Library Guide for Building and Construction
Contents

INTRODUCTION
DO YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR TOPIC?
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR BOOKS ON YOUR TOPIC?
USE THE CATALOGUE
BROWSE THE LIBRARY SHELVES
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR JOURNAL ARTICLES ON YOUR TOPIC?
BROWSING JOURNALS
USING DATABASES
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET?
INTRODUCING WEBLINKS

INTRODUCTION

This guide is intended to provide assistance with locating information in the area of Building and Construction. It is not a complete guide to sources of information and students are advised to consult with library staff for assistance if required.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR TOPIC?

Dictionaries and encyclopaedias are a good starting point for research. They give definitions and provide background material that will assist you in understanding your topic.

Some useful reference books are:

Australian Standards [various standards in print format]
Building Code of Australia: class 2 to class 9 buildings v.1
Building Code of Australia: class 1 and class 10 buildings house provisions v.2
Building construction handbook
The Business who's who products and tradenames
Glossary of Australian building terms
Rawlinson's Australian construction handbook
TACT: thesaurus of Australian construction terms

Check the Library catalogue to see if a particular reference book is held in your campus library.

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR BOOKS ON YOUR TOPIC?

Books provide detailed information on a subject. You can locate them by using the Library catalogue or browsing the shelves.

USE THE CATALOGUE

To locate material (including books, magazines and videos) use the terms from your topic in a general keyword search of the Library catalogue. For a more structured approach use the following headings for a subject search of the Library catalogue.

Architecture
Building
Building - Australia
Building, Brick
Building estimates
Building failures
Building - Handbooks, manuals, etc.
Building - History
Building, Iron and steel
Building laws - Australia
Building laws - New South Wales
Building materials
Building - Safety measures
Building sites
Building specifications
Building standards - Australia
Buildings - Contracts and specifications - Australia
Buildings - Protection
Bricklaying
Carpentry
Composite construction
Concrete construction
Construction contracts
Construction equipment
Construction industry
Construction industry - Management
Contractors operations
Fire prevention
Floors
Foundations
Framing (Building)
House construction
Landscape construction
Masonry
Pise
Roofs
Scaffolding
Structural engineering
Walls
Trusses

BROWSE THE LIBRARY SHELVES

By browsing the library shelves you can get an idea of what the library has in your area. Dewey numbers that you may find useful in the Building and Construction area are:

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR JOURNAL ARTICLES ON YOUR TOPIC?

Journals are also known as magazines, serials and periodicals.

Journals provide up to date information and cover recent developments in that subject area. For some areas they are the best source of information.

To locate journal articles you can browse (look through whole issues), or search for journal articles in databases.

BROWSING JOURNALS

Some journals that may be useful in the Building and Construction area are:

Check the catalogue or with Library staff to see if these or other journals are held in your Campus Library.

USING DATABASES

Databases are electronic indexes to journals and other resources. Some databases offer the full text of the article whilst others will provide only information about articles.

Electronic databases that may be useful:

Australian Standards Online
Building Code of Australia

Information about database access is available from campus libraries.

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET?

INTRODUCING WEBLINKS

The Internet provides access to a vast amount of information. Websites providing this information range from reliable and authoritative to less reputable sites. Weblinks is a collection of websites, covering a range of topics, selected by North Coast Institute library staff for their relevancy and reliability.

Some Weblinks topics that you may find useful are:

Building materials
Bricklaying
Plumbing

Or you can select from the Weblinks for Building and Construction.

For further assistance in locating information, or using some of the sources listed in this guide, take a look at Searchpath an online research tutorial, or contact library staff.