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Avery Index
Frequently Asked Questions
Access
1. How do I get access to the Avery Index?
2. How can my institution subscribe to the Avery Index?
3. Can I get a personal subscription to the Avery Index?
4. Can I search the Avery Index from home? On the road?
Scope
5. How current is the Avery Index?
6. How far back does the Avery Index go?
7. Is there a complete list of the periodicals indexed?
8. How often are new periodicals added to the list?
9. Why isn't the magazine I want in the Avery Index?
Searching
10. What is the best/simplest way to begin searching the Avery Index?
11. How do I search for individual architects?
12. How do I search for architectural firms?
13. How do I search for a particular building?
14. I'm looking for plans of a specific building. How do I do that?
15. I only want articles in English. How do I do that?
Article retrieval
16. Once I find citations in the Avery Index, how do I get the articles?
17. Why isn't the full text of the article right there in the Avery Index?
18. Why aren't there any images of the buildings in the Avery Index?
Access
1. How do I get access to the Avery Index?
If you are a Columbia student, faculty or staff member, click here (access via OCLC) or here (access via WilsonWeb). You may need to authenticate yourself using your Columbia UNI and password.
If you are a Columbia University alumni or Library Friend, click here. Click on Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals: Alumni Edition (EBSCO). You will be asked to authenticate yourself using an active Columbia alumni/Friends UNI and password.
If you are NOT a Columbia affiliate, you must check with your university library, public library or company IT department to determine if there is a subscription and how to access the Avery Index.
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2. How does my institution subscribe to the Avery Index?
The Avery Index is available from five different vendors who each have their own search engines and pricing system. They are:
OCLC
CSA
EBSCO
NISC
WilsonWeb
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3. Can I get a personal subscription to the Avery Index?
At present, only NISC offers an individual subscription in a prepaid package of 100 searches.
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4. Can I search the Avery Index from home? On the road?
Yes, if you are a Columbia student, faculty or staff member. Click here. You will need to authenticate yourself using your Columbia UNI and password.
Yes, if you are a Columbia University alumni or Library Friend. Click here. Click on Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals: Alumni Edition (EBSCO). You will be asked to authenticate yourself using an active Columbia alumni/Friends UNI and password.
If you are not a Columbia affiliate but your library subscribes to the Avery Index and allows remote searching using IP authentication, then you should be able to search from home, hotel or on the beach with wireless hotspots!
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Scope
5. How current is the Avery Index?
The Avery Index staff add new articles daily. Depending on your subscription provider, these will appear either weekly or quarterly. Some journals such as Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (JSAH) and Architectural Record are indexed within days of receipt at Avery Library.
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6. How far back does the Avery Index go?
The oldest record dates to 1741. The majority are from 1890-present.
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7. Is there a complete list of the periodicals indexed?
Yes. Click here.
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8. How often are new periodical titles added to the list?
We add approximately 10 new journals per year.
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9. Why isn't the magazine I want in the Avery Index?
If you feel strongly that a magazine should be indexed, please contact the General Editor with your suggestion. The editorial staff will evaluate it and determine whether we can add it to the journal indexing list.
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Searching
10. What is the best/simplest way to begin searching in the Index?
It is best to begin your research with keyword searches, especially for older records, which are often very brief, with no summary or subject headings.
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11. How do I search for individual architects?
The best way to search for individuals is by keyword or subject (e.g. Gehry).
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12. How do I search for architectural firms?
The best way to search for firms is by keyword or subject (e.g. Renzo Piano Building Workshop).
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13. How do I search for a particular building?
The best way to search for buildings is by keyword (e.g. Orsay and Paris).
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14. I'm looking for plans of a certain building. How do I do that?
Search the building as a keyword and then see if your particular search-engine allows you to limit for illustrations. If it does not, you will have to look at each record retrieved by your search to see if there is a "plan" listed in the illustrations.
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15. I only want articles in English. How do I do that?
Do whatever search you want and then see if your particular search-engine allows you to limit by language.
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Article retrieval
16. Once I find citations in the Avery Index, how do I get the articles?
Search your library catalog by journal title to see if they subscribe to the journal. If your library does not own the journal, ask for an interlibrary loan of the article.
Some institutions have a full-text SFX service which allows you to click on a “search full text” button and connects you to various full-text vendors such as JSTOR, Proquest, etc. If there is full text available, you will be taken to the article. If you are a Columbia student, faculty or staff member, look for the  icon.
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17. Why isn't the full text article right there in the Avery Index?
We are exploring the various possibilities of digitizing articles or having instant links to other full-text databases that include some of our journal list.
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18. Why aren’t there any images of buildings in the Avery Index?
Because we are not an image-database. Check image databases such as ARTStor, Google Images, Library of Congress Prints & Photographs and NYPL Digital Gallery.
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