The case for print: architecture trade journals as pedagogical tools for disciplinary knowledge

Purpose This article unpacks the construction of authority in architectural trade journals as multimodal disciplinary communication and how librarians can use these journals to engage student's critical thinking in information and visual literacy instruction. Design/methodology/approach An analysis of project articles was done in two consecutive issues of ten architecture print trade journals including tracking details about the building types, geographic locations, firms represented, visual coverage, and visual categorizes and conventions. Findings The projects represented in the analyzed trade journals were predominately public buildings built by established firms in Europe, North America and Asia. The journals employed various methods for crediting and captioning visuals, showing marked differences in conferring authority on architectural photographers and descriptive versus analytical analysis of visual communications. Overall, visuals in architecture trade journals dominate the article space, with photographs being the most prominent type; however, individual journals differ in disciplinary conventions such as presence of people, use of color and indications of scale and compass direction. Research limitations/implications These findings strengthen the case for library print subscriptions to trade journals as useful when facilitating student exploration of disciplinary communication to identify markers of authority, examine bias and apply disciplinary conventions in their own scholarly output. Originality/value By interrogating the value of print journals in architecture, findings of this study may influence further research into the significance of print journals in other disciplines and a larger professional discussion about the implications of library trends to providing digital-only journal access.