Updated: September 2008

LARC 440: Urban Design Studio

Course Instructor: Jack Sullivan, Associate Professor

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OVERVIEW This design studio course will encourage students of urban design to define the relationships between nature, architecture, and landscape architecture in the urban environment. Students will work to understand the place of the city within the context of regional, historical and cultural influences and to demonstrate an ability to design for the scale of the metropolis as well as for the human participant and the context and influence of nature.

SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF LIBRARY INSTRUCTION CLASS Library research is a key component in learning. This class will provide students with an understanding of key research tools and review basic skills for searching the Library's online catalog for books, using subject-specific electronic databases for journal articles, and identifying area resources and substantive Web sites.

The University of Maryland Libraries have many resources that will help with research for LARC 440. If you need additional information, please contact Patti Cossard or speak with a Reference Librarian at the Art and/or Architecture Library.

Navigating the Library

Overview: This part of the class session will provide an orientation to the University of Maryland Libraries' facilities and services, some general searching skills, and how to find materials needed for research. Learning to navigate the library requires two sets of skills:

• physical navigation
• virtual navigation

Physical Library Navigation: The University of Maryland Libraries have eight branches on the College Park campus. The College Park library system is part of a larger state-wide consortium (USMAI) from which you may borrow material. Inside each library you will find:

• Reference/Information Desk for help; when not available use the Ask us now!live online reference service.
• Circulation/Reserve Desk to request a reserve book
• Circulation Desk to check out or return a book
• Stacks (regular size books)
• Folio (large books)
• Periodicals (magazines)
• Public Computers for research

Virtual Library Navigation: most research is begun online. You must know how to search the catalog for a book, how to renew books online, how to request items from other USMAI libraries, and beyond.

• Start your library research at the Library Homepage
• Find a book on Course Reserves
• Maintaining your account with the library
  • You can use My Account to:
    • Check on due dates
    • Renew books
• Find resources in the Library catalog

Research Skills: the most basic research skill is knowing how to search the catalog for books and magazines, then how to read the catalog record so you can go to the library to get it.

To find information on a specific topic use a basic catalog search.

To find a book on a specific topic in a specific library, or any other limiting factor, use an advanced catalog search.

To find out if we have a volume of a magazine, use the journal module.

Databases (access via Research Port)

Because of licensing agreements, access to bibliographic databases and electronic journals is restricted to UM faculty, staff, and students. These may be accessed from off campus; consult Remote access for further information. For a complete list of electronic resources available to University of Maryland faculty, staff, and students, as well as information about the full range of library materials and services, consult the UM Libraries' home page.

• Academic Search Premier
  Provides abstracts and indexing for over 7,000 journals. Full text of articles for over 4,000 scholarly publications, including more than 3,100 peer-reviewed publications.
  
  
• America: History and Life
  Information on articles, books, book reviews, and dissertations on U.S. and Canadian history from prehistory to the present. Covers more than 2000 international worldwide. Includes links to full text of selected journal articles.
  
  
• American Factfinder
  Population, Housing, Economic, and Geographic data from the Census Bureau. Also includes maps, statistics, fact sheets and other publications.
  
  
• ARTstor
  Repository of hundreds of thousands of digital images, from across many periods and cultures. Architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, design, and other forms of visual culture are represented. Provides tools to actively use images for scholarship, teaching, and learning.
  
  
• Avery Index
  The Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals database offers a comprehensive listing of journal articles on architecture and design, including bibliographic descriptions on subjects such as the history and practice of architecture, landscape architecture, city planning, historic preservation, and interior design and decoration. The index contains more than 440,000 thousand entries surveying over seven hundred American and international journals.
  
  
• BuildingGreen Suite
  BuildingGreen brings together articles from environmental building news, products from GreenSpec Directory, and project case studies from High-Performance Buildings Database.
  
  
• Garden, Landscape & Horticulture Index (EBSCO)
  Access to articles in the subject areas of Horticulture, Botany, Garden and Landscape Design, Ecology, Plant and Garden Conservation, Horticultural Therapy, and Sustainable Horticultural Design Practices.
  
  
• LexisNexis Academic
  Full-text database that offers a wide range of news, political, legal, business, and reference information in full-text format. Primary source of newspaper articles, including those from the Washington Post and the New York Times. Federal code, regulations, and case law, plus state codes and case law are also included.
  
  
• TRIS (Transportation Research Information Services)
  Access to almost 500,000 bibliographic records covering research in the transportation field including references to books, journal articles, technical reports, and conference proceedings.
  
  
• Urban Land Institute
  Access to detailed case studies of completed projects, ranging from low-income housing to commercial and industrial projects. Covers projects from 1985-present. Includes photos, site plans, costs and rents, and innovative features of projects.
  
  
• Washington Post 1987 -
  Provides citations and full-text articles from the newspaper. Coverage of local, national, and international news.
  
  

Other UM Libraries Resources

• Ask us!
  Librarians are available to help you in-person, by phone, by email, or by live chat.
  
  
• DRUM
  "DRUM is the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland. Currently, there are three types of materials in our collections: faculty-deposited documents, a Library-managed collection of UM theses and dissertations, and collections of technical reports."
  
  
• U.S. Government Information, Maps and GIS Services
  The University of Maryland has been a Federal Depository Library since 1925 and the Regional Depository for Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia since 1965.The Map Collection is home to approximately 350,000 items, primarily from U.S. Government sources. Coverage includes all U.S. states, most U.S. territories and possessions, and some areas outside the U.S.
  
  
• Guides to Information Resources
  Online guides to information resources, produced by librarian subject specialists.
  
  
• Maryland Room
  The Maryland Room, located in Hornbake Library, is one of the foremost centers to study all aspects of Maryland - past and present.
  
  
• National Trust for Historic Preservation Library Collection
  Books covering preservation topics from the technical to the aesthetic; pamphlet files; over 18,500 U.S. postcards spanning the period 1903-1914; current documents and backfiles of cultural resource reports prepared by the National Park Service (NPS); periodicals, and more.
  
  
• Subject Specialists, Directory of Librarians
  Subject specialists may be consulted for help in locating information resources in their areas of expertise.
  
  

Web Sites: A Sampling