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Sean_OBrien
Engine Wiper
151 Posts |
 Posted - 06/30/2012 : 12:50:33 PM
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One of the most useful sites that I have found when it comes to getting a lot of helpful information for scratchbuilding is the Library of Congress's Historical Buildings registry.
The downside is that the search function on the website is antiquated and many of the things which we are looking for don't pop up readily - specifically buildings that have plan drawings already done (huge time saver).
Luckily, the good people over at the evil empire are able to help in that regard. By using Google's advanced search features and understanding how the images are stored on the LoC website - you can quickly search for buildings which have plans and other types of information...using the image search, you can even look at preview information of the plans.
The basic search is structured like so:
site:http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/
Now, that is for everything which is in the site - so you generally will want to refine things a bit more. If you add the additional refinement of allinurl: sheet you can limit it to only showing information which contains line drawings (the line drawings are stored in a subfolder called /sheet/).
In addition to that refinement - you can further restrict the URL of the search by adding the state code. These are the two letter postal codes for each state. So - if you wanted to search for plans available in the state of Nevada, you would use a search which is formatted like so:
allinurl: sheet site:http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/nv/
Notice, the NV postal code is added to the tale end of the base URL.
You can find a lot of good stuff that way, from houses all the way up to larger industrial buildings. Many of them include specific details like molding profiles as well as hardware. |
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UKGuy
Fireman
USA
5427 Posts |
Posted - 06/30/2012 : 9:42:41 PM
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Great tips Sean, I'm a 'regular' to that site....
Thanks,
Karl.A |
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mabloodhound
Fireman
USA
4609 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2012 : 07:25:54 AM
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Sean, Good info but that second link doesn't seem to take you to the 'sheet' site. Looks like the same as the first link except with the addition of NV.
And when I went to it, all the documents were listed, including photos, etc.
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Dave Mason
D&G RR (Dunstead & Granford) in On30
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”~Benjamin Franklin
The 2nd Amendment, America’s 1st Homeland Security
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Sean_OBrien
Engine Wiper
151 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2012 : 10:04:00 AM
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Was sort of half expecting that confusion to happen...
What we have here is a failure to communicate...the specifics of what I typed. Copy and paste the whole bold text section into your Google search box.
http://www.google.com/search?q=allinurl:+sheet+site:http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/nv/
That should pull up the actual search results. Then, pop over to images and you can see the line drawings. Of course, again that would be just the results from Nevada. |
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mabloodhound
Fireman
USA
4609 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2012 : 11:45:29 AM
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Didn't know you meant Google search. Problem with that is when searching allinurl: sheet site:http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/nv/ in Google it brings up all the sheets, but with just number references, no names or identification in the Google search.
So you have to open each one to see what it actually is.
At least with the LoC HB site I can choose which building I want to look at. Admittedly, I have to drill down to get to the drawings but I won't spend any time going through a bunch of sheets I'm not interested in. |
Dave Mason
D&G RR (Dunstead & Granford) in On30
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”~Benjamin Franklin
The 2nd Amendment, America’s 1st Homeland Security
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Library of Congress Search Cheat
