PLAN 303 : Neighborhoods, Communities, and Regions
FAL web page: www.lib.virginia.edu/fine-arts/
Online Resources for Planning: www.lib.virginia.edu/subjects/planning/
| Search strategies: | urban sprawl, infrastructure, growth pattern$, downtown, communit$, design
neighborhood$, metropolitan, population, place, public polic$, poverty, environment$ sustainability, inequity, historic preservation, race |
Search by subject as well as keyword. Start with a keyword search to locate a relevant source. Look at the full record for the subject terms (sometimes called descriptors) associated with that source, then use those terms to perform a subject search.
Unless you are looking for a specific title or author, choose broad searches at the beginning. The search can be limited for more precision.
VIRGO [$]
Catalog of physical library collection. Excellent source for books; also contains some subscription and web content, but not individual journal articles. Can be used to request books through interlibrary loan.
Literature Databases
The most recent scholarship is generally found in academic journals. Literature databases index journals (and sometimes other formats) relevant to specific fields and allow searching across several sources at once. Much content, but not all, is available in full text. Find@UVA allows you to access the article through our subscribed resources. Many databases interface directly with RefWorks.
PAIS International 1972 + (CSA)
International database covering public and social policy, and the social sciences. Includes journal articles, books, government documents, statistics, and reports of public, intergovernmental, and private organizations. Abstracts from 1985. Some newer book entries include tables of contents.
Non-specific database to scholarly literature. Good for interdisciplinary research. Use advanced search to restrict by date or publication.
Avery Index (CSA)
The Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals indexes more than 2,000 periodicals published worldwide on archaeology, city planning, interior design, and historic preservation, as well as architecture. Coverage is from the 1930s (with selective coverage dating back to the 1860s) to the present. The Avery Index is updated daily.
ProQuest Digital Dissertations (CSA)
Comprehensive database of theses and dissertations from universities around the world. Over 750,000 available in PDF, more than 2 million total indexed.
Online library of publications from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as well as other resources.
Finding Statistics and Data
Many statistics are collected and published by government resources. Most are freely available on the web and can be located through web search engines such as Google, but they are not generally included in literature databases. Historical statistics are still rare on the web; expect to consult print resources for data older than 10 years or so. Local area statistics can often be found by searching state and local planning agency websites.
Places to search (besides Google):
Lexis / Nexis Statistical Universe
Search Tables by keyword or use subject list.
FedStats
Finding aid for statistics produced by the U.S. Government. Search by topic, agency, or geographic region.
American Factfinder
Source for recent data produced by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Demographic, economic, and housing statistics for the entire nation at the state, county, and lower geographic levels.
United Nations Statistics
Comprehensive source of demographic, economic, and social statistics for most of the world’s countries. The UN Common Data Base is an easy-to-use data retrieval system.
Contact the Librarian: Donna Tolson | 982.2957 | dtolson@virginia.edu
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