Reference Works

For researchers seeking published materials associated with the built environment, the Louisiana Research Collection (LaRC), the Tulane School of Architecture Library (TSAL), and Howard-Tilton Memorial Library (HTML) will provide the most substantive resources. Since the Southeastern Architectural Archive specializes in archival collections containing unpublished architectural drawings, models, photographs, and office correspondence, it does not collect published works per se.  Nonetheless, the SEAA does retain important reference publications to assist researchers and archives staff.

These reference works focus on three important aspects of the SEAA's mission: to provide access, to preserve and to protect architectural records.  

In order to assist researchers in accessing SEAA archival holdings, the SEAA acquires important reference works associated with the archives profession (especially architectural archives) and with the architecture of coastal Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.  These publications include surveys, bibliographies, biographies, city directories, style guides, and dictionaries.  

In order to employ best practices in the preservation of architectural records, the SEAA acquires books and occasional publications that address preservation standards and conservation methods, as well as publications that focus on architectural reprographics, drafting and modeling materials, and the history of photography and architectural illustration. These include publications by the Society of American Archivists, the American Institute of Architects, the Eastman Kodak House, and Oak Knoll Press.

In order to protect collections and the intellectual property rights of the archive and its stakeholders, the SEAA retains legal guides to architect and engineer liability as well as legal guides to archives administration.  Thus, the SEAA collects legal publications related to copyright, intellectual property rights, AIA documents, to the engineering and construction process, and to access and privacy issues in archives.

The SEAA's reference collection is cataloged in Tulane University's online catalog and browsable in the SEAA Reading Room.