Researching Cities

Contents

1. Franklin and other library catalogs
2. Journal Article Indexes (Databases)
3. News Sources
4. Census Data
5. Other Data Sources
6. Archives, Documents, and Agencies
7. Planning: Internet Resources
8. Planning: Key Journals
9. Planning: Selected Print Resources

The following bibliography lists library resources of use for research on cities and on Philadelphia in particular. The majority of the sources listed here are either located in the Van Pelt Library Reference Area or are available electronically via the Penn Library Web. Additional sources are listed on these Van Pelt Library, Special Bibliographies: Philadelphia Current Information or Philadelphia History (especially West Philadelphia), or Urban Studies.

1. Franklin (Penn Library Catalog)

Franklin, the Penn Library's online catalog, lists more than two million books, journal titles, and other materials contained in campus libraries. Note: The Biddle Law Library has its own completely separate catalog, LOLA.

You can search Franklin by author, title, journal title, subject, or keyword (several options). For information on searching, consult Franklin Search Help.

Author: Try corporate bodies such as:

	
	central philadelphia development corporation
	philadelphia city planning commission
	
	

Subject: Some useful headings are listed below.

	
	philadelphia (pa.)--city planning
	philadelphia (pa.)--economic conditions
	philadelphia (pa.)--social conditions

	philadelphia metropolitan area (pa.)
	north philadelphia (philadelphia, pa.)

	broad street (philadelphia, pa.)
	city planning--pennsylvania--philadelphia
	community development--pennsylvania--philadelphia
	demography--pennsylvania--philadelphia
	gentrification--pennsylvania--philadelphia
	housing--pennsylvania--philadelphia
	land use--pennsylvania--philadelphia
	public housing--pennsylvania--philadelphia
	retail trade--pennsylvania--philadelphia
	streets--pennsylvania--philadelphia
	urban renewal--pennsylvania--philadelphia
	urban transportation--pennsylvania--philadelphia
	
	

Keyword: Use keyword searching to combine concepts (X AND Y) and to search for particular words or phrases that might appear in titles or notes or subjects.

	
	"pennsylvania convention center"
	brownfield? AND (remediat? OR reclam?)
	(urban OR city) AND planning AND skey philadelphia
	
	

2. Journal Articles Indexes

The following indexes are used to locate journal articles, although some indexes also index other types of works.

Urban Studies Indexes and multidisciplinary indexes

Academic Index. 1989-present.

Provides indexing and abstracting for more than 1550 scholarly and general interest journals, plus the New York Times; and full text coverage of more than 500 titles.

ISI Citation Indexes. 1983-present.

The ISI Citation Indexes include the Science, Social Science and Arts & Humanities Citation Indexes. An unique resources, allowing searching for cited references in the bibliographies of articles, in addition to the usual keyword searching. The database covers 5,300 science, 1,700 social science, and 1,140 arts & humanities journals.

International Bibliography of the Social Sciences. British Library of Political and Economic Science, London School of Economics and Political Science with UNESCO. 1951-present.

Bibliographic citations and subject indexing for the international journal and book literature in the social sciences. Combines:

• International bibliography of social and cultural anthropology. 1955-present. [Van Pelt, University Museum Reference: GN 301 .I687, 1955 to present]
• International bibliography of economics [Van Pelt Library: HB 1. I644, 1952-present]
• International bibliography of political science [Van Pelt Library: JA 71 .I435, 1952-present]

Journal of planning literature. 1985/1986-present.

[Fine Arts: NA 9000 .J687]

The principal finding aid for planning literature. Provides lengthy abstracts for some items selected for indexing.

PAIS International . 1972-present.

Public policy, government, int'l relations, politics, social sciences.

1915-1994: print format [Van Pelt Reference JA 1 .P357]. Known also as: Public Affairs Information Service.

Sage urban studies abstracts. 1973-present. Beverly Hills: Sage. Quarterly.

[Van Pelt Reference Stacks: HT 51 .S24. Latest five years at Van Pelt Reference]

Bibliographic citations, with long abstracts, for articles, books, and other materials in urban studies and comparative urban analysis, arranged by broad subject. Includes annual subject and author indexes.

Urban affairs abstracts. 1971-1994. Washington, DC: National League of Cities / Center for Urban and Economic Research, University of Louisville.

Monthly, with annual cumulation.

[Van Pelt Reference Stacks: HT 123 .U7]

Bibliographic citations, with abstracts, for articles intended "to give [U.S.] urban leaders the best in new approaches for conducting business and government", arranged by broad subject. Annual cumulation includes author and geographic indexes.

Discipline-specific journal article indexes

ABI/Inform. UMI, 1971-present. Monthly updates.

Indexes approximately 2000 business and management periodicals, popular, academic, and professional; fulltext for 500 periodicals is also provided.

America: History and Life. ABC-Clio. 1964-present.

Indexing and abstracting for journal articles and books on history in the United States and Canada, 1492-present.

Art Index 1984-present.

Indexes journal articles in art and related fields, including architecture, art history, city planning, urban design, and landscape architecture.

Avery Index. 1977-present. Daily updates.

This very strong architectural periodicals index also covers city planning and industrial buildings and sites.

EconLit. American Economic Association, 1969-present. Monthly updates.

The principal tool for identifying the professional and academic journal and book English-language literature in economics. EconLit corresponds to the print-format Journal of economic literature [1969-present, Lippincott Reference Indexes: HB1 .J6] and Index of economic articles [1886-present, Lippincott Reference Indexes: Z7 164 .E2 I45].

HINT. Searching EconLit can be made much easier by using the EconLit subject classification. Subject headings and subject codes may be browsed at the EconLit web site.

Environment Abstracts [CD-ROM file]. 1975-present. Quarterly updates.

[Van Pelt Reference Moelis: CD-ROM workstations]

Provides abstracts for environmental studies articles from more than 800 academic periodicals, with some general-interest coverage. Asterisked entries are included in Environment Abstracts Microfiche, a set held at the Free Library of Philadelphia's Central Branch.

HUD USER Bibliographic Database. Office of Policy Development and Research, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 1970s-present.

Provides abstracts and indexing for research reports, articles, books, monographs, and data sources in housing policy, building technology, economic development, urban planning, and related fields. Part of HUD USER, the primary source for federal reports and information on housing policy and programs and related topics.

Social work abstracts. National Association of Social Workers. 1977-present.

Social work literature deals with adjustment, acculturation, and social problems faced by an individual or population.

See the About/Help page for more details.

See Abstracts for Social Workers for earlier coverage (1965-1977).

Sociological Abstracts. 1963-present.

Abstracts of the world's serial literature in sociology and related disciplines, with strong coverage of social policy literature. Covers 1974 to the present.

TRIS Online. Transportation Research Board, National Academies of Sciences. 1960s-present.

The principal bibliographic database for identifying the published research literature on transportation, indexing monographs, journal articles, technical reports, and conference papers. Part of the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics's National Transportation Library.

NB. FINDING MAGAZINES IN THE PENN LIBRARY

The Penn Library owns magazines in print (at Library of Congress and Dewey Decimal call numbers), microform (at Microfilm Cont or Microfilm News call numbers), and electronic formats. All of these formats are cataloged in Franklin.

Search the old Van Pelt serials card catalog for older magazines you weren't able to find first by using Franklin. The Serials Catalog has red-labelled drawers and is housed in Van Pelt Reference.

At any time, consult a Van Pelt Library reference librarian.

3. News Sources

The Free Library of Philadelphia's Newspaper and Database Division, Central Library at 1901 Vine Street, has an extensive collection of Philadelphia neighborhood newspapers, mostly weeklies, on microfilm: consult looseleaf, Newspapers on microfilm at the Free Library, at the Van Pelt Reference Desk for titles and holdings.

Philadelphia Online NewsLibrary [http://www.phillynews.com/newslibrary]

Linked from Library's E-News web page

Searchable fulltext database of more than 1.5 million Philadelphia Inquirer (1981-today) and Philadelphia Daily News articles (1978-today).

Fulltext articles available freely online for the previous week.

For earlier fulltext articles from either paper ask at Van Pelt Reference Desk to be logged on using the Library's password, or use the Inquirer on CD-ROM (in Van Pelt Reference Moelis Electronic Research Center, from 1987 to present, updated quarterly). Both papers are also available on microfilm.

The CD-ROM version of the Philadelphia Inquirer includes the full-text of all staff-written and newswire stories, editorials, features, and letters to the editor, sports stories with staff bylines, and syndicated columns, obituaries. Not included are advertising, calendar listings, horoscopes, sports statistics, stock tables, weather, weddings, engagements, death notices, and puzzles. No graphical material.

The microfilm version of both the Inquirer and the Daily News is the same as the printed paper and presents the orignal format including tables, charts, photographs, and other visual material which will usually not be present in the electronic versions either on CD-ROM or on the web.

Philadelphia Tribune. 1884-present. Triweekly. [Additional electronic access]

[Networked online for recent years as part of Ethnic Newswatch]

[Networked online as part of Dow Jones Interactive]

[Van Pelt Microforms: Microfilm News 487 (1912-1980)]

[Latest two months at Van Pelt Current Periodicals Desk]

Philadelphia's leading Afro-American newspaper.

Philadelphia Business Journal. 1982-present. Weekly. [Additional electronic access]

[Networked online as part of Dow Jones Interactive]

[Lippincott Microforms: Film cont 110 (1982-1984). Lippincott Microforms: Business Collection (1984-present)]

[Lippincott Current Periodicals: Latest 2 years]

Jewish Exponent [New electronic access]

[Networked online as part of Ethnic NewsWatch]

[At Annenberg Library on CD-ROM 9]

Philadelphia magazine. 1909-present. Monthly. [New electronic access]

[Networked online as part of Dow Jones Interactive from January, 1994 to present(?)]

[Van Pelt: HC 108 .P5 G7]

Additional indexing for Philadelphia magazine articles:

Access. Evanston, Ill.: J.G. Burke, 1975-present. Annual, with four-month updates.

[Van Pelt Reference: AI 3 .A23 (1990-present)]

Indexing for 1973-1990 also included in Popular periodical index. Camden: Rutgers Camden Library. [Van Pelt Reference: AI 3 .P765]

Subject Index to Philadelphia magazine, 1946-1971, 1972-1991. Philadelphia: Paley Library, Temple University.

[Van Pelt Reference Desk: HC 108 .P5 P56]

4. Census Data

Small area data from the 1990 and 2000 Census for the entire United States are available in electronic format and in printed publications. For more information, consult the Van Pelt Library library guide, U.S. Census.

The Van Pelt Library also digitized 1940-1980 Philadelphia Censu Tract Maps, that can be found at Philadelphia Data and Maps.

1990 Census Lookup The site allows data extraction of 1990 census summary data in the following geographic levels.

[http://homer.ssd.census.gov/cdrom/lookup].

   STF3A 
    Detailed geography - county, place, tract, etc. 
   STF3B 
    ZIP codes. 
   STF3C - part 1 
    Nation and state totals, Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). 
   STF1A 
    Detailed geography - county, place, tract, etc. 
   STF1C 
    Nation and state totals. Not all tables are available. 

Note: Electronic summary data publication reflects the difference between the "short-form" census questionnaire (mailed to 100% of housing units) and the "long-form" census questionnaire (mailed to 1 in 8 Philadelphia housing units).

• Summary Tape File 1 (STF 1) data sets derive from the "short-form" questionnaire. They provide 100 tables of general population and housing characteristics, e.g., sex, race, and Hispanic origin, age, household and family relationships, marital status, housing tenure and vacancy, housing value and rent, and number of rooms in unit and units in structure.
• Summary Tape File 3 (STF 3) data sets derive from the "long-form" questionnaire. They provide about 300 tables of social, economic, and detailed housing characteristics, in addition to the STF 1 characteristics, e.g., education, disability, fertility, citizenship, migration, ancestry, labor force, occupation, industry, income, poverty, telephones and vehicles, heating fuel, housing age, monthly owner/renter costs including utilities and mortgage.

Profiles of Philadelphia Census tracts using STF 1A data and extracts of STF 1 and STF 3 data for Philadelphia Census tracts, Block groups, Blocks, and ZIP Codes, as well as voting district population information, are available through the Penn Library Web.

[Penn Library Web, URL: http://www.library.upenn.edu/resources/subject/government/us/departments/census/phila/phila.html]

Includes link to data tables provided by Temple University Social Science Data Lab.

"Neighborhoods Online", LibertyNet web pages maintained by the Institute for the Study of Civic Values, provides brief data tables for Philadelphia Census tracts arranged by "neighborhood".

[URL: http://www.libertynet.org/nol/nbrhood/nbrhood.html]

2000 Summary File 1 presents counts and basic cross tabulations of information collected from all people and housing units. It includes counts for many detailed race and Hispanic or Latino categories. SF 1 presents data for the United States, the 50 states, and the District of Columbia in a hierarchical sequence down to the block level for many tabulations, but only to the census tract level for others. Summaries are included for other geographic areas such as ZIP Code Tabulation Areas and Congressional districts. Variables include total population, race, sex, family and households, and general housing characteristics.

2000 Census Tract Maps

2000 Census Block Outline Maps

1999 Metropolitan Area, Counties, and Central Cities Maps by State

2000 Voting District/State Legislative District Outline Maps

5. Other Data Sources

	1.Current Population Survey, 
   	2.Survey of Income and Program Participation, 
  	3.Population Estimates and Projections, and 
   	4.1990 Census. 

• Search Franklin using keyword searching to identify publications.

• Search Free Library of Philadelphia Catalog.

Municipal documents outside Philadelphia

Index to Current Urban Documents. 1972-present.

[Online, 1999-present. Penn Library Web.]

[Paper, 1972-1998: Van Pelt Reference and Fine Arts Reference: HT123 .I453]

Bibliographic citations, some with brief annotations, for documents issued by approximately 500 U.S. and Canadian city and county governments as well as regional governmental agencies, nongovernmental organizations, academic institutions, and research centers treating urban affairs. Online version provides PDF-format fulltext of documents.

Urban Documents Microfiche Collection.

[Online, 1999-present. Penn Library Web via Index to Current Urban Documents.]

[Microfiche, 1972-1998. Van Pelt Reference Government Documents: Microfiche 1098 (IN PROCESS).]

Reproductions of documents indexed in ICUD. NB. Until the Van Pelt Reference microfiche set is available, use these three alternatives for obtaining documents from 1998 and earlier:

1. Free Library of Philadelphia's Government Publications Division receives ICUD's annual reports from all cities.
2. Temple University's Paley Library receives New York and Pennsylvania ICUD publications.
3. Submit an interlibrary loan request to Van Pelt Library's Interlibrary Loan Department.

NAGARA Member Web Sites. National Association of Government Archives and Records Administrators.

State and Local Governments. U.S. Library of Congress.

Local Governments and Politics. University of Michigan Library Documents Center.

These are all excellent starting places for identifying web sites for U.S. city governments and their publications and records.

Libraries on the Web: USA Public Libraries. Libweb (Berkeley Digital Library SunSITE).

Library Catalogs and Websites - United States. Penn Library Web.

These are good starting places for identifying U.S. municipal publications based upon local public or academic libraries that may collect them.

State and Federal Documents

Congressional Universe

State Capital Universe

Statistical Universe

This trio of databases, all with similar search interfaces, identifies and (for Congressional and State Capital Universes) provides fulltext for U.S. and state laws, bill, and regulations, as well as secondary analysis. Statistical Universe indexes statistical publications produced by the U.S. government, state governments, private organizations, and international governmental organizations.

Monthly Catalog of US Government Publications, 1994-present.

The basic tool for identifying U.S. government publications. Includes web links to publications available fulltext on the web.