LibGuides: Interior Design (IDSN): Find Books/eBooks

Find Books/ebooks

Search the Library Catalogue for books by entering keywords that describe what you are looking for.

Subject Searches;

Building laws -- British Columbia.

Ergonomics

Human Engineering

Human Factors - Design

Lighting, Architectural and Decorative.

New Books - Design

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Combine terms to be more precise using the 'AND' command
e.g. clothing AND smart materials AND Canada

Find synoyms using the 'OR' command
e.g. international OR global

Use single quote marks to match multiple words exactly
e.g. 'protective clothing' (Note: Summon using double quotes)

Use shortcuts to find words with different spellings:
e.g. correction$ will find correction, corrections, and correctional (but not corrective)

Find the library subject terms for your topic
e.g. if you browse by SUBJECT for the keyword Taser (which is a brand name) you'll see that libraries use the term stun guns instead

Call numbers help you locate items in the library. You will always find related books shelved together so understanding call numbers can help you find many resources on the shelves.

Still confused about call numbers? See our Call Numbers Demystified Guide!

Call number ranges to get you started:

HF - Retail Stores
N - Art, Architecture, Interior Design, Visual Arts
NA - Architecture
NA 190-1555.5: Architecture - History
NC - Illustration, Design, Drawing
NK - Decorative Arts, Applied Arts
NK 1700-2195: Interior Decoration
NK 2200-2750: Furniture
QC 495 - Color
TA 166-167: Human Engineering (Ergonomics)
TH 1-9745: Building Construction
TH-TK - Lighting
TH 8001 - TH 9024: Decoration and Decorative Furnishings
TT - Arts and Crafts, Handicrafts (contains info on Architecture and Design, especially TT 196)

2300-2430

British Columbia Building Code 2018
The BC Building Code (BCBC) is a provincial regulation that governs how new construction, building alterations, repairs and demolitions are completed. This code establishes minimum requirements for safety, health, accessibility, fire and structural protection of buildings and energy and water efficiency. It applies throughout the province except for some federal lands and the City of Vancouver."
Building Construction Illustrated
The #1 visual guide to building construction principles, updated with the latest materials, methods, and systems For over four decades, Building Construction Illustrated has been the leading visual guide to the principles of building construction.
Construction Drawings and Details for Interiors: Basic Skills
includes such details as furniture, finishes, lighting, and others. features author's drawings as well as those from practicing professionals. covers drafting fundamentals and conventions; drawing types, plans, and schedules; and computer-aided design.
Design Through Discovery: An Introduction to Art and Design
An ideal choice for courses that combine the study of two-dimensional and three-dimensional art, this book presents an analysis of the elements and principles of design as they apply to various fields of human design.
Interior Design & Decoration
Addressing interior design and decoration from the ancients to the moderns, this text describes the dominant influences of fashion design and focuses on the close relationship between interior design and the architecture of our times. In his second revision of Sherrill Whiton's classic text, Abercrombie presents the full history of interior design--during all periods and throughout all regions--in a manner that facilitates easy comparisons among different times, places, and styles.
Interior Designer's Portable Handbook: First-step Rules of Thumb for the Design of Interiors
helps you create workable, on-the-spot design solutions by putting the latest codes, standards, specifications, costs, and materials data at your fingertips. This convenient pocket guide now includes information on green/sustainable components and technologies.
Interior Graphic and Design Standards
This book, the most comprehensive and basic working tool available to the design professional, encompasses every area of expertise required in the practice of contemporary interior design.
The Lighting Handbook: Reference & Application
The IES Lighting Handbook is an indispensable reference for anyone involved in lighting, including practitioners, designers, architects, and engineers. It is a compendium of what is known that directly relates to lighting and lighting design. This new edition provides a new illuminance determination procedure consisting of visual age-based illuminance ranges and mesopic adaptation.
Materials for Interior Environments
Covering all aspects of interior design materials, this book includes health and safety codes; human factors and material selection; economic criteria; environmental criteria; finishes for walls, windows, ceilings, flooring, and millwork and furniture materials.
NCIDQ® Interior Design Practicum: Practice Exam
contains seven exam-like design exercises that will help you pass the Interior Design Practicum. The exercises are divided into three parts just like the actual Practicum and they are consistent with the exam s content areas and level of difficulty. Project descriptions, design instructions, building code requirements, and worksheets are provided for all exercises. Passing and failing design solutions are also included for all exercises.
Programming and Research : Skills and Techniques for Interior Designers
provides a step-by-step approach to mastering the process of documenting client and user requirements for any design project. Replete with examples and analyses of student and professional work, this book guides its readers through the creation of their own program documents.
Shaping Interior Space
Intended for all design students, the author covers strategies for creating interior environments that work as a total system to enhance the experience of the user.
Print & eBook

Fairchild Interior Design Library This link opens in a new window
Ebooks on topics related to interior design and related disciplines.
Off campus access restricted to current KPU students and employees.
Bloomsbury Design Library This link opens in a new window
Ebooks providing comprehensive global coverage of the history, theory and practice of crafts and design, from prehistoric times to the present day.
Off campus access restricted to current KPU students and employees.
Academic Ebook Collection (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Ebooks spanning a wide variety of disciplines. It includes many scholarly and academic publishers as well as some non-scholarly content.
The interface for this and all our other EBSCO databases will change mid-2025. Click here to try out the new interface early!
Off campus access restricted to current KPU students and employees.
Ebook Central Academic Complete (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Ebooks spanning a wide variety of disciplines. It includes many scholarly and academic publishers as well as some non-scholarly content.
Off campus access restricted to current KPU students and employees.

Encyclopedias are a great way to get an overview of your topic.

Encyclopedias like The World Book, Encyclopedia Britannica, and Wikipedia cover a vast array of subjects while others, like the Encyclopedia of Interior Design, focus on a particular subject.

Dictionaries are handy to check definitions and spelling. Specialized dictionaries include The Fairchild Books Dictionary of Interior Design and A visual Dictionary of Architecture.

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Credo is an easy-to-use tool for starting research. Gather background information on your topic from hundreds of full-text general and subject-specific reference titles, as well as 500,000+ images and audio files and over 1,000 videos.
Off campus access restricted to current KPU students and employees.

The Design Encyclopedia
The most comprehensive design reference guide to date it sets out to provide the factual framework of a discipline whose own historical accounting of itself is still relatively young. covering the last 130 years in the history of the design of furniture, lighting, fabrics, ceramics, glassware, metalware, objects in a range of other materials, and mechanical, electrical and electronic appliances, as well as automobiles and some inventions.
Dictionary of Architecture and Construction
The most trusted reference in architecture offers the most comprehensive coverage of architectural and construction terms available. This classic dictionary now features nearly 25,000 definitions (including 2,800 new terms), 2,500 illustrations (including 200 new illustrations), and maintains its extraordinary visual appeal and easy-to-read page design.
Encyclopedia of Interior Design
This work provides a history of interior decoration and design, from ancient times to the present day. It includes more than 500 illustrated entries covering subjects ranging from the work of the foremost designers, to the origins and function of principal rooms and furnishing types, as well as surveys of interior design by period and nationality.
The Fairchild Books Dictionary of Interior Design
With over 700 illustrations visually aligned with concise definitions of alphabetized entries this dictionary consolidates historic and modern terminology that all interior designers should know for both the residential and commercial sides of industry. Definitions focus on key areas including technology, business practices, green design, universal design, and the global marketplace as well as historic furniture, stylistic features and periods.
Historical Dictionary of Neoclassical Art and Architecture
This dictionary provides an overview of Neoclassicism, focusing on its major artists, architects, stylistic subcategories, ideas, and historical framework of the 18th century style found mainly in Europe and the United States. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, an extensive bibliography, and over 200 dictionary entries on famous artists, sculptors, architects, patrons, and other historical figures and events.
The Oxford Companion to Architecture
The Companion offers complete coverage of architecture from around the world, giving equal weight to architecture in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and South America as to the more familiar examples from Western Europe and the United States, and of both modern and vernacular architecture. It covers all periods, from the beginnings of architecture in ancient Egypt to the present day, and yet is strongly rooted in an approach to architecture that looks at its social, technical, and practical aspects, beyond an art-historical perspective.
Thames and Hudson Dictionary of Design since 1900
This comprehensive A-Z guide embraces all of modern design's numerous manifestations: graphics, products, interiors, furniture, industrial and architectural design. Guy Julier examines not only the work of important designers world-wide, but also the many dramatic changes that have influenced design and its uses in the 20th century. Thus political and ideological concepts, such as feminism and green design, are defined and explained, as are new technological advances, new materials and techniques and influential movements in modern culture.
A Visual Dictionary of Architecture
An essential one-volume reference of architectural topics using Francis D.K. Ching's signature presentation. It is the only dictionary that provides concise, accurate definitions illustrated with finely detailed, hand-rendered drawings. From Arch to Wood, every concept, technology, material and detail important to architects and designers are presented in Ching's unique style.