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Architecture

Subject specialist
Ruth Wallach
rwallach@usc.edu
(213) 740 6917

Reference services & research help

Doing Research with USC Collections

Most of the information listed below can be accessed through the USC Libraries web site, http://www.usc.edu/libraries.

  • To find books and location of journals (but not articles): use HOMER, the USC Libraries catalog.
  • To find articles in the field of architecture: use the Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals.
  • To find dissertations and theses, use Proquest and select the "Dissertations and Theses" from the drop-down menu.
  • To find historic articles about Los Angeles homes and urban development, use the Historic Los Angeles Times, available through Proquest.

Research Guides:

Published materials on Architecture are located primarily in the Helen Topping Architecture and Fine Arts Library, Watt Hall. Urban planning materials are found in the Appied Social Sciences Library in the Von KleinSmid Center, and building sciences materials are also in the Science and Engineering Library. The collection supports teaching and research through the masters level and beyond.

The collection also supports teaching and independent study through the undergraduate level in all areas of Architecture, including landscape architecture and historic preservation.

Books and journals are in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. (Materials in the East Asian vernacular languages that are primarily text are usually collected in the East Asian Library)

Materials on the ancient world through modern times are collected for the entire world, with an emphasis on the United States (particularly California), Central America (particularly Mexico), Western Europe, Southeast Asia, and East Asia (particularly Japan). There is an emphasis on the contemporary architecture.

A wide variety of formats are collected, including

  • Monographs
  • Serials and journals
  • Museum and gallery exhibition catalogs
  • Festschriften
  • Architecture-oriented guidebooks
  • Cost estimating guides
  • Building/Life safety codes
  • Conference proceedings
  • Electronic resources, slides, videos and dvds.

Instruction services for faculty

To schedule a class taught by the Architecture specialist, select "Request-A-Class" below. To inquire about tours for guests or orientations for new faculty or students, contact the Architecture specialist.