Authority Construction: Engaging Students in Architectural Publication Practices

Students struggle to identify and critically evaluate creators of architectural information, as well as, to assertively disseminate their own creations to the larger academic and practice-based architectural community. This paper explores how architecture librarians can craft instructional activities and research resources to unpack the ways that architects, scholars, and the publishing industry construct authority in the discipline. Library instructional examples will pull from lower and upper levels courses covering topics like voices which are and are not included in architectural publications, guidelines for credit and attribution, and writing styles in trade versus academic journals. The presentation will also explore how librarians can create resources, displays, and social media campaigns that reinforce and expand on these learning goals while drawing attention to social justice topics and emerging architectural information outlets. In order impactfully share their thoughts and creations, students need to be able to deconstruct the current landscape of architectural publishing and find models to cultivate their own authoritative voice