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Catalogs and Databases
Current, updated databases:
Periodicals | Books
NTL Index is the subject database of articles in several hundred preservation newsletters, magazines and journals in the National Trust Library. NTL INDEX provides over 15,000 citations, including: author, article title, journal title, volume, issue, date, page numbers, index terms (descriptors) and a brief annotation.
NTL Index offers coverage of the historic preservation field from 1986 through the mid-1990's. Selective coverage is offered from the mid-1990's to the present. Please contact us for advice on searching the index for more recent coverage.
Prior to your search, consult
the
To search NTL Index for periodical articles:
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For assistance, or for information on obtaining copies of articles, please contact the National Trust Library.
The National Trust Library is part of the University of Maryland, College Park Libraries. Books in the National Trust Library are included in the UMCP catalog.
To search for books in the
National Trust Library:
The records will show that our materials are available through the Maryland Room of the Hornbake (HBK) Library. |
Please note that all materials are used on site. For assistance, please contact the National Trust Library.
Closed, Archival Databases
COPAR
The National Union Index to Architectural Records
COPAR (Cooperative Preservation of Architectural Records) was first developed and mounted in 1986 by staff of the Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. This database was created in an effort to help researchers locate the records of both individual architects and architectural firms.
Please bear in mind that the nearly 4,000 entries in this database were compiled in 1986, and that the information was deemed reliable at that time. The project was later discontinued, and the information is not current. However, because it was the only effort of its kind in the field of architectural records, the information in COPAR may still provide useful leads to researchers in this area. Please contact the National Trust Library to request a search of the COPAR database.
Other sources for finding architectural records include
- The Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, one of the largest repositories of architectural drawings and records in the country
- The Ryerson and Burnham Archives at the Art Institute of Chicago holds a major collection of architectural records relating to late 19th and early 20th century American Architecture
- The Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania holds the Louis Kahn collection and other major holdings of American and European Architects
- Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University lists the collections of their drawings and archives department here, usually by individual name, along with the processing status of the collections. Contact information is provided for further research.
Your local municipal, state, and college archives or historical societies may also be able to help you find information on local buildings.
THEATRES AND PERFORMANCE HALLS
The Gene A. Chesley Collection
The National Trust Library's Gene A. Chesley Collection includes the records of an eleven-year project to identify and document extant historic theatres, opera houses, and performance halls in all fifty states. Like the COPAR project, Chesley's theatre list represents an unparalelled information-gathering effort in its subject area, and for this reason, the information may be useful to preservationists and historians.
The National Trust Library, in collaboration with the University of Maryland Archives and Manuscripts Department, is the repository of Chesley's theatre list and the information that was originally gathered through his mailed survey. Chesley's "National List of Historic Theatre Buildings" includes the names and locations of theatres for which information had been gathered as of 1979. Please consult the theatre list to determine whether a theatre or performance hall is included in the collection. For more information about what the collection includes for a given theatre, please contact the National Trust Library.
After his death in 1981, Chesley's theatre identification project was continued by The League of Historic American Theatres (LHAT), an organization dedicated to the preservation, restoration, and use of historic American theatres. In 1989, the League published the Directory of Historic American Theaters with updated information. This book is also available here at the National Trust Library.
Consult the Theater List
Find out more about the Gene A. Chesley Collection
Link to the League of Historic American Theatres
