Page 154 – Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture

Louisiana State University

Associate Professor Ursula Emery McClure, FAAR, AIA, LEED AP and her firm, emerymcclure architecture was selected as one of ten winners of the national Sukkah City STL competition. The Sukkah City STL is an ambitious contemporary design competition that challenged participants to re-imagine the traditional Jewish Sukkah. A sukkah is a small, temporary structure erected each fall during the weeklong festival of Sukkot. Emerymcclure architecture’s sukkah was on display Oct. 18-22 on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis. The 10 winning sukkah were installed outdoors on the university’s Danforth Campus, near the Ann W. Olin Women’s Building. The competition was co-sponsored by St. Louis Hillel, Washington University’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and The Museum of ImaJewnation. For more information go to http://samfoxschool.wustl.edu/news/6038.

Associate Professor Jim Sullivan’s office, Louisiana Architecture Bureau (LA-ab.com), was awarded a AIA Louisiana Merit Award for his project, L.A. Meets LA. Residence.

Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Associate Professor Markus Breitschmid, Ph.D., S.I.A., Chair of the Core Professional Bachelor of Architecture Program, has edited the text for the book publication “Olgiati”. The volume is published by Birkhäuser Publishers in Basel in 2012. Besides the English edition, there are editions in French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Japanese. Breitschmid was also invited to moderate the event “Architettare: Tradition & I”, a discussion on architecture among internationally active architects, by the Organizzazione Studenti Accademia of the Accademia di Architecttura at the Universita della Svizzera Italiana, held on May 31, 2012.

Assistant Professor Aki Ishida has been awarded Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership Education Grant to design an interactive installation reinterpreting Japanese lantern festivals for the AIA Blue Ridge chapter’s design award exhibit on September 14, 2012. The project is designed in collaboration with the Institute for Creativity, Arts and Technology at Virginia Tech.

Texas A&M University

March 17, 2014/in School News West Central Region /by Matrix Admin

The RAIC Welcomes the UIA/PHG 2013 Annual Healthcare Forum + GUPHA Meeting to Canada

Architecture Canada I RAIC will be presenting the 2013 International Union of Architects Public Health Group (UIA/PHG) Forum and Global Univeristy Programs in Healthcare Architecture (GUPHA) Meeting at IIDEX 2013, September 24-28, 2013 in Toronto. This collaboration between the three groups plus IDC, the Interior Designers of Canada and IIDEX enables the knowledge sharing of international perspectives on health and the design of the care environment plus the role that healthcare quality and innovation plays in these projects to support better health care. Whether your specialty is hospitals, long-term care, community health, wellness, rehabilitation or mental health, the UIA/PHG 2013 Forum + GUPHA Meeting brings together the best and brightest practitioners from around the globe to share their insights.

This year’s theme, “get better! The pursuit of better health and better healthcare design at lower per capita costs” will be explored in a wide range of in-depth seminars, roundtables and panels during the two days of IIDEX, September 26-27. The forum will also include networking events, cocktail receptions, dinners, site tours, awards and student programming.

Share your insight and knowledge and make a difference in our industry by presenting a seminar at the 2013 International Union of Architects Public Health Group (UIA/PHG) Forum at IIDEX Canada, September 24-28, 2013. If you have something ground-breaking, innovative, informative or just plain interesting, we want to hear from you. Speakers and seminars will be selected based on varying criteria including: relevancy to the industry, timeliness, body of knowledge, learning outcomes, speaker experience and how the particular topic complements the UIA/PHG program objectives.

If you, or someone you know, has a ground-breaking, can’t-miss topic, please SUBMIT ONLINE by March 8, 2013.

University of Arizona

March 17, 2014/in School News West Region /by Matrix Admin

Associate Professor Martin Despang´s newest case study of his prototype for “eco- and archi-friendly” educational design, a postfossil kindergarten for Germany´s oldest University of Göttingen, has been published in Archetcetera: http://archetcetera.blogspot.com/. Author Phyllis Richardson has peer reviewed Martin´s work in her XS series books and her article about cutting edge wood architecture in the Financial Times. The Göttingen kindergarten is a hybrid of landscape and architecture using thermal mass through exposed prefabricated concrete.

Assistant Professor, Susannah Dickinson presented a paper titled ‘Architecture and Biological Systems’ during the ACSA Teachers Seminar; Performative Practices: Architecture and Engineering in the Twenty-First Century, in New York, NY. She has also been selected to attend the NEH Summer Institute, “Beyond the Land Ethic: Sustainability and the Humanities.”

R. Brooks Jeffery has been promoted to Full Professor with a joint appointment in the Schools of Architecture plus Landscape Architecture and Planning. Jeffery remains the Director of the Drachman Institute, the College’s outreach unit as well as Coordinator of the interdisciplinary Heritage Conservation Certificate program.

Illinois Institute of Technology

March 17, 2014/in School News East Central Region /by Matrix Admin

Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) announced the appointment of Wiel Arets as the new dean of the IIT College of Architecture. Born in the Netherlands, Arets, an internationally acclaimed architect, educator, industrial designer, theorist, and urbanist, is known for his academic progressive research and hybrid design solutions. He is currently the professor of building planning and design at the Berlin University of the Arts. His architecture and design practice, Wiel Arets Architects, has multiple studios throughout Europe and its work has been nominated for the European Union’s celebrated ‘Mies van der Rohe Award’ on numerous occasions.

Arets, who was dean of the Berlage Institute in Rotterdam from 1995-2002, will join IIT this fall and will lead an academic program originally shaped by the vision and work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Considered by many to be one of the founders of modern architecture and design, Mies chaired the IIT architecture program from 1938-1958 and designed the IIT Main Campus, home to many of his iconic structures including S.R. Crown Hall.

Arets currently has projects under construction throughout Europe and Japan, including the Allianz Headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland, Amsterdam Centraal Station’s IJhal, the Schwäbischer Verlag in Ravensburg, Germany and the A’ House in Tokyo. His many distinguished projects include the library on the Uithof campus of Utrecht University, the Academy of Art & Architecture in Maastricht, the Euroborg Stadium in Groningen, and the Hedge House in Wijlre, the Netherlands.

“The College of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology has a global reputation and attracted outstanding candidates for dean from leading programs worldwide. It is indicative of the position of the IIT College of Architecture that we have found such an accomplished architect to lead the school in a new direction,” said IIT Provost Alan Cramb.

Arets has been a guest professor at many of the world’s preeminent architectural universities, including the AA London, Columbia University and Cooper Union—and served on the Advisory Council of Princeton University from 2003-2012. He graduated from the Technical University of Eindhoven in 1983, where he obtained his Master of Science in Architecture.

Professor Robert J. Krawczyk presented the paper “Exploring the Visualization of Music” at the Bridges 2012 Conference, Mathematical Connections in Art, Music, and Science at Towson University in Baltimore July 25-29, 2012. His digital image titled “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star CII” was also selected for the preconference exhibition at the College of Fine Arts Gallery at Towson University. Image at: http://gallery.bridgesmathart.org/exhibitions/2012-bridges-conference/krawczyk

A series of Professor Krawczyk’s lasercut fabrications of Indonesian music are also being presented at the exhibition titled “The Arts Converge: Contemporary Art and Asian Musical Traditions” at the Jack Olsen Art Gallery, Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois from September 4 through October 12, 2012. Images can be found at: http://bitartworks.com/notes01/gallery02.html

ACSA Seeks Nominations for ACSA Representatives on NAAB Visiting Team Roster

March 17, 2014/in ACSA News /by Matrix Admin

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
ACSA Representatives on NAAB Visiting Team Roster
Deadline: February 6, 2013

The ACSA Board of Directors seeks nominees for ACSA representatives on the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) school visitation team roster member for a term of four years. The final selection of faculty members participating in the accrediting process will be made by NAAB.

Nominating Procedure

Members of ACSA schools shall be nominated annually by the ACSA Board of Directors for inclusion on a roster of members available to serve on visiting teams for a term of four years.
Proposals for nomination shall be solicited from the membership via ACSA News. Proposals must include complete curriculum vitae.
The ACSA Nominations Committee shall examine dossiers submitted and recommend to the board candidates for inclusion on visitation team rosters.

Nominee Qualifications

The candidate should demonstrate:
Reasonable length and breadth of full-time teaching experience;
A record of acknowledged scholarship or professional work;
Administrative experience; and
An association with several different schools.

Each candidate will be assessed on personal merit, and may not answer completely to all these criteria; however, a nominee must be a full-time faculty member in an accredited architectural program (including faculty on sabbatical or on temporary leave of absence.)

ACSA Nominee Selection
Candidates for NAAB team members shall be selected to represent geographic distribution of ACSA regional groupings. The number of candidates submitted to NAAB will be limited in order to increase the likelihood of their timely selection by NAAB for service.

Description of Team and Visit
Pending acceptance of the Architectural Program Report (APR), a team is selected to visit the school. The site visit is intended to validate and supplement the school’s APR through direct observation. During the visit, the team evaluates the school and its architecture programs through a process of both structured and unstructured interactions. The visit is intended to allow NAAB to develop an in-depth assessment of the school and its programs, and to consider the tangible aspects of the school’s nature. It also identifies concerns that were not effectively communicated in the APR.

The visit is not independent of the other parts of the accreditation process. The visiting team submits a report to NAAB; NAAB then makes a decision regarding accreditation based on the school’s documentation, the team report, and other communications.

Team Selection
The visiting team consists of a chairperson and members selected from a roster of candidates submitted to NAAB by NCARB, ACSA, the AIA, and AIAS. Each of these organizations is invited to update its roster annually by providing resumes of prospective team members.

A team generally consists of four members, one each from ACSA, NCARB, AIA, and AIAS. NAAB selects the team and submits the list to the school to be visited. The school may question the appointment of members where a conflict of interest arises. The selection of the chairperson is at the discretion of NAAB. The board will consider all challenges. For the purposes of a challenge, conflict of interest may be cited if:

The nominee comes from the same geographic area and is affiliated with a rival institution;
The nominee has had a previous affiliation with the institution;
The school can demonstrate that the nominee is not competent to evaluate the program.

NAAB tends to rely on experienced team members in order to maintain the quality level of its visits and reports, and to comply with COPA and U.S. Department of Education guidelines. Each team member shall have had previous visit experience, either as a team member or observer, or shall be required to attend a training/briefing session at the ACSA Administrators Conference or ACSA Annual Meeting.

Nominations Deadline and Calendar
The deadline for receipt of letters of nomination, including a curriculum vitae, is February 6, 2013. E-mail nomination preferred; please send all nomination information to eellis@acsa-arch.org. ACSA will notify those nominees whose names will be forwarded to NAAB by May 2013. ACSA nominees selected to participate on a visiting team will be required to complete and submit a standard NAAB Visiting Team Nomination form. NAAB will issue the roster of faculty members selected for 2013-2014 team visits in November 2013.

Nominations should be sent to:
Email (preferred): eellis@acsa-arch.org
ACSA, Board Nominations
1735 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006

The Architecture Retail Pamphlet Collection at the University of Houston

March 17, 2014/in AASL AASL /by Matrix Admin

By Catherine Essinger

In 2010 the University of Houston’s Architecture and Art Library began collecting a diverse array of historic retail brochures, pamphlets and catalogs related to buildings and the decorative products that once filled them. The collection features various paint and varnish pamphlets, as well as brochures from companies dealing in plumbing fixtures, fireplace heaters, tin roofing, furniture and more. Beyond product illustration, the images capture descriptive text, specifications and price lists. Most were published in the late 19^th and early 20^th century. While browsing the collection, one can observe American decorative style transition from the Victorian to Modern. Comforting catalogs of stick style house plans published in the 1880’s give way to sleekly appointed Art Deco bathrooms in a “Modern Plumbing” pamphlet published in 1921.

The collection includes small folios, substantial bound catalogs, and a nine panel folded brochure extolling the virtues of Curtis Kitchens. (“What a thrill when friends say – ‘I just love your kitchen,’” declares Mrs. America 1938 on the Curtis Kitchen brochure.)

The documents in the Architecture Retail Pamphlet Collection are extremely rare. Most are the only copy listed in OCLC. In order to increase access to the collection, they are gradually being digitized and made freely available online in the University of Houston’s Digital Library (digital.lib.uh.edu). At the time of this writing 21 are already available for viewing and 15 more will be ready near the end of March. This is a growing collection, so new materials will be digitized and made available for the next few years, as well.

Users may request high-resolution copies of every image in the Architecture Retail Pamphlet Collection. As all digitized materials are in the public domain, they may be used freely in research, teaching, and publishing, though we do request acknowledgement in any published works.

Some highlights from the current online holdings include:

J. L. Mott Iron Works. “Modern Plumbing #10.” 1921.

The J. L. Mott Iron Works was established in 1828, in an area of the Bronx now called Mott Haven. This sleek 49 page pamphlet offers fixtures and accessories for fashionable bathrooms and industrial kitchens.

L. Bonfils & E. Fesquet. “Ornaments En Zinc.” 1900.

One of the few European catalogs in the collection, the substantial edition from Paris includes zinc campaniles (cupolas), finials of all sorts and designs, corner mouldings, lucarnes (dormer windows), vases, girouettes (weathervanes), balustrades and lambrequins.

Raymond Bonnefond . “Marqueterie D’Art.” 1932.

In addition to the traditional Classical, fruit and floral, and jazz-era motifs one might expect from this catalog published in 1932, customers could order the visage of Lenin, Benito Mussolini, or French Prime Minister Raymond Poincare in marquetry. Veneer makes strange bed-fellows.

Ramp Buildings Corporation . “The Modern Garage.” 1929.

The Ramp Buildings Corporation was established in 1920. This 1929 booklet makes the case for that recent development, the “automobile hotel”:

The Modern Garage, as that term defines a mid-city building especially designed to house motor cars in numbers, is the tool of a new industry. Indoor Parking has become a national necessity. The mid-city Garage is, today, an institution of public utility and is recognized as such… The years to come may bring us multi-level streets and traffic boulevards which today appear in the haze of fantastic dreams. Whatever may be the relief for the congestion of moving traffic it is unquestionably a fact now and for indeterminate years to come, that the only possible alleviation of parking congestion is to provide space for storing cars for an hour, a day or a longer time, off the street. Thus, for the needs of today and the increasing needs of the future, man’s ingenuity has created the Modern Garage, and not as a luxury-priced necessity but as a sound economic utility.

Some other items already available online:

Berlin Iron Bridge Co.. “The Berlin Iron Bridge Co..” 1889.
Built-in Fixture Company. “Peerless Built-in Furniture.” 1926.
C. Schrack and Co.. “Architectural Varnish List.” ca. 1930.
Caldwell & Peterson Manufacturing Company. “Continuous Tin Roofing.” 1890.
Come-Packt Furniture Company. “Sectional Come-Packt Furniture.” 1912.
Glidden Varnish Company. “Jap-A-Lac.” 1890.
Homestead Heater Company. “Homestead Fires.” 1935. “Truly appropriate
fireplace heaters” – Cover.
M. Macdonald & Co.. “Steeplejacks.” 1920.
Murphy Door Bed Company . “The Murphy In-A-Dor Bed.” 1926. (sic)
Red Cedar Shingle Bureau. “Red cedar shingles: artistic and practical.”
Red Cedar Shingle Manufacturers’ Association. “Red cedar shingle.”
Scranton Lace Company. “Scranton: New outlooks for every home.”
Sears, Roebuck and Company. “How to paint.”
Shingle Branch of West Coast Lumberman’s Association/Shingle Agency of British
Columbia. “Distinctive homes of Red Cedar Shingles.” ca. 1910.
Wm. B. Gleason & Co. . “Natural Wood Ornaments for Furniture Maufacturers,
Architects, Builders,
Interior Decorators…: Illustrated Price List.” 1882.

Pamphlets being digitized as of this writing include several catalogs of early 20^th century storefronts, metal ceilings and walls, mid-century windowalls, Art Deco and Moderne lighting, both American and British ironworks, and Arts and Crafts-style metal casements and stained glass.

Researchers will find new and developing collections on art and architecture from the College of Architecture’s rare books room whenever they visit digital.lib.uh.edu/aa. Expect new additions to the Architecture Retail Pamphlet Collection every few months. Our goal is to provide historians with a window into the evolving design styles available to customers in the U.S. and elsewhere in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Please contact archlib@uh.edu with questions or feedback about the collection.

NewSchool of Architecture and Design

March 17, 2014/in School News West Region /by Matrix Admin

NewSchool of Architecture and Design (NSAD) is collaborating with Gensler, one of the world’s leading design firms, to offer a special design studio this Spring term to six undergraduate and graduate architecture students. The “Emergent Futures” 2013 Gensler Professional Studio at NSAD gives students the opportunity to re-imagine San Diego’s urban landscape, a project aligned with the school’s mission to prepare students for professional practice through urban engagement, sustainable studies and international perspectives.

Gensler’s San Diego office is leading the NSAD Design Studio. The firm is a multiple winner of the BusinessWeek/Architectural Record Awards, the U.S. benchmark for business design innovation. Four designers from Gensler are teaching the course: Darrel Fulbright, Tom Heffernan, Marin Gertler and Ben Regnier. Gensler advisors Kevin Heinly, managing director of Gensler San Diego; Dan Robinson and Nick Alanen will also contribute to the project.

The studio challenges students to identify future opportunities for San Diego’s existing urban fabric. Students research the downtown area, then select already-developed sites to explore how the urban fabric might be “hacked” to reveal a dynamic, livable and sustainable urban core. “Through the 2013 Gensler Professional Studio at NSAD, students have the opportunity to explore urban sustainability issues while integrating the global perspectives of an international firm,” said Kurt Hunker, NSAD’s director of graduate programs, who is coordinating this unique studio experience.

The six participating NSAD students were chosen through a competitive selection process. They include graduate students Alison Downton, Jisun Kwon and Logan Suhrer and undergraduate students Forrest Agnew, Kyle Duvernay and Ei Khin Khin.

The 2013 Gensler Professional Studio at NSAD is one among several high-profile collaborations between NSAD and renowned architecture and design firms around the world. This Spring term, NSAD is also offering a special design studio in collaboration with the internationally acclaimed Bjarke Ingels Group. The BIG-NSAD design studio is exploring urban design as it pertains to freeways and coastal environments.

Auburn University

March 17, 2014/in School News Mid Atlantic Region /by Matrix Admin

The 2013-2014 academic year marks the 20^th Anniversary of the founding of Auburn University Rural Studio. Founded in 1993 by Sambo Mockbee and D.K. Ruth, the Studio’s rich existence in rural West Alabama is rooted in building relationships and earning trust from neighbors and friends in the community while immersing architecture students in the culture. Living, learning and working in West Alabama has afforded School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture students the opportunity to apply their skills as designers, while also learning about the nature, history, culture, economy, architecture and community in this unique educational landscape. Rural Studio would like to celebrate and honor the place and its people, which have allowed them to thrive while maintaining rigor and passion.

Auburn’s School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture (APLA) has been gaining some recognition from some of its youngest alumnae/former students. First, Courtney Brett, and then, Rosannah Sandoval, became the AIA’s youngest licensed architects, in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Ms. Brett, who transferred to Auburn University’s School of Architecture when she was 16, was a Rural Studio participant who graduated in 2007, at age 20. Ms. Brett recently started her own firm, Casburn Brett Architecture, based out of Daphne, Alabama. Ms. Sandoval has a similar story, in that she finished school at the age of 18. At Auburn, she participated in Rural Studio. When her family relocated to California, Ms. Sandoval transferred to California College of the Arts, where she completed her degree. In 2013, Ms. Sandoval became the, now, youngest active Architect member of the AIA, at 23. She works as a designer in Perkins + Will’s San Francisco office

Associate Professor Doug Burleson has retired from the architecture program faculty this May, 2013. Prof. Burleson joined the School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture’s (APLA) faculty in 1986, and the span of his teaching roles has covered a broad spectrum of studio year-levels and lecture topics. In addition to teaching in the professional curriculum, Prof. Burleson has taught the Architecture Appreciation course to non-architecture majors for the past six years.

The Auburn University School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture (APLA) is pleased to announce a new sponsored student competition. Marvin Windows by Dale Inc, a premier manufacturer of made-to-order wood and clad wood windows, will make an annual in support of awards for the APLA Portfolio Design Competition for fourth year architecture students. The sponsorship comes as a philanthropic gift from the company to the school through the Auburn University Foundation, and will be focused on helping students in the architecture program prepare for their professional careers. As the centerpiece of this support, the architecture program’s annual student portfolio competition has become the Marvin Windows by Dale Inc Portfolio Competition. Marvin Windows by Dale Inc will also provide technical support for classroom instruction regarding windows and other building enclosure systems. The winners of this year’s competition are: 1^st place, Justin Collier; Merit Award, Whitney Johnson, Merit Award, Taiwei Wang.

The Alabama Forestry Association has been sponsoring “wood comp,” second year architecture student design competition, for more than forty years. Participating in this competition has become a milestone experience for generations of Auburn Architecture graduates. During spring semester 2013 the 2^nd year students design a branch library for a site located in Bibb City, Georgia. To prepare for the project, the students traveled throughout the region to view examples of contemporary library designs as well as to gain insight into the changing role of this public institution in today’s electronic age. Winners of the 2013 competition are: First Place, Kyle Kiersey; Second Place, Timothy Fuerst; Third Place, George Criminale. Honorable Mentions were awarded to the following: Lia Bernhardt, Kaylee Bruce, Krystal Duchene, Valyn Daconto.

Several students and faculty from the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture’s Graduate Program in Landscape Architecture have been honored with annual awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects. The Campus Rain Works Collaborative Team received an ASLA Student Award of Merit for their collaborative design entitled Auburn University Daylighting of Parkerson Mill Creek. The team consisted of landscape architecture students–Maria Hines, Dale Speetjens, Pratisha Shakya, Chen Fan and Xue Hao; architecture students–Brad Green & Cynthia Baker; Jaron Benett, Building Science and Amanda Meder, Horticulture. Faculty/ staff mentors for the project were: Darren Olsen, Building Science; Amy Wright, Horticulture; Paul Zorr, Architecture; Charlene LeBleu, Landscape Architecture and Stephen Everett, Auburn University Campus Planning.

Xue Hao, a 2013 graduate of the Master of Landscape Architecture Program, received an ASLA Student Award of Honor for Community Design & Service. Elements of the winning project, Rugged Sidewalk and Famous People Wall Elements, will be utilized for redevelopment of the Selma-to-Montgomery National Historic Civil Rights Trail. The Award of Honor is the highest design award given in landscape architecture. Xue Hao’s work is part of the 2012 Spring LAND 6330 Studio IV taught by Charlene LeBleu, Associate Professor, Landscape Architecture.

HILLworks: landscape + architecture, the design practice of assistant professor David Hill was recognized by the ASLA with two awards. The Phrenology Project was awarded a 2013 Merit Award in Research for its investigation into the dynamic spatial qualities of plants through the seasons. The Transformation Garden, designed for a private residence in Auburn, Alabama, was awarded a 2013 Award of Merit in Design.

Charlene Lebleu, Associate Professor in the Master of Landscape Architecture program, presented the paper and a poster at the International Federation of Landscape Architecture (IFLA) World Congress in Auckland, New Zealand, April 11. The peer-reviewed paper entitled “Designing Africa in Alabama, USA” describes the historic significance of AfricaTown in Mobile County, AL, an area where the descendants of the last recorded group of captive Africans brought to the United States continue to live and make their home. The paper highlights studio proposals to commemorate the history in the form of a State Park. The poster, “Plaza Independencia—Plaza Formation & Expression: Montevideo, Uruguay,” was co-authored with Marjorie Woodbury, a 2012 graduate of the MLA program. LeBleu and Woodbury traveled to Montevideo, Uruguay in fall 2011 to study urban plazas and continue to collaborate on projects.

Professor Rod Barnett, Program Chair for the Landscape Architecture program, has authored, Emergence in Landscape Architecture (Routledge, 2013). Emergence in Landscape Architecture attempts to describe how landscape architects can frame their practices in response to the increasingly dramatic disturbances of the 21^st century and charts the development of new realms of interaction in our cities, in forgotten industrial landscapes and across the farms, streams and woodlands of the countryside.

JSTOR Enhancements: the Beta Search

March 17, 2014/in AASL AASL /by Matrix Admin

AASL Column, June 2013
Barbara Opar, column editor

JSTOR recently released its “Beta Search”. This search has been completely redesigned with both a new search engine and a changed interface. The new search is easily accessible from a link on www.jstor.org. At the moment, it is being listed as an additional option in order to avoid disrupting regular research workflows on the site. JSTOR looks to develop this search further:

Refining the new interface with facets that allow easy narrowing/broadening of searches
Improving relevance rankings with results that more closely match search terms
Incorporating new features, including auto-suggested search terms and spell checking
Enhancing the search results view to support evaluation of relevance including the ability to preview article and book details directly from the search results list

Beta Search will incorporate what staff are calling “topic modeling” to enhance discovery of content. Unlike standard searching on JSTOR where searches can be focused only within disciplines assigned at the journal level, the Beta Search will use text analysis techniques to automatically assign one or more topics to an article. JSTOR feels that this enhancement will help searchers find relevant content that may be outside of their main disciplinary area.

Read more about the Beta Search (including the application of topic modeling) at http://about.jstor.org/beta-search.

Other ACSA Websites