered; many are available for use with proper permission. These images are only a portion of the total holdings of the San Francisco Public Library.
    10. http://sfpl.lib.ca.us/librarylocations/sfhistory/sfphoto.htm


    Special Collections:
  1. Environmental Design Archives (UC Berkeley, College of Environmental Design) The collections include the work of most of the San Francisco Bay Region’s historically significant architects and landscape architects, represented by drawings, plans, specifications, photographs, audio-tapes, personal papers, etc. Access is by appointment only.
    2. http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/
    • List of collections: http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/listcoll.html
    • Selected finding aids: Finding aids describe the contents of archival collections; online finding aids are frequently enhanced with selected digitized images from those collections. The Online Archive of California offers a convenient list of the Environmental Design Archives' finding aids.
      • http://www.oac.cdlib.org/cgi-bin/oac/ead/berkeley/ceda/@Generic__CollectionView;cs=default;ts=default
  2. Index to current urban documents - UCB Only NY: Greenwood Pr. The key national resource for local government publications of the U.S. Online edition contains citations to and the full text (PDF format) of local government publications from approximately 500 cities and counties in the U.S. and Canada. The Index is a good source of locally generated socioeconomic statistics, public health and social service planning, and business and physical infrastructure information.
    3. Online ed.:  2000--; available from The Library's home page; go to Find Information and select Articles.
    Paper ed.:  1972--; EnvDesign JS13 A12M85 Index; Index & full text documents on microfiche in Institute of Governmental Studies Library
  3. S.P.I.R.O., Architecture Visual Resources Library, Univ. of California, Berkeley. The visual online public access catalog to approximately 16% of the Architecture Slide Library's collection of over 200,000 35mm slides. The collection is available to UCB faculty and graduate students.
    4. http://shanana.berkeley.edu/spiro/


    Local Guides & Sources:  Here is a sample of available web sites and print materials that will help you find information about specific places in California. Check the campus catalogs for the availability of additional print resources.
    Guides || Neighborhoods
    Guides:
  1. San Francisco architecture: the illustrated guide to over 1,000 of the best buildings, parks and public artworks in the Bay Area, by Sally B. Woodbridge and John M. Woodbridge. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1992.
    2. EnvDesign NA735 S35 W64 1992 Reference Desk
  2. San Francisco Bay Area architects & architecture: resources (UC Berkeley, Library) Bibliographic research guide to the built environment of the San Francisco Bay Area.
    3. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/sfindex.html

    Neighborhoods:
  1. Berkeley neighborhoods, 1950. Berkeley: Berkeley City Planning Commission, 1950. Includes maps.
    2. EnvDesign NA9127 B4 A25 Reference Desk & circulating
  2. The Jack London District Association
    3. http://jlna.org/resource.html
  3. Neighborhood profiles [Oakland]. Oakland: Oakland Citizens Committee for Urban Renewal (OCCUR). Includes profiles of selected Oakland neighborhoods: Central East Oakland, Chinatown, Elmhurst, Fruitvale, North Oakland, Oakland Hills [1998 only], San Antonio, and West Oakland. Each brief profile includes a land use map, district characteristics, community concerns, a neighborhood history, etc.
    4. EnvDesign HN80 O2 N4 1988 & 1998 Reference Desk
  4. Oakland district handbook, by Nancy Curns. [San Francisco?]: Coro Foundation, 1984.
    5.
    EnvDesign JS1248 C8 1984a Reference Desk
  5. Profiles of community planning areas: San Francisco's eastern neighborhoods, by San Francisco Planning Dept. San Francisco, CA: The Dept., 2002.
    EnvDesign HT168 S4 S28 2002 Reference Desk
  6. San Francisco neighborhood profiles. [San Francisco]: San Francisco Planning Dept., 1997.
    7. EnvDesign HA730 S4 S3 1997 Reference Desk

    Historical Societies & Museums:  Local libraries and historical societies are often excellent sources of community-level information and images.
  1. State historical agencies  (American Association for State and Local History)  Directory of web links to state historical agencies and societies, many of which provide links to local historical societies.
    2. http://www.aaslh.org/cgi-bin/stateagencies.cgi
  2. California cultural directory (California State Historical Society) Includes links to California historical agencies.
    3. http://www.calhist.org/Support_Info/CHAs.htmld/
  3. Bay Area historical societies (selected list):
    4. Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association
    (510) 841-2242
    http://www.berkeleyheritage.com/

    Berkeley Historical Society Museum
    (510) 848-0181
    http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc/

    California Historical Society
    (415) 357-1848
    http://www.calhist.org

    Chinese Historical Society of America
    (415) 391-1188
    Dedicated to the study, documentation, and
    dissemination of Chinese American history.
    http://www.chsa.org/

    Contra Costa County Historical Society
    (925) 229-1042
    http://www.cocohistory.com/
    History San José
    (408) 287-2290
    http://www.historysanjose.org/

    Marin County Historical Society
    (415) 454-8538
    http://www.marinhistory.org/
    Marin Museum of the American Indian
    (415) 897-4064
    http://www.marinindian.com/

    Mexican Museum
    (415) 202-9700
    http://www.fortmason.org/visualarts/mexican.shtml

    Napa County Historical Society
    (707) 224-1739
    http://www.napahistory.org/

    Oakland Heritage Alliance
    (510) 763-9218
    http://www.oaklandheritage.org/

    Richmond Museum of History
    http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/%7Elibrary/richmond_museum_of_history.htm

    San Francisco Architectural Heritage
    (415) 441-3000
    http://www.sfheritage.org/

    San Francisco Museum & Historical Society
    (415) 775-1111
    http://www.sfhistory.org/

    Local & UC Berkeley Campus Libraries:
  1. Libraries on the web: U.S.A. public libraries (UC Berkeley, Library SunSITE) Directory of links to U.S. public libraries.
    2. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Libweb/Public_main.html
  2. California library directory (Calif. State Library)
    3. Online ed.:  1998--; http://www.library.ca.gov/html/main.cfm
    Paper ed.:  current only; Environ Dsgn  Z732 C2 C332  Reference Desk
  3. Selected Bay Area community libraries:
    4. Alameda County Library
    Maurice Marks Center for Local and California History:
    Focuses on the Tri-city area of Southern Alameda County
    (Fremont, Newark and Union City)
    (510) 745-1500 
    http://aclibrary.org/ 

    American Indian Center of Santa Clara Valley
    American Indian Center Library
    (408) 971-0772
    Berkeley Public Library
    Berkeley History Room
    (510) 649-308 
    http://www.infopeople.org/bpl/ 

    Contra Costa County Library
    Local history resources
    (510) 646-6423 
    http://www.contra-costa.lib.ca.us/ 

    Marin County Free Library
    Anne T. Kent California History Room
    (415) 499-3220 
    http://countylibrary.marin.org/ 

    MTC-ABAG Library    		 (510) 464-7836 
    http://www.mtc.ca.gov/library/
    Oakland Public Library
    African American Museum and Library
    Asian Branch Library
    Spanish-language & Chicano collections--
    César E. Chávez Branch
    Native American Collections--Dimond Branch
    Oakland History Room
    (510) 238-3511 
    http://www.oaklandlibrary.org/ 

    Richmond Public Library
    (510) 620-6555 
    http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/~library/index.htm 

    San Francisco Public Library
    San Francisco History Center
    (415) 557-4400 
    http://sfpl.lib.ca.us/ 

    San José Public Library
    California Room
    (408) 277-4846
    http://www.sjpl.lib.ca.us/
  4. Selected University of California, Berkeley, libraries:
    Anthropology Library
    230 Kroeber Hall
    Anthropology and ethnography collections.
    http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ANTH/
    The Bancroft Library
    Western Americana non-circulating collections.  Primary source material, including images
    http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
    Business & Economics Library
    S352 Haas School of Business
    Includes real estate materials.
    http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/BUSI/
    Doe Reference Center
    2nd Floor, Doe Library 
    Reference service re. state, federal, & international
    governmental publications. 
    http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/doemoff/reference.html

    Earth Sciences & Map Library
    50 McCone Hall Includes maps, atlases, aerial photos, plat maps, etc. 
    http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/
    		Environmental Design Library
    210 Wurster Hall
    City planning, urban design, environmental planning,
    architecture, and landscape architecture.
    http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/
    Ethnic Studies Library
    30 Stephens Hall
    Asian American, Chicano, Native American studies, and comparative ethnic studies collections.
    http://eslibrary.berkeley.edu/
    Institute of Governmental Studies Library
    109 Moses Hall 
    American public policy non-circulating collections, with an emphasis on California & the SF Bay Area.
    http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/library/
    Social Welfare Library
    227 Haviland Hall
    Supports the School of Social Welfare.
    http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/SOCW/

Compiled by Deborah Sommer
City Planning & Landscape Architecture Librarian
Environmental Design Library
Originally compiled in 2006

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