Representational Belonging in Collections: A Comparative Study of Leading Trade Publications in Architecture

Abstract

This study stems from a simple question: how do libraries reflect the communities they serve? The research analyzes a subset of periodical literature to measure how women are reflected, specifically women of color, in architecture library collections. It focuses on four major publishing outputs of architecture literature to sample the ratio of women leaders in featured architectural firms. These commonly used periodicals were chosen to measure which firms are presented to an architectural readership. The findings document variation in demographic representation, but evidences that across the board firms covered in these publications have proportionately less women of color in their leadership teams. Librarians will find takeaways for both collection development and management and public services.