Design and technology databases
Databases are a good place to start searching for current research and online journal articles.
- Bloomsbury Applied Visual ArtsOver 170 books which combine visual inspiration with practical advice on idea generation, research techniques and portfolio development across the main visual arts disciplines.
- Berg fashion LibraryAn online portal which offers cross-searchable access to a range of Berg content collections – including the Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion online, e-books, reference works, images, and more.
- Art and Architecture SourceBroad range of subjects, from fine, decorative and commercial art, to various areas of architecture and architectural design. Includes full text as well as indexing and abstracts for journals, books and more.
- Academic Search CompleteLarge, multi-disciplinary, full text and index database. Includes peer-reviewed journals and other publications such as books, reports and conference proceedings.
- ProQuest Design & Applied Arts Index (DAAI)Abstracts and bibliographic records for articles, news items, and reviews published in design and applied arts journals from 1973 onwards.
- JSTORAcademic journals, books, and primary sources in the arts and humanities.
- Techstreet: Standards AustraliaThis database provides full text access to all current Australian Standards, Joint ISO/Australian Standards, Joint NZ/Australian Standards, current Draft Australian Standards, amendments to Australian Standards and most Standards Australia handbooks.
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To view standards: - Web of Science Core CollectionFood Science and Technology Abstracts can be explored through this database, which also includes scholarly literature from the fields of science and technology.
- ScienceDirect - Freedom CollectionSearch for peer-reviewed journals, articles, book chapters and open access content in technology, engineering and materials science.
Video databases can be a good source for documentaries on current industry topics, as well as videos demonstrating processes and working with various materials.
- InformitInformit provides access to the video database EduTV. Find videos related to design, sustainability, robotics and more by entering your terms in the search box, choose Video and Sound from the Content Type drop-down menu, then look left to further refine results.
- KanopySearch this video database for documentaries and TV programs related to food technology, resistant materials, robotics, design, textiles and sustainability.
Consult media sources to keep up to date with changes in industry, news related to STEM and Design & Technology education and magazines featuring craft, textiles and woodworking projects.
- InformitInformit provides access to TVNews, a collection of digitised video content from Australian television news and current affairs programs and selected documentaries from free-to-air networks. Enter keywords in the search box, choose Video and Sound from the Content Type drop-down menu, then look left to further refine results.
- ProQuest Australia & New Zealand NewsstreamProvides access to the full text of major Australian and New Zealand newspapers, including radio transcripts and news from current affairs television programs such as ABC's 7.30 Report.
Design, creativity and innovation
Design Thinking by Publication Date: 2015This book shows you how to bridge the gap between the strategic importance of design and the tactical approach of design thinking. You'll learn how to approach new product development from a fresh perspective, with a focus on systematic, targeted thinking that results in a repeatable, human-centered problem-solving process. Integrating high-level discussion with practical, actionable strategy, this book helps you re-tool your thought processes in a way that translates well beyond product development.
The Intergalactic Design Guide by Publication Date: 2018The Intergalactic Design Guide shows how social design can help address our most pressing challenges, from poverty to climate change. Social design offers a new approach to navigate uncertainty, increase creativity, strengthen relationships, and develop our capacity to collaborate. From disrupting the notion of “expert” by seeking meaningful input from many voices to guiding progress through open-ended questions instead of five-year plans, social design changes how humans relate to each other, with powerful positive impacts.
The Creative Process: Perspectives from Multiple Domains by Publication Date: 2018The creative process refers to the sequence of thoughts and actions that are involved in the production of new work that is both original and valuable in its context. This book examines this process across various domains including engineering and design. It characterizes each domain’s creative process based on evidence stemming from creators’ accounts of their own activity and a range of observational material and theories specific to each field.
Creativity in Engineering by Publication Date: 2015Creativity in Engineering focuses on the Process, Person, Product, and Place to understand when and why creativity happens in the engineering environment and how it can be further encouraged. Applies findings in creativity research to the engineering arena; defines engineering creativity and differentiates it from innovation; discusses personality and motivational factors that impact creativity; clarifies the role of creativity in the design process and details the impact of thinking skills and strategies in creativity.
Idea Searching for Design by Publication Date: 2016Idea Searching examines methods of generating and identifying ideas and teaches you to understand what is being observed and recorded. Using illustrations, case studies and practical examples, it explores how different experiences, contexts and references are important in identifying an idea that is appropriate for a particular individual, target audience or culture.
The innovation expedition : a visual toolkit to start innovation by Publication Date: 2013Innovation is highly relevant to every organization. Yet, eighty percent of innovation projects never reach the market. Many have a false start. The Innovation Expedition is written to inspire you with practical tools on how to start innovation effectively.
Materials for Design by Publication Date: 2014As well as standard and widely available materials, this book contains information on emerging materials such as smart materials and self-healing plastics, explaining how they can be used and offering a guide to material selection for designers.
Dictionaries and encyclopaediae are handy for gathering background information when you start researching a topic. They can help you clarify topics and identify related concepts and terms which you can use to develop a search strategy.
- Palgrave Key Concepts: Key Concepts in Innovation
A glossary providing explanations of the major terms in the field of innovation, covering areas such as product development, design and creativity. - Product Design
Product Design offers a broad introduction to the field of product design and the key role of product designers from concept design to manufacture, prototyping and marketing. - Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability: Natural Resources and Sustainability
Scientists, ecologists, social scientists, and other expert authors focus on innovative approaches to sustainable resource management while encouraging readers to examine underlying assumptions and motivations of unsustainable use in the past.
Database searching allows you to find articles from many journals, but you can also search within a specific journal. This will limit your results, but can be useful if your topic corresponds to the journal's focus. To search more widely, choose a Design and Technology Database.
- International Journal of Art & Design Education
An international forum for research in art and creative education. It is the primary source for the dissemination of independently refereed articles about the visual arts, creativity, crafts, design, and art history, in all aspects, phases and types of education and learning contexts. - Thinking Skills and Creativity
This journal identifies and details critical issues in the future of learning and teaching of creativity, as well as innovations in teaching for thinking. - Technology & Engineering TeacherThis journal is a peer-reviewed resource for technology education professionals. Content includes reports of current trends in technology and engineering education, technology and learning activities, program articles and news.
- Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology
This peer-reviewed journal aims to expand knowledge in the engineering, design and technology sectors and provide an international forum for the interchange of information and current issues from around the world.
Food technology
The Food Industry Innovation School by Publication Date: 2015Innovation and new product development are increasingly perceived as drivers of profits in the food industry. Companies are dedicating a large amount of resources to these areas and it is crucial that individuals understand how to be part of this new strategy. Food Industry Innovation School focuses on key skills needed to drive new ideas from initial concepts through to successful products on the shelf. Case studies from the marketplace provide valuable examples of accomplishments and failures.
Megatrends in Food and Agriculture by Publication Date: 2017Highlights and examines the growing convergence between the food and agricultural industries--the technological, environmental, and consumer-related drivers of this change, and the potential outcomes. This book connects food and the food industry with agriculture, water resources, and water management in a detailed and thorough way. It brings together expert authors to address the future of the food industry, agriculture (both for plants and animals), and water--and its role in a world of increasing demands on resources.
Australia's Role in Feeding the World by Publication Date: 2017This highly topical book draws together the latest intelligence on the sustainable production and distribution of food and other products from Australian farms.
Food Nutrition, Science and Technology by Publication Date: 2018This book provides a comprehensive picture on three aspects of food.Part I: Food nutrition, which covers fundamental of food and nutrition, macro nutrients, micro nutrients, nutritive value of plant and animal based food and dietary allowance in normal life cycle and in various diseases.Part II: Food science which includes food sources, nutritional benefits maximization, food selection, food storage, food enzymes, food additives, food preservation techniques, food quality evaluation and food packaging.Part III: Food technology which deals processing techniques, processing waste utilization and food safety.
Culinary Turn by Publication Date: 2017Kitchen, cooking, nutrition, and eating have become omnipresent cultural topics. They stand at the centre of design, gastronomy, nutrition science, and agriculture. Artists have appropriated cooking as an aesthetic practice - in turn, cooks are adapting the staging practices that go with an artistic self-image. This development is accompanied by a philosophy of cooking as a speculative cultural technique. This volume investigates the dimensions of a new "culinary turn," combining for the very first time contributions from the theory and practice of cooking.
Culinary Nutrition by Publication Date: 2013This book is designed to bridge the relationship between food science, nutrition and culinology as well as consumer choices for diet, health and enjoyment.
Dictionaries and encyclopaediae are handy for gathering background information when you start researching a topic. They can help you clarify topics and identify related concepts and terms which you can use to develop a search strategy.
- A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition
This online dictionary contains over 6,000 entries covering all aspects of food and nutrition, diet and health. Provides clear explanations of even the most technical of nutritional terms. - Dictionary of Food: International Food and Cooking Terms from A to Z
Gives short definitions of terms, many of non-English origin, so that the chef and the amateur enthusiast, the gastronome and the student may quickly determine the meaning. - Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise
This dictionary enables users to evaluate the claims made about different diets and types of exercise. It covers all matters relating to diet and exercise including diet methods, food supplements, sex and exercise, sports injuries, anatomy, energy-related terms, and more. - Benders' Dictionary of Nutrition and Food Technology
Provides succinct, authoritative definitions of over 6100 terms in nutrition and food technology. Also includes nutrient composition data for foods and an appendix with nutrient intake and other useful data. - Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition
A four-volume set containing nearly 300 articles with concise, up-to-date information covering epidemiology of diet-related diseases, functional foods, food safety, clinical nutrition and gastrointestinal disorders.
Database searching allows you to find articles from many journals, but you can also search within a specific journal. This will limit your results, but can be useful if your topic corresponds to the journal's focus. To search more widely, choose a Design and Technology Database.
- Food Australia
The official publication of the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology. - International Journal of Food Design
This journal is dedicated to food design research and practice and aims to create a platform for researchers operating in the various disciplines that contribute to the understanding of food design. - The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior
A refereed, scientific periodical that serves as a resource for all professionals with an interest in nutrition education and dietary/physical activity behaviors. - Food, Culture and Society
Explores the complex relationships among food, culture, and society from numerous disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. - Nutrition & Dietetics
Peer-reviewed journal of the Dietitians Association of Australia. Provides a forum for the reporting, discussion and development of scientifically credible knowledge related to human nutrition and dietetics. - Annual review of food science and technology
This journal covers current and significant developments in the multidisciplinary field of food science and technology.
Resistant materials
Woodworking by Publication Date: 2019Featuring 1,000 full-colour illustrations, easy-to-follow diagrams, and step-by-step instructions, Woodworking takes you through setting up a workshop to the principles of good design, how to use tools and essential techniques. It covers choosing wood, measuring, marking and layout, cutting, joinery, drilling, shaping, clamping, gluing, fastening, finishing and more. Includes 41 project plans.Woodworking with Power Tools: Tools, Techniques & Projects by
Publication Date: 2019In Woodworking with Power Tools, expert craftspeople explain how they choose, maintain, and use every kind of power tool, from tablesaws to plunge routers, bandsaws to bench planers. There’s advice on tool maintenance, techniques for getting the most from your tools, and projects made using power tools with clear photographs and drawings, and step-by-step instructions.
Woodworker's guide to bending wood by Publication Date: 2009Techniques for bending wood are presented in step-by-step photo sequences showing: bending green wood or twigs, bending with heat or steam, and bending panels or laminations. There are seven step-by-step projects presented, including shaker boxes, a bow for an arrow, a rustic chair, the sides of a guitar, and bent panels used for tables and pedestals.
Learn to Turn by Publication Date: 2018Barry Gross, an artist and professional woodturner, offers expert instruction, valuable tips and common-sense advice for wood turning. Discover how to select the lathe that's right for you, the basics of turning tools, and the fundamentals of sharpening, sanding and finishing. Includes step-by-step projects, a troubleshooting section will simple solutions to common turning mistakes and an artist gallery of completed works.
Making Silver Jewellery by Publication Date: 2014This book explains more than 40 processes, including the more advanced techniques such as fold forming and keum-boo, and encourages the reader to experiment with their own designs. Included are step-by-step explanations with bench tips and advice on the jewelry process, including how to gather inspiration for designs and considerations for making wearable jewelry. There is also a chapter dedicated to the surface finishing and polishing of silver.
Fold Forming for Jewellers and Metalsmiths by Publication Date: 2017Fold forming is a creative and dynamic way to manipulate metal. This practical guide explains the process, starting with simple line folds and showing how a few techniques can reveal the rich potential of the method.
Sheet Metal Work by Publication Date: 2014This guide to working with sheet metal parts explains how to use hand tools and machines to produce ambitious work of a high standard. Topics include the use of tools such as snips, nibblers, folders, the jenny, the flypress, punches and dies; and techniques for manufacturing a wide range of sheet metal parts. Features practical projects applying techniques and tools.
Dictionaries and encyclopaediae are handy for gathering background information when you start researching a topic. They can help you clarify topics and identify related concepts and terms which you can use to develop a search strategy.
- Dictionary of Industrial Terms
Covers the process, manufacturing, and areas of engineering. Included are figures and tables behind process control, instrumentation, reliability, machinery, asset management, lubrication, and corrosion. - Newnes Dictionary of Electronics
A reference for electronics engineers, managers, technicians and students, featuring clear and concise definitions, supported by illustrations and circuit diagrams. - Furniture Design
A resource for students and furniture designers that answers questions about function, materials, manufacture and sustainability, integrating guidance on these subjects – particularly material and manufacturing properties. - Dictionary of Engineering Terms
This dictionary contains entries covering engineering science, electrical and electronic engineering, workshop practices and mechanical engineering. Each entry is defined in plain English and illustrated to further aid understanding. - A Dictionary of Mechanical Engineering
Defines mechanical engineering terms in the areas of design, stress analysis, dynamics and vibrations, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics. Topics also covered include heat transfer, combustion, control, lubrication, robotics, instrumentation, and measurement. - Dictionary of Architecture and Construction
This dictionary offers comprehensive coverage of architectural and construction terms, updated to cover new industry terms that have emerged due to changes in engineering and building technologies.
Database searching allows you to find articles from many journals, but you can also search within a specific journal. This will limit your results, but can be useful if your topic corresponds to the journal's focus. To search more widely, choose a Design and Technology Database.
- Fine Woodworking
This magazine has projects and plans and free workshop videos and articles. - Woodworkers Journal
This magazine has articles covering woodworking skills, project design, milling, joining and fastening and more. It also contains free plans and videos. - Journal of Cellular Plastics
A peer-reviewed international journal that publishes original research and review articles covering the latest advances in foamed plastics technology. - Metal Science and Heat Treatment
Covers fundamental, practical issues of physical metallurgy, new achievements in heat treatment of alloys, surface engineering, and heat treatment equipment.
Textiles
Woven Textile Design by Publication Date: 2014Starting with the basics, Woven Textile Design looks at how to draw up and interpret records and notation, before explaining how different types of cloth are constructed. From basic plain weaves, through twill weaves, textured weaves such as seersucker, crepe, and corded cloths to more complicated designs, a wide range of patterns are covered. The book is illustrated with diagrams, weaving plans, and examples from contemporary designers, and also includes tips on using different yarns and colours.
Sourcing and Selecting Textiles for Fashion by Publication Date: 2013Following a brief look at the historical growth of fashion textiles in industry and culture, this book explores the manufacturing, design, sourcing and end-use of fashion textiles. Natural and man-made fibres are discussed along with current woven, knit and non-woven production methods. A variety of industrial and custom surface design techniques including dye, print, embellishment and fabric manipulation are covered. Trend, inspiration, colour, creating the collection and how to enhance design through textile choice and surface design are included. A perspective of current innovation and sustainability is offered in each area.
Designing with Smart Textiles by Publication Date: 2016Beginning by introducing the terminology and key applications, this book then examines the key design processes needed to develop interactive textile design concepts, with detailed projects and examples to help you apply these approaches in your own practice. Case studies and interviews with innovative designers introduce you to different artistic and technological practices and demonstrate how world-leading researchers are creating new technologies, yarns, fabrics, and applications.
Textile Messages by Publication Date: 2013Textile Messages focuses on the emerging field of electronic textiles, or e-textiles, articles of clothing, home furnishings, or architectures that include embedded computational and electronic elements. This book introduces a collection of tools that enable novices to create and learn with e-textiles.
Fashion and Textile Design with Photoshop and Illustrator: Professional Creative Practice by Publication Date: 2016Designer and educator Robert Hume guides you from novice to expert through eighteen carefully crafted projects, using Adobe Photoshop ® and Illustrator ®. You'll start by mastering layers and custom brushes, and learning about stripes and weaves, before moving on to repeats and colorways, and simple geometry, and finally learning key layout and presentation techniques in both programs.
Digital Textile Design (2nd ed.) by Publication Date: 2012Written specifically for textile designers, Digital Textile Design provides the know-how for those who wish to use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator as design tools.
Dictionaries and encyclopaediae are handy for gathering background information when you start researching a topic. They can help you clarify topics and identify related concepts and terms which you can use to develop a search strategy.
- Encyclopedia of Clothing and FashionA survey of clothing, costume and fashion, including the origins of clothing and body adornment, the development of fabrics and technologies, and the social meanings of dress, as well as representative costumes from a wide range of historical eras.
- Fashion Design
This book offers a grounding in the principles of fashion design, describing the qualities and skills needed to become a fashion designer, examining the varied career opportunities available and giving an inside view of the fashion business today. - Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the AgesProvides an overview of costume traditions of diverse cultures from prehistoric times to the present day.
- Textile Design
This book offers students and those wishing to enter a career in textile design a basic grounding in its three main disciplines - printed, woven and mixed media.
Database searching allows you to find articles from many journals, but you can also search within a specific journal. This will limit your results, but can be useful if your topic corresponds to the journal's focus. To search more widely, choose a Design and Technology Database.
- Fashion Theory
Fashion Theory takes as its starting point a definition of “fashion” as the cultural construction of the embodied identity. It provides an interdisciplinary forum for the rigorous analysis of cultural phenomena ranging from footbinding to fashion advertising. - International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education
International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education aims to provide a quality peer-reviewed forum for research in fashion design, pattern cutting, apparel production, manufacturing technology and fashion education. - Selvedge
Selvedge is a design-led, 100-page, bi-monthly magazine that covers various aspects of textiles, including interiors, fashion, art and craft. - Surface Design Journal
Each issue of SDA Journal is designed around a theme. It may focus on a technique, such as hand embroidery; a genre, as in mixed media; aesthetic directions, like soft sculpture; or a part of the world, such as Africa. - Textile: the Journal of Cloth & Culture
A peer-reviewed journal that “provides a platform for points of departure between art and craft; gender and identity; cloth, body and architecture; labor and technology; techno-design and practice—all situated within the broader contexts of material and visual culture”. - Textile History
A peer-reviewed journal that features articles dealing with aspects of the cultural and social history of apparel and textiles, as well as issues arising from the exhibition, preservation and interpretation of historic textiles or clothing.
Websites
- Food Standards Australia and New ZealandFood Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is a statutory authority in the Australian Government Health portfolio. Includes feature articles, consumer information and a nutrition panel calculator and a food composition database.
- Nutrition AustraliaNutrition Australia is a non-government, non-profit, community based-organisation that aims to promote the health and wellbeing of Australians.
- Cook's ScienceAn offshoot of America’s Test Kitchen, this website reports on news stories from the world of food and science and features innovative recipes and videos.
- Department of Agriculture and Water Resources: Agriculture, Farming and FoodThis government website provides analysis and statistics on the Australian food industry and includes information on food regulation and safety, publications and links to other Australian Government departments involved with matters relating to food.
- NHMRC Guidelines for Nutrition & DietPresents dietary guidelines from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.
- NHMRC Nutrient Reference ValuesThe NRV's (nutrient reference values) are a set of recommendations for nutritional intake based on currently available scientific knowledge.
- How products are madeA comprehensive website that details the manufacturing process of a wide variety of products, from daily household items to complicated electronic equipment and heavy machinery. Each product also has information such as how the item works, who invented the product, raw materials, product applications, by-products that are generated, possible future developments and quality control procedures.
- Popular woodworkingThis site contains information on techniques such as finishing, basics, joinery and shaping. It has a woodworking glossary, free videos and current free issues of Popular Wood Making Magazine
- The Wood DatabaseThis comprehensive site contains wood profiles, a wood identification guide and a periodic table of wood, organized by the geographic origin of the trees. Articles are also freely available on identifying wood, health and safety and mechanical properties of wood.
- Modern Machine ShopThis site can be used for researching metalworking processes, reviewing products and locating metalworking suppliers. It includes techonolgy articles, educational presentations and videos of metalworking techniques. Modern Machine Shop is also a monthly American trade magazine .
Australian industry and government bodies
- Australian Fashion CouncilThe Australian Fashion Council (AFC) promotes the growth of the textile & fashion industry in Australia. The AFC views ‘fashion’ as encompassing the entire spectrum of the value chain, from students to multinational companies, shopping centres to fibre growers, from the product to the consumer.
- Department of Industry, Innovation and ScienceAustralian Government Department devoted to enabling growth and productivity for globally competitive industries.
Textile and fibre websites
- Fibre2FashionProvides current information on the trade, trends and technologies in apparel and textile industries.
- Textile SourceA database to search for textile manufacturers and suppliers from around the world.
Sustainability
- Clean Clothes CampaignA website dedicated to improving working conditions in the global garment industry.
- Ecotextile NewsEnvironment and sustainability focused online magazine for the global textile and clothing supply chain.
- Ethical Clothing AustraliaECA endeavours to create a better industry by promoting ethical standards, supporting local industry and businesses, eliminating exploitation and improving the lives of vulnerable workers.
- Textiles Environment DesignTED develops practice-based sustainable design strategies to assist designers to create textiles with a reduced environmental impact.
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Last reviewed: 12 January 2022