Architecture, which is the art or practice of designing and constructing buildings, takes us back to more than 10,000 years to the Neolithic period, or the latter part of the Stone Age. Great builders using mud and brick originated in the Middle East and Mediterranean (at the time called Mesopotamia) and proliferated throughout Europe and Central Asia.

It was not until 200 B.C. when builders in Greece and Turkey devised cement as a material to replace weaker mortars for construction. In the late 1^st century, A.D. the Roman architect Vitruvius put together what is widely considered the oldest surviving work on the subject of architecture, De architectura. Roman architectural engineering, with its emphasis on arches, vaults, and domes, would spread across Europe and its basilica design would eventually provide a model for the Christian church.

Merging styles from the Roman Empire, Greece, and India helped give rise to Islamic architecture, with its popular emphasis on Mosques, Madrasahs (public schools), Hammams (designs for bathhouses), Casbahs and Citadels. An early and recognizable example of Islamic architecture includes the Dome of the Rock based in Jerusalem and completed in 691 A.D.

Around the time of the early Middle Ages emerged Romanesque architecture, which was a revisiting of Roman-styled architecture circa 800-1100AD.  In particular, stone used was cut with precision and was supported in the middle by arch construction. Buttresses were introduced as a means of support to the basic design in Romanesque architecture. Famed cathedrals employing the Romanesque style include Reims Cathedral, completed towards the end of the 13^th century, and the Milan Cathedral, or “Duomo di Milano,” one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in the world; it took nearly five centuries to complete.

Renaissance architecture debuted in Florence, with Filippo Brunelleschi as one of its innovators in the early 15^th century. With a focus on symmetry, proportion, and geometry, the Renaissance style quickly spread to other Italian cities and then to France, Germany, England, Russia and elsewhere. One of Burnelleschi’s most famous examples of Quattrocento (a return to the Roman and Greek sculptors) is the Basilica di San Lorenzo in Florence officially completed in 1459.

Modern architecture varies widely in its scope and definition but it was at the turn of the 20^th century coinciding with rapid technological advances that architectural design began taking on simpler styles. The industrial revolution made possible the use of materials for construction previously unavailable, including iron, steel, and sheet glass. One of the most original and famous modern architects of the 20^th century is Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959).  Wright embraced the social and technological changes during his time, designing structures he felt met the individual physical, social, and spiritual needs of the modern American citizen. Wright called his architecture “organic” as he was inspired by Nature to create modern day environments that nourished the human soul. Fallingwater remains one of his most enduring architectural works.

We at Questia hope this brief overview of architectural history will prompt you to take peek inside our listing of architecture books and articles.  Below is a snapshot of our archive providing you with great reference material on many of the architectural styles outlined above. Enjoy!

Medieval Architecture

This book is intended as an introductory survey of the architecture of the Middle Ages in western Europe from circa A.D. 300 to 1500, from the early Christian period through the late Gothic in Europe. It aims to fill a gap between the very selective and cursory mention of major medieval buildings in general surveys of art or architectural history and the in-depth books on particular periods or regions, so that the interested reader can find in one volume what has previously been scattered through myriad expensive books.

[Calkins, Robert G. Medieval Architecture in Western Europe: From A.D. 300 to 1500. New York: Oxford UP, 1998. Questia. Web. 4 Apr. 2013.]

Renaissance Architecture

Filippo Brunelleschi’s design for the dome of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence remains one of the most towering achievements of Renaissance architecture. Completed in 1436, the dome remains a remarkable feat of design and engineering. Its span of more than 140 feet exceeds St Paul’s in London and St Peter’s in Rome, makes it the largest dome ever constructed using bricks and mortar. Ross King tells the story of its creation and its brilliant creator.

[King, Ross. Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture. New York: Walker, 2000. Questia. Web. 4 Apr. 2013.]

Modern Architecture

This anthology examines the heterogeneous modern culture of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and traces its manifestations in architecture and the city. The essays present a wide variety of approaches and materials, a heterogeneity which in itself constitutes an apt image of the multiplicity of viewpoints characterizing modernity.

[Hvattum, Mari, and Christian Hermansen, eds. Tracing Modernity: Manifestations of the Modern in Architecture and the City. New York: Routledge, 2004. Questia. Web. 4 Apr. 2013.]

Islamic Architecture

Written with the non-Muslim reader in mind, this book analyses the principles and values established by Islamic tradition to govern the social and physical environments of Muslims.

The picture of Islam that emerges from this work is of a way of life with social ideals. Relying on the Qur’an and Sunna, the basic sources of Islamic law, and using examples of the built environment of early Muslims in North Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Central Asia, the author explains how following these ideals can create an urban environment that responds to social and environmental variables. Islamic views on the controversial issue of modernization are also examined.

[Mortada, Hisham. Traditional Islamic Principles of Built Environment. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003. Questia. Web. 4 Apr. 2013.]

Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) is probably the most famous architect in the world. He is author of undoubtedly the most famous private home in the world, Fallingwater, which perches so dramatically on the cliff overhanging the eponymous waterfall near Pittsburgh. How did this acknowledged masterpiece, this work of such singular genius, come to be? The story of Fallingwater’s inception serves as a perfect introduction to the persona that Wright, and to an extent those who knew him, fashioned for popular media consumption.

[Steffensen, Ingrid. "Frank Lloyd Wright and the "Gift" of Genius." Journal of American Culture (Malden, MA) 32.3 (2009): 257+. Questia. Web. 4 Apr. 2013.]

Mexican history

The seeds of Mexican independence were planted when on September 16, 1810 a priest named Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, with a historic proclamation, urged his fellow Mexicans to take up arms against the Spanish government. Ending Spanish Colonial rule took Mexico down a long, difficult road towards establishing independence. Being forced to endure many civil uprisings, Mexico lost nearly half of its geographical landscape to the United States during a two year war ending in 1848.

We at Questia want to open the doors to our digital library by granting access to reference works on five books that explore Mexican history, tracing its roots back to the Mayans all the way through the fight for independence to the continuing challenges faced by today’s native population.

Mayan Civilization

In this second edition, author John S. Henderson has reorganized his research to take into account the vast new quantities of data about the Maya that was unearthed in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Epigraphers have put forward an avalanche of new interpretations of glyphs and readings of texts that provide a rich source of information for reconstructing the politics of Classic Maya cities. All of the new research has shifted basic perceptions about the Maya cultural tradition. [Henderson, John S. The World of the Ancient Maya. 2nd ed. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1997. Questia. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.]

Mexico under Spanish Rule (New Spain)

Author Susan Schroeder examines Mexico’s nonnative populations who, not uncommonly, still feel threatened and angry whenever there is a manifestation by indigenous groups to make known their grievances. Why this misplaced animosity toward Indians continues is difficult to understand but one can pinpoint a series of recent instigating events including the United States designating 1992 as the year of the American Indian. According to Schroeder, nonnatives’ qualms are rooted in the colonial era, when Spaniards worried constantly about Indian uprisings. [Schroeder, Susan, ed. Native Resistance and the Pax Colonial in New Spain. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska, 1998. Questia. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.]

Mexican War of Independence

Author Jaime E. Rodriguez examines the complex process of New Spain’s transition from a kingdom of the Spanish Monarchy to the First Federal Republic of Mexico. During his first ten years of research, Rodriguez  worked in the archives and repositories of Mexico City; the second decade he spent researching in the states of Puebla, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Yucatán, Jalisco, Michoacán, and Zacatecas in Mexico as well as in the archives of Madrid and Seville.  The overriding question Rodriguez explores is why one former colony, the United States, succeeded in establishing a stable government and a flourishing economy, while other former colonies, the Spanish American countries, endured political chaos and economic decline. [RodrÍguez O., Jaime E. "We Are Now the True Spaniards": Sovereignty, Revolution, Independence, and the Emergence of the Federal Republic of Mexico, 1808-1824. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 2012. Questia. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.]

The Mexican War (U.S.-Mexican War)

The editors have chosen to spotlight the Mexican war diary of controversial Southerner, Lt. Daniel Harvey Hill, and 4th Artillery, USA. It is the day-by-day chronicle of young Lt. Daniel Harvey Hill, Company E, 4th Artillery, U.S. Army, from June 8, 1846, when he embarked for Mexico at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, to March 24, 1848, when he sailed back home.  The Mexico City campaign was among the most important military operations conducted by American arms prior to the Civil War, and Hill’s perceptive eye provides the reader with unique insights into the expedition. [Hill, Daniel Harvey. A Fighter from Way Back: The Mexican War Diary of Lt. Daniel Harvey Hill, 4th Artillery, USA. Ed. Nathaniel Cheairs Hughes, Jr. and Timothy D. Johnson. Kent, OH: Kent State UP, 2002. Questia. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.]

The Mexican Revolution

Authors Hodges and Gandy try to solve the puzzle of what happened to the Mexican Revolution? What happened to the social pact that was supposed to benefit the business community, the bureaucrat-professionals, the proletarian workers, and the landless peasants? The outcome of the Mexican Revolution is still a mystery. According to both authors, the revolution had not only been betrayed; an invisible hand had also remodeled the business corporation. Professionals not only seized the reins; they had become the corporations’ chief beneficiaries. [Hodges, Donald C., and Ross Gandy. Mexico, the End of the Revolution. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002. Questia. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.]

Today, Mexico is not only one of the world’s largest economies, but its strong ties to the United States through its free trade agreements have enabled it to produce 1.7 trillion in overall gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011, and with Volkswagen’s latest auto plant opening in Mexico, the country seeks to become the world’s top car maker.

Influential 19th century psychologist and philosopher, William James

In life, there are no guarantees. While you can control much of what goes on in your life, there are instances when issues can arise, overwhelming our abilities to manage and control our responses to them. Counseling psychology is one of the largest specialty practices within the field of psychology. Counseling psychologists take a more generalized approach when helping patients with any one of their psychosomatic problems.

William James was an influential 19^th century psychologist and philosopher who wrote a pioneering paper called The Principles of Psychology, blending his own research and thoughts about psychology, philosophy and physiology. He offered ideas to practicing psychologists and counselors such as “stream of thought” and the theory that emotions occur as a result of physiological processes or reactions to events.

Today’s counselors and psychologists deal with a host of behavioral issues, some of which have only recently been identified, including binge eating disorder and attention deficit disorder. We at Questia wanted to open the doors to our digital library by granting access to reference works on five books that explore psychological and counseling topics such as addiction, bereavement and group ethics.

Addiction

Author Carlo C. Diclemente critically examines how the United States views the problem of addictive behavior in society, pointing out serious shortcomings in current perspectives and the efforts at interdiction, prevention, criminalization, and treatment that they support. Diclemente offers a new approach in the form of an alternative, integrative perspective for understanding addiction and recovery. It is his premise that addiction and recovery should be viewed as a process of behavior change.

[Diclemente, C. C. (2003). Addiction and Change: How Addictions Develop and Addicted People Recover. New York: Guilford Press. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com]

Eating Disorders

In this second volume, a series of clinicians and scientists update the latest thinking, knowledge and understanding on the subject of eating disorders. New conditions such as binge eating disorder have been introduced into the diagnostic system and many chapters have been updated to reflect the new thinking surrounding the relationship between food and the human nervous system. Editors included a paper by Professor Gerald Russell examining the history of anorexia nervosa.

[Treasure, J., Schmidt, U., & Furth, E. V. (Eds.). (2003). Handbook of Eating Disorders (2nd ed.). Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com]

Bereavement

Authors Susan Lendrum (physiologist) and Gabrielle Syme (linguist), provide a practical approach to loss and bereavement in counseling and psychotherapy. Both experienced the loss of loved ones in their lives and when they met, it became an opportunity for them to explore and eventually create courses to train those who work with the grieving. In this book, Lendrum and Syme share what they have learned in the areas of depression and bereavement and encourage readers of their approach to work with others, in a group as part of a training program, or in counseling supervision, or with a trusted colleague or friend.

[Lendrum, S., & Syme, G. (2004). Gift of Tears: A Practical Approach to Loss and Bereavement in Counselling and Psychotherapy (2nd ed.). Hove, England: Brunner-Routledge. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com]

Group Counseling

This book is intended to present some of the basic information about groups, and their leaders to help educate and guide those in understanding the structure, needs, dynamics, and specific techniques for leading these groups. With a focus on psychoeducational group leadership, Author Nina W. Brown includes personal development exercises designed to help the reader become more self-aware and to seek out other avenues for personal growth and development

[Brown, N. W. (2004). Psychoeducational Groups: Process and Practice (2nd ed.). New York: Brunner-Routledge. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com]

Counseling Ethics

This book explores the intersection of therapy and philosophical ethics. The discrepancy between the ethical standards expected of a profession and the realities of psychotherapeutic work is a crucial theme for therapists. Patients challenge therapists in ways that raise issues that cannot be considered simply as technical. Questions of therapists concerning their religious beliefs, or how a patient can expect to justify going into therapy to friends who view it merely as self-indulgence force therapists to think clearly about such issues and how it impacts their work.

[Barnes, F. P., & Murdin, L. (Eds.). (2001). Values and Ethics in the Practice of Psychotherapy and Counselling. Philadelphia: Open University Press. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com]

Visit Questia’s topic page on psychology and counseling for more information. If not already a member, you can try Questia free for one day and conduct research into counseling and development in our books and journals.

Enjoy!

Bate, David. Photography: The Key Concepts. New York: Berg, 2009. http://www.questia.com/read/120769912.

Bennett, Paul. Abnormal and Clinical Psychology: An Introductory Textbook. 2nd ed. Maidenhead, England: Open University Press, 2006. http://www.questia.com/read/118349566.

Doyle, Christine E. Work and Organizational Psychology: An Introduction with Attitude. Hove, England: Psychology Press, 2003. http://www.questia.com/read/108122715.

Holzer, Harold, ed. The Lincoln-Douglas Debates: The First Complete, Unexpurgated Text. New York: Fordham University Press, 2004. http://www.questia.com/read/120747706.

Laird, Sally, ed. Voices of Russian Literature: Interviews with Ten Contemporary Writers. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1999. http://www.questia.com/read/120737022.

Moreno, Francisco Jose. Before Fidel: The Cuba I Remember. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2007. http://www.questia.com/read/120684318.

Nankivell, John H. Buffalo Soldier Regiment: History of the Twenty-Fifth United States Infantry, 1869-1926. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2001. http://www.questia.com/read/120745787.

O’neil, Judy, and Victoria J. Marsick. Understanding Action Learning. New York: AMACOM, 2007. http://www.questia.com/read/120712825.

Thompson, Graham. American Culture in the 1980s. Twentieth-Century American Culture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007. http://www.questia.com/read/120737282.

Willis, Roy, and Patrick Curry. Astrology, Science, and Culture: Pulling Down the Moon. New York: Berg, 2004. http://www.questia.com/read/120752336.

Enjoy access to this free reading for a whole month, and have a wonderful holiday!

The “Citation Showdown” contest encourages students to locate and cite high-quality, scholarly research to create superior research papers. Questia (www.questia.com), the premier online library and research tool for students, will take submission through December 31^st, 2012 in which students can enter a copy of their bibliography or works cited page for a chance to win one of $2,000 in prizes. The first place winner will receive $500, 2 second place runners-up will each receive $375 and 5 third place honorable mentions will be awarded with $150.

To enter, students must submit a copy of their bibliography along with the following information: student’s name, title of the paper, email and phone number via the online submission form available on the “Citation Showdown” contest page at Questia by 5 p.m. on December 31^st, 2012. All entries must incorporate at least 3 citations, one of which must be from a current source (published within the past 12 months), be formatted in an APA, MLA or Chicago style, and be based on one of Questia’s research topics. Winners will be determined based on the best and most correct use of citations.

Questia is sponsoring this contest as a part of their ongoing effort to illustrate the importance of properly citing research. Students save valuable time on research papers and projects with Questia’s organizational and paper-writing tools and tutorials, allowing them to accurately cite sources in multiple styles, automatically generate footnotes and bibliographies, and conveniently organize their notes, research and sources all in one place. Additionally, since Questia is accessible 24/7, students can research any time of day from anywhere, with the confidence that they’re using credible content from trustworthy sources.

Please visit the contest page at Questia for complete contest details and to submit your bibliography or works cited page for consideration in Questia’s “Citation Showdown.”

Choosing scholarly sources

A scholarly source is one that has been created by someone from the research community. This includes anyone with a Ph.D. after their name and researchers who are affiliated with a university. Why? Because these are the people who conduct research and write papers about how they conducted their research and what they learned from it. Researchers publish their papers in scholarly journals.

Librarians from California State University, San Marcos said that scholarly sources share certain features including:

• A higher level of language
• Academic intent such as a research case study
• A list of references and/or footnotes

In order to be published in these journals, the article will be put through a process called a “peer review.” The editors of the magazine will send the article to other scholars in the same field (the author’s peers) in order to get their opinion on the article’s quality of scholarship, its relevance to the field of study and its appropriateness for publication in the journal.

Checking out the publication’s credentials will help you know how trustworthy the source is. Questia’s collection of academic journals, for example, offers thousands of articles from some of the world’s leading publishers. You can browse hundreds of academic publications on topics ranging from art and humanities to education, science and law.

Research on the go

Accessing specialized databases from anywhere includes using your mobile devices as explained by Joe Murphy in his May/June 2010 article for Online titled, “Using Mobile Devices FOR Research Smartphones, Databases, and Libraries.” Murphy found that there are several phone apps for research such as AccessMyLibrary, from Gale, a part of Cengage Learning. This will help you locate a nearby library and research its databases.

Murphy added, “A growing number of researchers are engaging mobile devices as search tools. Smartphones, cell phones, and other mobile technologies are now commonly among the first places people turn when seeking information. Increasingly, mobile devices are used as information tools for current awareness as well as for search.” You can access Questia on the go via the Questia app for iPhone and iPad or check out Questia.com on your tablet device.

A perfect example

A perfect example of a scholarly article, and one that also sheds light on how students use resources, is James P. Purdy’s September 2012 article for First Monday titled, “Why first-year college students select online research resources as their favorite.”

After surveying 523 first-year writing students on how they use research resources, databases and search engines, Purdy found that students seek research methods that are easy to use and understand, offer a variety of articles and are fast. Unfortunately, just because a resource is easy, fast and gives you lots of articles, doesn’t mean that those articles are the best choices for your paper.

It is also important to make sure that the scholarly sources you choose are of a relevant timeliness to your subject matter. For example, a scholarly article on Barack Obama from ten years ago might not be a good choice for your research paper, though a scholarly article on George Washington from ten years ago likely would be. Always keep a researcher’s wits about you as you select your sources.

Now do you see why your instructors have a bias toward scholarly journals as sources for your research projects? They know that if you’ve used these articles as your sources, then your information will be as trustworthy and relevant to the topic as possible. With this inside scoop, you’ll be researching like a pro for your next research paper. Head to Questia now to begin your search for quality, librarian-approved scholarly articles.

Now that research paper-writing season is well underway, you may be hearing your professors discussing the need for primary sources as well as secondary sources. Sidney Silverman Library at Bergen Community College (NJ) offers a straightforward definition of the difference between primary and secondary sources. “Primary sources are original materials such as autobiographies, poems, diaries, documents, research articles, original data, or an original creation such as a piece of art.”  Materials that “describe, explain or interpret primary sources,” they explain, are secondary sources. “These include literature criticism, biographies, books about a topic, reviews, encyclopedias and dictionaries.” A well-written research paper includes a range of primary and secondary sources throughout in order to have a well-balanced collection of resources and facts. Learn how to distinguish between the two and discover some lesser known resources for each!

In Primary vs. Secondary, they also provide this useful checklist of examples:

Primary sources

• autobiography
• painting or object of art
• personal diary or letters
• treaty (government document)
• poem, novel, short story, etc.
• firsthand observer accounts of event
• play, film, television show, performance
• speech given by a person
• research report by researchers
• photographs

Secondary sources

• biography
• article reviewing or criticizing the art
• book about the person or event
• essay interpreting the document
• literary criticism of the work
• report on event years later
• biography of the writer
• commentary on the speech
• interpretation of the research
• explanation of photographs

Primary sources online

“Tens of thousands of archival collections can be found on the web,” says Leslie F. Stebbins. “These digitized primary resources provide researchers with unprecedented access to collections that previously were only available in one location and kept behind locked doors.” Also available online, notes the author of Student Guide to Research in the Digital Age: How to Locate and Evaluate Information Sources (Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2006), 68. are “information (which) indicates what is owned by a particular archive and…search aids that give a detailed inventory of the holdings of a particular collection and other descriptive information.”

In Find Digitized Primary Source Collections on the Web, Stebbins guides researchers to some larger online digital library collections, archival search engines and “tools that point to digitized and print collections,” and information on collections available outside the U.S.

And “If you have some flexibility with the topic you are working on,” the author suggests, “you might want to try one of the larger collections such as the American Memory Project. Locate an interesting collection and work backward to the development of your topic.”

Become a master of the primary and secondary resources, and you’ll have thoroughly researched term paper that both you and your professor can be happy with!

The entire Questia site has been redesigned to be more user-friendly and useful. However, it continues to offer users:

• More than 70,000 full-text online books across a wide range of subjects
• More than 6 million full-text articles from over 1,700 reputable publications
• Thousands of research topics featuring librarian-selected sources to jumpstart projects

• Use your knowledge of domain names to narrow a search or to go straight to an organization’s site.
• Trace a site back to its source whenever possible.
• Use syntax searches to narrow a search and filter out unwanted sites.
• Use specialty searches for image and audio files.
• When searching for information in a foreign language, take advantage of native language search engines and directories.
• When your search is for a range of sites on a particular topic, a guided search such as the kind offered by About.com, will save time.
• Search by file type.

Meta searchers get better all the time, allowing you to search across many engines and directories. If you opt for a meta search, choose one that allows you to control what engines and directories it queries, and how to display results.

Use your browser’s bookmarking function to save sites you may want to return to later. If the content of the site is critical, save it onto a disk, or to your computer’s hard drive. Take advantage of archive projects like the Wayback Machine to find sites that have changed, moved, or been removed from the Web.

Know the Web’s limits and use the library when appropriate.

You can specify a phrase on most search engines by placing it in double quotes. Because they are a form of unique identifier, phrases are very useful at filtering search results to just pages that contain that exact, specific string of characters.

The longer the phrase, the fewer and more relevant the results returned… until the phrase is so specific there are actually no pages that match. In the middle is the perfect search query.

Some of the very best phrases are full person names. While there may be many people named Winston, or Spencer, or Churchill, there is only one savior of liberal democracy named Winston Spencer Churchill. Therefore, if you search for that name as a phrase, you ensure that all pages returned contain that exact name:

“winston spencer churchill”

You can also add phrases to existing searches. For example, the following search only returns pages that contain the word “biography” and the exact phrase “mozart was born”:

biography AND “mozart was born”

You can combine several phrases with the and operator to make kind of a meta-phrase and greatly narrow the number of pages returned:

“sherlock holmes” AND “221 B, Baker Street”

You can widen a search by looking for several phrases at once, by combining several phrases with the or operator in a separate term in brackets:

biography AND (“mozart was born” OR first learned” OR “when mozart was”)
“richard burton” AND ( “doctor livingstone, I presume” OR “dr. livingstone, I presume”)

Song lyrics are great unique phrases, if you can get them right. You can either search for a long phrase if you know the whole thing, or several short phrases combined with AND:

“how many roads must a man walk down”
“anything goes” AND “glimpse of stocking” AND “good authors too”

The best phrases are specific enough to get the pages you want, while filtering out pages you don’t want. At the same time, they should be common enough to actually be found. For example, the following phrase is too specific, because there isn’t any text on the Internet that contains that exact phrase:

“mozart was born at a very young age”