Use the resources listed on this page to find relevant information on topics in architecture. They will give you access to both primary and secondary sources of information.
Most of the databases for Architecture cover a wide range of subjects and journal titles in arts and sciences
Access to all British Standards Institution publications (we do not have access to Standards that are classified as 'under review' these are unadopted Standards and not part of our subscription) - for educational use only (see 'Additional Info' for business use options).
Construction information for architects, civil and structural engineers, building control officers, building services engineers and other professionals in the construction industry.
Please select "The Construction Information Service - CIS" upon reaching the platform. By accessing this resource, your University username will be released to the supplier.
Online image and reference database for architects in German and English. Features photos, drawings and technical information.
Map data of Great Britain. Includes Ordnance Survey, historic, geological and environmental map data and aerial imagery.
A two part registration is required to use Digimap:
1. Connect to Digimap using the link above and complete a registration form
2. Accept the licence agreements associated with each collection
You will need to re-accept the licence terms annually, in August of each year.
Edina's Digimap registration pages give more information and guidance. Please pay particular attention to the Privacy Notice.
Search across several dictionaries and encyclopedias covering visual arts including painting, sculpture, graphic arts, architecture, decorative arts and photography.
Archive of journal articles in a range of subjects.
Gives references to journal articles, books, conference proceedings and patents in all subjects. Also offers extensive tools to analyse results, and measure impact for articles, journals and authors.
Provides references to journal articles and other publications in all subject areas. Includes the Arts and Humanities, Science, and Social Science Citation Indexes.
Check which indexes you wish to search under 'More settings'.
Essentially a vast Library catalogue. Gives references to books, theses, and other published materials in all subjects.
We subscribe to a wide range of journals in Architecture these are just a few of the titles. To see a more comprehensive list of our e-journals in this area see the E-journals Finder. Search the Enterprise catalogue to find out if we have a specific journal (in print or online). Search Summon to find articles published in all our online journals.
Maps can be used in nearly all disciplines to either research or display spatial information. The University Library contains about 70,000 maps and atlases, covering the whole world. They include original and facsimile maps from medieval to modern times, and access to online resources is also available.
To find out how maps can help you, see our presentation on Using maps for your research:
For more information see the following guide:
For digital maps of Great Britain, the best place to start is Digimap. This includes nine datasets, including contemporary Ordnance Survey maps; historical Ordnance Survey maps; geology maps; environmental land cover maps; marine charts and thematic data; aerial imagery; census and socio-economic data; detailed building and land cover data and world maps. Maps can be printed out or data downloaded for use in a geographical information system.
If you are on campus you will be able to access most e-journals and e-books, and some databases, without entering a username and password because your IP address identifies you as being at the University of Reading.
For any that require a login, see the Off-campus tab.
When you use our e-resources you are agreeing to our Terms of Use. Please take a moment to look at these by following the link below:
When you are off-campus you will need to login to identify yourself as a member of the University of Reading to gain access to our protected databases, e-books and e-journals.
Your login details
You login in the same way as for Blackboard - via Microsoft. Just enter your University username followed by @student.reading.ac.uk (e.g. ab123456@student.reading.ac.uk) and your password. If this is the first time you have logged in via this method when off-campus you will be asked to complete a Multi-Factor Authentication. For more information see:
Watch this short video on how you login to use Library resources.
This playlist of two videos shows you how to prepare for and perform a literature search. The first video introduces literature searches and their role. The second video covers using the search operators AND and OR to create a search statement, and explains the role of wildcards and truncation in constructing a comprehensive search. This information is also available in written guides - see the links below.
Our Inter-Library Loans service can get articles, books and other publications not held at Reading from other libraries (usually from the British Library).
For more information see our webpages: