Environmental Design Library @ UC Berkeley

Finding Local Information

Finding Local Information is a bibliographic research guide to finding U.S. community-specific information in the UC Berkeley libraries, the community, and on the Web, in the context of the built environment and with an emphasis on the San Francisco Bay Area and California. For international community research, please the guide International Planning. While of general research interest, this guide is designed to support various UC Berkeley courses, especially City Planning 110: Introduction to City Planning. For further assistance, please consult the Environmental Design Library reference staff, 210 Wurster Hall.

• Interpreting the Built Environment
• Interviewing
• Researching Local History
• Finding Books
• Finding Journal Articles
• Directories
• Environmental Impact Reports
• General Plans
• Images
• Maps & Aerial Photos
• Neighborhoods
• Newspapers
• Regulatory Codes
• Statistics & Data
• Historical Societies
• Municipal Libraries & Archives
• Campus Libraries

UC Berkeley faculty, registered students, and staff who are off campus may use items marked UCB Only or UC Only by using The Library's off-campus access services.

Content reviewed: June 2010. Compiled by Deborah Sommer.

Interpreting the Built Environment

See also Finding Information on Buildings & Places for stimulating questions to ask about places, and tools to find answers.

• Architecture everywhere: investigating the built environment of your community, by Joseph A. Weber. Tucson, AZ: Zephyr Pr., 2000.
EnvDesign NA705 W43 2000
• Close-up, how to read the American city, by Grady Clay. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Pr., 1980.
EnvDesign & Moffitt HT153 C585 1980
• Getting to know your 20th-century neighborhood, by Greta Terrell. Washington, DC: National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1996. Historic Preservation Information Booklet. Focuses on American neighborhoods developed from 1900-1950; identifies architectural styles and landscaping trends.
EnvDesign NA7208 T47 1996
• The Hieroglyphics of space: reading and experiencing the modern metropolis, Neil Leach, ed. London: Routledge, 2002.
EnvDesign HT111 H45 2002
• Looking at cities, by Allan B. Jacobs. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Pr., 1985. See especially Chapter 3, "Clues," pp.30-83. Very useful presentation of the physical indicators that help the observer interpret an urban environment.
EnvDesign & Moffitt HT166 J262 1985 Reserve & circulating
• Observing and interpreting the urban environment: case study, Prescott & South Prescott, Oakland, California, by Allan B. Jacobs. Berkeley: Institute of Urban and Regional Development, Univ. of California, Berkeley, 1982. Working paper no. 374. A case study demonstrating techniques of community observation and anaylsis.
EnvDesign HT393 C2 C25 W6 no.374
• What style is it?: a guide to American architecture, by John C. Poppeliers, S. Allen Chambers, Jr. Rev. ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, 2003.
EnvDesign NA705 P6 2003
• Real places: an unconventional guide to America's generic landscape, by Grady Clay. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Pr., 1994. Includes 124 common places, for example, bypass, district, hangout, lovers leap, parade route, porno district, shortcut, and skyline.
EnvDesign E169 04 C57 1994
• [Stylistic] glossary, IN: The Guide to architecture in San Francisco and northern California, by David Gebhard, et al. Rev. ed. Salt Lake City: G.M. Smith, 1985, pp. 553-583. Guide to San Francisco Bay Area architectural styles.
EnvDesign NA735 S35 G831 1985 Reference Desk, Reference, & circulating

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Interviewing

• Interviewing for social scientists: an introductory resource with examples, byHilary Arksey and Peter Knight. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1999.
Main Stack HM526 A75 1999
• Interviews: an introduction to qualitative research interviewing, by Steinar Kvale. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1996.
EnvDesign & Main Stack HM48.9 K9 1996
• Learning from strangers: the art and method of qualitative interview studies, by Robert S. Weiss. NY: Free Pr., 1995.
EnvDesign HN29 W42 1995

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Researching Local History

See also the Neighborhoods section of this guide.

• The California historical resources information system (California State, Office of Historic Preservation) Site includes links to regional office Web sites with images and other local information. Archaeological emphasis.
http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=1068
• Discovering the history of your house and your neighborhood, by Betsy J. Green. Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica Pr., 2002.
EnvDesign E159 G686 2002 Reference
• Nearby history: exploring the past around you, by David E. Kyvig and Myron A. Marty. 2nd ed. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Pr., 2000. Excellent, well-organized manual.
EnvDesign E180.5 N98 2000
• Paper trails: a guide to public records in California, by Stephen Levine and Barbara T. Newcombe. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Center for Investigative Reporting, 1996.
EnvDesign CD3111 N48 1996 Reference Desk
• Public places: exploring their history, by Gerald A. Danzer. Nashville, TN: American Association for State and Local History, 1987.
EnvDesign E180 D36 1987

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Finding Books & Related Materials

Start with Melvyl for the most comprehensive coverage of UC Berkeley library holdings. For additional tips, see the Guide to Library Catalogs.

Here are selected subject terms for searching the library catalogs. Remember that you can combine subjects or subjects and keywords.

Here are examples of ways to search for specific areas or neighborhoods within a city:

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The following titles are bibliographic research guides to UC Berkeley collections and Web resources. Consider them shortcuts to material on your topic.

• California landscape architecture & gardens (UC Berkeley, Library)
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/landscape_california.html
• California planning online (UC Berkeley, Library)
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/planning_california_links.html
• History of architecture (UC Berkeley, Library)
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/architecture_history.html
• History of city planning (UC Berkeley, Library)
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/planning_history.html
• History and Literature of Landscape Architecture (UC Berkeley, Library)
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/alacarte/course-guide/80
• San Francisco Bay Area architects & architecture: resources (UC Berkeley, Library)
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/research_sfbayarea.html
• Urban design (UC Berkeley, Library)
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/urbandesign.html

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Finding Journal Articles

Finding local, neighborhood-level information published in journals can be challenging. Here are three titles worth browsing for California and San Francisco Bay Area community information. They are not commercially indexed.

• California history (California Historical Society)
Online index: 1921--
http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/publications/index_page.html
Main Stack F856 C28 Unbound issues in Periodical Room; some older volumes in storage
• California planning & development report. Beverly Hills: Torf Fulton Associates, 1986--. Great resource for information on current California planning issues, both general and in specific localities. Published monthly.
http://www.cp-dr.com/archive
EnvDesign HT169 C2C34 In bound & unbound periodical stacks
• SPUR newsletter calendar. San Francisco: San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association. Includes articles on land use and planning issues in San Francisco.
EnvDesign HT177 S3S36 S13 In bound & unbound periodical stacks

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The selected article indexes listed here may be helpful; in addition, the following guides to journal indexes and abstracts may be useful: Architecture, City Planning, Environmental Planning, and Landscape Architecture. To boost your article retrieval skills take a drop-in class at Moffitt Library. For UCB Only or UC Only indexes and databases, go to The Library's home page→ Find Information→ Articles.

• Academic search complete via EBSCO - UC Only Indexes articles in more than 10,900 general interest journals and scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and general sciences. Abstracts and full text available for many titles indexed. There are many book review citations, especially in the humanities and social sciences.
Coverage: 1865--
• Alternative press index and archive via FirstSearch/OCLC - UCB Only Citations are drawn from roughly 380 alternative, radical, and left publications. Useful for identifying community-based and alternative public policy perspectives on housing, land use, the environment, etc., outside of the mainstream. Most journals aren't indexed elsewhere.
Online coverage: 1969--
Print ed.: 1969-- ; Doe Stack HM101 A12 A55
• AltPress watch via ProQuest - UCB Only A full-text resource that covers newspapers, magazines, and journals of the alternative and independent press. Good for environmental justice and environmental policy issues. East Bay Express is included starting 6/01.
Coverage: 1995--
• America: history and life via EBSCO- UC Only Contains article abstracts and bibliographical citations of reviews and dissertations on the history and culture of the U.S. and Canada from prehistoric times to the present. Excellent index for American cultural history and popular culture.
Online ed.: 1964--
Print ed.: 1954-- ; Doe Stack E3 A43
• Anthropology plus via Eureka/RLG - UC Only Contains citations to articles and essays in the fields of anthropology and archaeology. Subjects covered include art history, landscape history, ethnohistory, geography, folklore, geology, and history. Useful subject terms include: cities and towns history [name of place]; city planning history; extinct cities; land settlement patterns [name of place]; and, urbanization history.
Coverage: 1984--
• Avery index to architectural periodicals via CSA - UC Only Contains citations to articles in 1,000+ periodicals in architecture, planning, urban design, and related disciplines.
Online access: 1890--
Print ed.: 1890-1995; EnvDesign fNA8 C64 1973 Index
• IngentaConnect - UCB Only Provides full-text access to domestic and international scholarly & academic publications, in a wide range of subject areas, including city planning.
Coverage: Varies
• JSTOR - UCB Only A full-text archive of interdisciplinary scholarly journal literature, including architecture, geography, sociology, and political science.
Coverage: Varies
• Index to historic preservation periodicals, National Trust for Historic Preservation Library. Indexes local publications such as Oakland Heritage Alliance News, BAHA News, and California Preservation. Current listings available via the Web version of the Index.
Online ed.: 1986-mid-1990's; selective coverage mid-1990's--
Print ed.: Z1251 A U5 1992 Index; vol. 1: 1979-1987; supplement: 1987-1990
• Journal of planning literature - UCB Only Columbus, OH: The Ohio State Univ. Pr. Quarterly. See section 11-1: Comprehensive planning.
Online ed.: 2000--
Print ed.: 19865/86-- ; EnvDesign NA9000 J687 Index
• Research Library via ProQuest - UCB Only Includes abstracts and indexing to more than 1,100 periodical titles, plus current coverage of New York Times articles. It includes some full text.
Coverage: Varies
• Urban studies & planning - UCB Only Provides indexing to and full text of 12 journals published by SAGE Publications and participating societies, some journals going back 37 years.
Coverage: Varies

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Directories

Community Web sites are good sources of directories of contact people. Local telephone books and reverse directories can be helpful, too.

• abagOnline (Association of Bay Area Governments) Well-organized links to San Francisco Bay Area cities, counties, and regional organizations.
  http://www.abag.ca.gov/
• American business disk (CD-ROM Network) - UCB Only A database of basic information on over 10 million U.S. companies, large and small. Searchable by zip code and SIC code. Very useful for identifying or locating businesses in a neighborhood.
Online access: Library networked workstations
• Bay Area directory: city and county governments. Oakland: ABAG.
EnvDesign JK8731 A78 latest ed. Reference Desk
• California local government documents (UC Berkeley, Institute of Governmental Studies Library) A well-organized Web site of links to California local governments' Web sites, including directories of city & county Web sites.
  http://igs.berkeley.edu/library/cagovdocs/
• State and local government on the net: a directory of official state, county, and city government websites U.S. only.
  http://www.statelocalgov.net/index.cfm

Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs)

• Environmental impact reports (EIRs), also known as environmental impact statements (EISs), are usually the end product of an environmental impact assessment process. EIRs document the site conditions for specific proposed projects or developments, and can be valuable sources of data about current and past site conditions. EIRs may be found in many campus libraries. To locate them, search the Melvyl catalog, using the subject environmental impact statements in combination with a place or site name. Public libraries also collect local EIRs.

General Plans

General plans are an excellent source of local planning information. General plans have many synonyms, among them comprehensive plan, development plan, land-use plan, master plan, and urban plan. Simply stated, a general plan is "the official statement of a municipal legislative body which sets forth its major policies concerning desirable future physical development..." (Kent, The Urban general plan, 1964).

• Finding general plans (UC Berkeley, Library) A guide to finding general plans, with a California emphasis.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/planning_generalplans.html
• California local plans collections: The Environmental Design Library collects plans for major California cities and communities within the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as plans for selected U.S. cities. The Institute of Governmental Studies Library maintains the most comprehensive collection (1940s onward) of California city and county planning documents on the UC Berkeley campus. The IGSL collection is fully cataloged and does not circulate. The California Local Planning Documents Database is an online index of California general plans owned by IGSL.
http://igs.berkeley.edu/library/cagovdocs/local.php
• The California planner's book of lists. Sacramento: California Office of Planning and Research, 1986--; annual. Includes directory of California local planning agencies and general plan status of localities (7 elements).
Online ed.: various editions http://www.calpin.ca.gov/
Print ed.: 1986-- ; EnvDesign HT167.5 C2 C33 1996 Reference Desk
• Plans. California Land Use Planning Information Network (LUPIN), California Resources Agency. Includes full-text versions of certain categories of California plans, including city and county general plans.
http://ceres.ca.gov/planning/plans/index.html

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Images

• Image-based research: a sourcebook for qualitative researchers, Jon Prosser, ed. Bristol, PA: Falmer Pr., 1998.
EnvDesign GN347 I43 1998
• Visual methodologies: an introduction to the interpretation of visual materials, by Gillian Rose. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2001.
EnvDesign & Main Stack P93.5 R67 2001

For a more comprehensive list of images of the built or designed environment, see Image sources for the Built Environment.

• Access to archival databases (AAD) (U.S. Nat'l Archives & Records Administration) Searchable databases of records in the U.S. National Archives: print, still photos, film, video, etc. Can retrieve digital copies of selected textual documents, photographs, maps, and sound recordings.
http://aad.archives.gov/aad/
• American landscape and architectural design, 1850-1920, Harvard Univ. This collection of approximately 2,800 lantern slides represents an historical view of American buildings and landscapes built during the period 1850-1920. Offers views of cities, specific buildings, parks, estates and gardens. In addition to photographs, views include plans, maps, & models. Also indexed in the American Memory project.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/award97/mhsdhtml/aladhome.html
• American memory (U.S. Library of Congress)Multimedia collections of digitized documents, photographs, recorded sound, moving pictures, and text from the Library of Congress' Americana collections, representing a rich archive of images and text on U.S. urban history.
http://rs6.loc.gov/amhome.html
• Environmental Design Archives (UC Berkeley, College of Environmental Design) The collections include the work of most of the San Francisco Bay Region’s historically significant architects and landscape architects, represented by drawings, plans, specifications, photographs, audio-tapes, personal papers, etc. Access is by appointment only.
• List of Environmental Design Archives collections
  http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/listcoll.html
• Selected finding aids: Finding aids describe the contents of archival collections; online finding aids are frequently enhanced with selected digitized images from those collections. The Online Archive of California offers a convenient list of the Environmental Design Archives' finding aids.
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/institutions/UC+Berkeley::Environmental+Design+Archives
• San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection (San Francisco Public Library) Copies of the images may be ordered; many are available for use with proper permission. These images are only a portion of the total holdings of the San Francisco Public Library.
http://sfpl.org/index.php?pg=0200000301

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Historic American Building Survey (HABS)/Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) , U.S. National Park Service. The HABS/HAER collections contain more than 363,000 measured drawings, large-format photographs, and written histories for more than 37,000 historic structures and sites dating from the 17th to the 20th century. See also California HABS.

• Historic American building survey/Historic American engineering record - HABS/HAER (U.S. Library of Congress, American Memory) Contains searchable digitized images from the HABS/HAER collections.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/habs_haer/
• Historic American buildings survey (HABS) [microfiche]. Organized by state. Collections include photographs and written historical and descriptive data. Search the catalogs for title Historic American Buildings survey [name of state].
• Historic American buildings survey: California: measured drawings... [photocopy] Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). 4 vols. 1934. Photocopy from the microfilm copy in the Library of Congress.
EnvDesign NA730 C2 H49 Reference
• Historic American buildings survey (HABS). California [microfiche]. Teaneck, NJ: Somerset House, 1980. Photographs and written historical and descriptive data.
EnvDesign MICROFICHE.5224

Indexes to the HABS/HAER collection

• America preserved: a checklist of historic buildings, structures, and sites recorded by the Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record. 60th anniversary ed. Washington, D.C: Library of Congress, Cataloging Distribution Service, 1995. Indicates types of illustration and documentation included in records for historic buildings, neighborhoods, and sites, e.g., photogrammetric images, measured drawings, etc.
EnvDesign E159 A37 1995 Reference
• HAER checklist: 1969-1985. By state and county, a list of images in the Historic American Engineering Record collection, including factories, bridges, and other "non-building" structures.
EnvDesign E159 H1361 1985 Reference
• California architecture: historic American buildings survey (HABS), by Sally B. Woodbridge. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1988. Includes a "Catalogue of buildings included in the Historic American Buildings Survey of California," pp.105-269. Illustrated.
EnvDesign NA730 C2W65 1988 Reference

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Maps & Aerial Photos

• Earth Sciences & Map Library (UC Berkeley) The largest collection of maps in northern California and one of the largest university map collections in the United States. Supplementing its superb collection is an excellent comprehensive directory of online map collections and resources.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/
• Aerial photographs
• Catalog of aerial photography (UC Berkeley, Library) Searchable catalog of the Earth Sciences & Map international aerial photo collection, with special strength in California and the San Francisco Bay Area images. Site also includes links to other campus aerial photo collections.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/air-catalog.html
• Maps worldwide Searchable international online collection of aerial photographs.
http://www.mapsworldwide.com
• MSR maps (Microsoft Co.) Formerly TerrraServer-USA, the site offers free, public access to online maps and aerial photographs of the United States.
http://msrmaps.com/default.aspx
• Plat maps, also called fire insurance maps, show a variety of details, including actual lot boundaries, special uses, building materials and building footprints. For a perspective on ways to use plat maps for research, see Cathy Moulder's article, Fire insurance plans as a data source in urban research: an annotated bibliography of examples, in Art Reference Quarterly, v.1:3, 1993. See also Plat Maps--California.
• Fire insurance maps (UC Berkeley, Library) Links to description of and indexes to fire insurance maps.
  http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/sanborn.html
• -----. Fire insurance maps in the Library of Congress: plans of North American cities and towns produced by the Sanborn Map Company: a checklist, compiled by the Reference and Bibliography Section, Geography and Map Division. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress: U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1981.
EnvDesign HG9771 U54 1981 Reference; Earth Sci HG9771 U54 1981 Reference with microforms
• U.S. historical city maps (Univ. of Texas, Austin) Digitized maps from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection at the Univ. of Texas at Austin.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historic_us_cities.html
• Plat maps--California (Sanborn Insurance Company): Available online and on microfilm. Originals of various dates and cities are available at the Library of Congress, Bancroft Library, Oakland Public Library, and the California Historical Society.
• Digital Sanborn maps, 1867-1970--California (UMI) - UCB Only Among other information the maps "give street names, street and sidewalk widths, property boundaries, building use, and house and block numbers."
http://sanborn.umi.com/
• Insurance maps of Berkeley, California, Sanborn Map Company. NY: The Co., 1911. Includes Albany and parts of Emeryville and Oakland.
EnvDesign fffG1529 B6 S3 Rare v.2 only, 1911 corrected to 1933
• Sanborn fire insurance maps: California 1884-1952 || Index
  Earth Sci Microfilm 31073
• Sanborn maps of California, 1911-1991 || Index
  Earth Sci Microfilm 77648
• Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, San Francisco, California, 1899/1900, courtesy of San Francisco Genealogy. The black and white maps presented here are from six volumes that covered San Francisco in 1899 and 1900. To locate a specific location, consult the various indexes to locate the correct Map Sheet. Then select the appropriate link.
http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sf/sanborn/sanborn.htm
• San Francisco Maps, courtesy of San Francisco Genealogy. Guide and links to historic, street and other maps.
http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sf/sfmaps.htm
• Thomas Bros. maps: Excellent street maps in book form. Volumes for Bay Area counties are available at the Environmental Design Library Reference Desk. Other volumes available in the Earth Sciences/Maps Library.

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Neighborhoods

In addition to local histories and guidebooks (use the catalogs to locate them), formal neighborhood profiles offer a quick overview of an area's demographics, etc.

• Berkeley neighborhoods, 1950. Berkeley: Berkeley City Planning Commission, 1950. Includes maps.
EnvDesign NA9127 B4 A25 Reference Desk & circulating
• Neighborhood profiles [Oakland]. Oakland: Oakland Citizens Committee for Urban Renewal (OCCUR). Includes profiles of selected Oakland neighborhoods: Central East Oakland, Chinatown, Elmhurst, Fruitvale, North Oakland, Oakland Hills [1998 only], San Antonio, and West Oakland. Each brief profile includes a land use map, district characteristics, community concerns, a neighborhood history, etc.
EnvDesign HN80 O2 N4 1988 & 1998 Reference Desk
• Oakland district handbook, by Nancy Curns. [San Francisco?]: Coro Foundation, 1984.
EnvDesign JS1248 C8 1984a Reference Desk
• Oakland's neighborhoods, Erika Mailman, comp. Oakland, CA: Mailman Press, 2005. Comprised of narrative descriptions and reminiscences of past and current Oakland residents and admirers.
EnvDesign F869 O2 O546 2005 Reference Desk & circulating
• Profiles of community planning areas: San Francisco's eastern neighborhoods, by San Francisco Planning Dept. San Francisco, CA: The Dept., 2002.
EnvDesign HT168 S4 S28 2002 Reference Desk
• San Francisco neighborhood profiles. [San Francisco]: San Francisco Planning Dept., 1997.
EnvDesign HA730 S4 S3 1997 Reference Desk
• The Spirit of Oakland: an anthology, Abby Wasserman, ed. Carlsbad, CA: Heritage Media, 2000. Includes profiles of selected Oakland neighborhoods.
EnvDesign F869 S343 Y46 1998 Reference & circulating

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Newspapers

Sometimes the only record of a hot community issue is in the local media. In addition to the indexes listed here, some newspapers are available full text on the World Wide Web; information regarding archives of older issues is sometimes available at these sites. For a list of links to online full-text local and international newspapers, see The Library's home page→ Find Information→ Articles→ News Article Databases.

• California newspapers (News Link) Organized by place within broad categories (e.g., dailies, business, alternative).
http://newslink.org/
• News archives:
  • International news archives on the Web (Special Libraries Assoc.)
  http://www.ibiblio.org/slanews/internet/intarchives.htm
  • U.S. news archives on the Web (Special Libraries Assoc.)
  http://www.ibiblio.org/slanews/internet/archives.html

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• Access world news via NewsBank - UCB Only Full-text database of articles from regional, national, and international newspapers and newswires, including many California papers such as Contra Costa Times (1995-current), Fresno Bee (1986-current), Santa Rosa Press Democrat (1994-current), Sacramento Bee (1984-current), San Francisco Chronicle (1985-current), and San Jose Mercury News (1985-current). Articles are available the day after publication.
Coverage: Varies
• Ethnic newswatch via ProQuest - UC Only Full-text coverage of approximately 100 newspapers and other periodicals published by ethnic and minority presses in the U.S. Includes articles published in African-American, Hispanic, Latino, Chicano, Native American, Asian, Jewish, Arab, and European/Eastern European publications.
Coverage: 1960--
• Factiva - UCB Only General and business news and information from more than 9,000 sources, including newswires.
Coverage: Varies
• Lexis-Nexis academic - UCB Only Includes indexing to journals and newspapers and provides full text.
Coverage: Varies

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Regulatory Codes

• Building codes & regulatory resources (UC Berkeley, Library) Bibliographic guide to California, U.S., and international building codes.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/Codes.html
• California local codes and charters (UC Berkeley, Institute of Governmental Studies Library) Comprehensive directory of online full text California municipal codes and charters.
http://igs.berkeley.edu/library/cagovdocs/calcodes.html
• Municipal codes online (Seattle Public Library) Comprehensive directory of links to full-text American municipal codes on the Web.
http://www.spl.org/selectedsites/municode.html

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Statistics & Data

Here's a small selection of statistical resources. For a more comprehensive list, including some full text, see Statistics & data for city planning: United States; American focus with a California emphasis.

• ABAG data center (Association of Bay Area Governments) Great source of San Francisco Bay Area economic and demographic statistics. Here is a selection of the categories available:
  ---Population and demographics
  ---Land use and maps
  ---Real estate and housing
http://www.abag.ca.gov/abag/overview/datacenter/
• American factfinder (U.S. Census Bureau)Users can create a variety of tables, reports, or maps with information on their community.
http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html
• Bay Area census (Metropolitan Transportation Commission & the Association of Bay Area Governments) Very useful and well-designed site. Aggregates Census 2000 data for the nine Bay Area counties. Includes maps.
http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov/
• California county profiles (Calif. Dept. of Finance) Compilation of selected economic, social, and demographic data for California and its 58 counties.
Online access: http://www.dof.ca.gov/html/fs_data/profiles/pf_home.htm


Print ed.: 1996--; Main Stack HA262 C68; latest in Doe Refe
• California demographics (Calif. Dept. of Finance, Demographic Research Unit) Includes California demographic data, selected full-text reports and papers, catalog of publications, etc.
http://www.dof.ca.gov/html/Demograp/druhpar.htm
• DataPlace Easy-to-use source of U.S. housing and demographic data from the census tract to the national level. Currently contains data from the 1990 and 2000 Censuses, as well as home mortgage, Section 8, and housing needs data. Create your own maps. Includes nice directory of other online data sources.
http://www.dataplace.org/
• Federal government statistics (UC Berkeley, Library) A directory of useful links to social and demographic data, including the U.S. Census Bureau.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/doemoff/govinfo/federal/gov_usstat.html#population
• Projections... : forecasts for the San Francisco Bay Area to the year... , population, households, income, employment. Association of Bay Area Governments. Oakland: ABAG. Provides a wealth of demographic data and projections for the 9-county region, each county and city.
EnvDesign HD5726 S4 P72 latest Reference Desk; Reference
• State of the cities data systems (HUD User) For individual metropolitan areas, central cities, and suburbs, presents business, crime, public finance data and more, as well as demographic and economic data from the 1970-2000 U.S. censuses (when available).
http://socds.huduser.org/index.html

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Historical societies

• State historical agencies (American Association for State and Local History) Directory of Web links to state historical agencies and societies, many of which provide links to local historical societies.
http://www.aaslh.org/cgi-bin/stateagencies.cgi
• California cultural directory (California State Historical Society) Includes links to California historical agencies.
http://www.calhist.org/Support_Info/CHAs.htmld/
• Bay Area historical societies (selected list):
• Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (510) 841-2242 http://www.berkeleyheritage.com/
• Berkeley Historical Society Museum (510) 848-0181 http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/histsoc/
• California Historical Society (415) 357-1848 http://www.calhist.org
• Chinese Historical Society of America (415) 391-1188 http://www.chsa.org/
• Contra Costa County Historical Society (925) 229-1042 http://www.cocohistory.com/?b1b7cb08
• History San José (408) 287-2290 http://www.historysanjose.org/
• Marin County Historical Society (415) 454-8538 http://www.marinhistory.org/
• Napa County Historical Society (707) 224-1739 http://www.napahistory.org/
• Oakland Heritage Alliance (510) 763-9218 http://www.oaklandheritage.org/
• San Francisco Architectural Heritage (415) 441-3000 http://www.sfheritage.org/
• San Francisco Museum & Historical Society (415) 775-1111 http://www.sfhistory.org/

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Municipal Libraries & Archives

• Libraries on the Web: U.S.A. public libraries (UC Berkeley, Library SunSITE) Directory of links to U.S. public libraries. Organized geographically.
http://www.lib-web.org/Public_main.html
• -----. California public libraries.
• Bay Area community libraries (selected list):
• Alameda County Library - Maurice Marks Center for Local & California History: Focuses on the Tri-city area of Southern Alameda County (Fremont, Newark and Union City). http://www.aclibrary.org/
• Berkeley Public Library - Berkeley History Room http://berkeleypubliclibrary.org/
• Contra Costa County Library - Local history resources http://ccclib.org/
• Marin County Free Library - Anne T. Kent California History Room http://www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/LB/Main/crm/index.html
• MTC-ABAG Library http://www.mtc.ca.gov/library/
• Oakland Public Library - African American Museum and Library and Oakland History Room http://www.oaklandlibrary.org/
• Richmond Public Library - Richmond Museum of History http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/index.asp?NID=105
• San Francisco Public Library - San Francisco History Center http://sfpl.lib.ca.us/
• San José Public Library - California Room http://www.sjpl.org/
• Municipal archives: Municipal archives can be a fabulous source of primary research material. Many cities, counties, etc., maintain archives of historical municipal records, ranging from meeting and office records to maps, vital records, photographs, plans, parks and recreation planning, and much more. These archives are managed in diverse ways: as a separate department, as a function within an individual department, as part of the public library, etc. Search H-Urban discussion logs for "municipal archives" for a sampling of the type and quality of municipal archives available.

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UC Berkeley Campus Libraries

Consult the list of Libraries & Collections for additional resources.

• The Bancroft Library - Doe Library, Berkeley. Rare books, images, and special collections, with an emphasis on California and Western Americana. Non-circulating collection. http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
• Business Library - S352 Haas School of Business. Includes real estate materials. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/BUSI/
• Doe Reference Center - 2nd Floor, Doe Library. Reference service re. state, federal, & international governmental publications. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/doemoff/reference.html
• Earth Sciences & Map Library - 50 McCone Hall. Includes maps, atlases, aerial photos, plat maps, etc. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/
• Environmental Design Library - 210 Wurster Hall. City planning, urban design, environmental planning, architecture, and landscape architecture. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/
• Ethnic Studies Library - 30 Stephens Hall. Asian American, Chicano, Native American studies, and comparative ethnic studies collections. http://eslibrary.berkeley.edu/
• Institute of Governmental Studies Library - 109 Moses Hall. Strong California collections in local gov't & public policy. State depository for city plans. Non-circulating collection. http://igs.berkeley.edu/library/
• Institute of Transportation Studies Library - 412 McLaughlin Hall. The principle transportation studies collection at UCB. http://library.its.berkeley.edu/
• Water Resources Center Archives (WRCA) - UC Riverside and CSU San Bernardino. Strong emphasis on California water resources. Search through Melvyl or NextGen Melvyl. http://wrca.library.ucr.edu/

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