Architecture: Historic Design and Construction

Brought to us by archive.org, the BTHL contains materials from various private and institutional collections. These materials are rarely available in most architectural and professional libraries. The first major architectural trade catalog collection is that of the Canadian Centre for Architecture, which encompasses more that 4,000 catalogs from the early 19th century through 1963. In addition to the architectural trade catalogs, the initial contributions include a large number of house plan catalogs, which will be of great interest to owners of older homes. The future growth of the Building Technology Heritage Library will also include contemporary materials on building conservation.

From the Library of Congress: The Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey.
Coverage: 1933 to current. You'll find digitized images of measured drawings, black-and-white photographs, color transparencies, photo captions, data pages including written histories, and supplemental materials.

Preservation Briefs provide guidance on preserving, rehabilitating, and restoring historic buildings.

This site provides practical information on traditional practices and innovative techniques for successfully maintaining and preserving cultural resources.

Tulane University's Southeastern Architectural Archive (SEAA) preserves and collects trade catalogs associated with architecture and building professions. Although the vast majority of the SEAA's catalogs represent the American building trades, the collection includes catalogs of Spanish azulejos, British mantels, French ironwork and Italian terrazzo. It is especially strong with respect to the Southern Pine Association, the largest timber trade organization in the South.