Jump to: LC Classification | Online Catalog (IRIS) | Books at Other Libraries

Library of Congress Classification for Architecture

Books in the Architecture Library and the main Library are arranged according to the classification developed by the Library of Congress. Art and architecture books are found in the N range of call numbers; specifically, architecture materials are found in the NAs. The entire LC outline is available online. 

Examples of Call Numbers

Library of Congress

Example:  NA737.W7 S42 1998    (Frank Lloyd Wright: America’s Master Architect )

SUDOC (Superintendent of Documents, used in Government Documents)

Example:  E 1.20/3:89027 P-H-1   (Confronting Climate Change: Strategies for Energy Research)

Southwest Collection

Example:  TEX 72 H467 G345 2002   (Geometry in Architecture: Texas Buildings Yesterday and Today )

Online Catalog (IRIS)

TTU Libraries' online catalog (IRIS) contains records for materials in the main Library, the Architecture Library, the Law Library, and the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library. You may, however, restrict your search to a specific location (e.g. "Architecture" for the Architecture Library).
 

Searching IRIS

There are two search boxes on the Basic Search Screen.

Browse: If you have a known author, title, series title, call number, or subject heading use the Browse search. This will bring up a list of entries with the term you specified listed second. You can enter a word or phrase. Capitalization is not important, but you may have to try variations on names / words with various spellings or punctuations. Remember that authors must be entered Last name, First name. (Entering only the last name will bring up a list with the first entry for that last name listed second.) Omit initial articles (a, an, the) when doing Title searches. Subject searches refer to the subject terms established by the Library of Congress. Consult the 5 volume LC Subject Headings (Red Books) near the 9th floor PCs for appropriate subject terms. (Example searches:gehry, frank (author); Learning from Las Vegas (title); Empire State Building (subject) The call number, location, and whether an item is checked out will normally appear on the brief results list of records page. Click on the title of the work to retrieve the full record. Note the subject headings which may suggest additional searches relevant to your topic. At the bottom of the record you will find the campus libraries that own the work with the call number assigned.

Basic (Keyword): Keyword searching is useful when you're not sure what the appropriate subject heading is for your topic or you want to search words in a title, in an author's name, or in a subject, but you don't know the order or exact words.You may combine terms. The brief results list retrieved for multiple hits is the same as in the Browse search.

Advanced Search: The advanced search page allows you to combine keyword searches in the author, title, and subject fields. You will get a count for the number of hits for each term and a number for the searches "anded" together. Click on that last count for the records.

Finding Books on Architects: Search the architect or firm you are interested in as a subject in the online catalog. (gehry, frank; Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum) You should also do an author search by the architect's name to retrieve books of drawings, plans, and illustrations of his or her work.

If you want to browse the stacks, books that deal with individual American architects and architectural firms are found in the NA 737 classification. The third line will represent the name of the architect or firm. (NA 737 W7 for Frank Lloyd Wright; NA 737 V45 for Robert Venturi) Books about foreign architects or firms will be found in the call number area for the country. (NA 1123 for Italy; NA 1123 S35 for Carlo Scarpa) These guidelines apply to books that are completely about the architect or firm. A book about several architects will be treated differently.
Finding Books about Buildings

To find entire books about particular buildings, use the building name in a subject search, or try it as keywords. There may also be information about the building in books about the architect's work (subject / author searches by the architect's name); books about the architecture of the city in which the building is located (subject and keyword searches); and books about the type of building (subject search such as "hotels - design and construction"). If the book is really about a particular building, rather than the architect, it may fall into the call number for that type of building. For example, books about the Getty Center, a museum designed by Richard Meier, are in NA6813 (for museum architecture) rather than in NA737.M for Meier.

Books at Other Libraries

If you want to learn about books that the TTU Libraries do not own, you can do searches in a large database of materials held by libraries around the world. The most suitable one is WorldCat, a FirstSearch database, available from the Electronic Databases list. You will normally do keyword searches in the author, title, and subject fields. If you want phrases treated as a phrase, rather than with and between them, use quotation marks. Not all libraries include their books in the WorldCat database. If you wish to check the location of books not included, talk to a member of the Architecture Library staff.

Borrowing Books From Other Libraries

Books in the circulating collections of other libraries may often be borrowed for one month through Document Delivery (Interlibrary Loan). ILL books cannot be renewed. From the WorldCat database, you can request a book directly from the full record screen. Above and to the left of the record there is an ILL icon. Click on it, fill out the form on the next page, and click "submit."  You must have established an ILLiad account before you may place an ILL request.  For more information on ILLiad, go to http://library.ttu.edu/ul/illiad_announce.php. There is no charge for borrowing books through ILL.

You can make online ILL requests apart from the WorldCat form. From the Library's or Architecture Library's main web page, click Document Delivery or Log In to ILLiad on the left sidebar.

TTU Libraries are not responsible for the content of external sources. For questions about this page, contact Sandy River, Architecture and Humanities Librarian. [v] (806) 742-8058 [f] (806) 742-1964 [e]

This page last modified on 3 Oct 2007, 11:01.