Programs and Services for Faculty and Instructors

HCL provides a variety of programs and services designed to complement the teaching and research programs of FAS departments. Below is a representative sampling. For more information please contact Susan Fliss, Associate Librarian for Research, Teaching, and Learning, e-mail or 617-495-2401.

Library Liaisons and Research Contacts

The Library Liaison program affiliates a librarian with an FAS department, academic committee, or program.  Liaisons establish ongoing relationships within departments and collaborate with faculty and instructors on creating and teaching library-related classes.  They meet with students and faculty, provide one-on-one consultation, develop course research guides, develop library-related content for course iSites, assist in designing assignments to develop student research skills, and provide general reference services to the department’s faculty and students.

The current Library Liaisons can be found on the HCL web site within the Research Contacts list. These individuals can arrange for any of the services mentioned in this directory.  If you would like more information about the program, please contact Susan Fliss, Associate Librarian for Research, Teaching, and Learning, at
e-mail or 617-495-2401.

In addition to the Liaisons, faculty can work with Research Contacts who are librarians with subject or language specialties. 

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Library Services for Faculty and Instructors

Services can be arranged through your department's Library Liaison, a Research Contact, or by contacting Susan Fliss, Associate Librarian for Research, Teaching, and Learning, e-mail or 617-495-2401.

Locating and Linking E-Resources to Course Web Sites

Librarians can help instructors identify and locate e-resources and link them from course web pages, giving students direct access to online readings.  This may help reduce the size and cost of printed course packs.  Contact the department’s Library Liaison for assistance.  For detailed instruction, see the research guide Linking to Harvard Library E-Resources.

Assembling Source Materials for Courses

Librarians can help instructors assemble course reading materials.  In addition, the HCL research guide Assembling Course Source Materials provides directions on finding, preparing, and presenting source materials.  This guide also discusses when to put books on reserve versus when to create links to full-text articles from the course syllabus or from a reading list on the course site.

The libraries will also assist instructors with course reserve readings.  Support includes processing requests from faculty and identifying, locating, photocopying, and sometimes purchasing or borrowing materials.  When possible, readings will be made available online by either digitizing print materials or linking to electronic resources.  The following HCL libraries participate in the reserves program:  Cabot, Fine Arts, Fung, Harvard-Yenching, Lamont, Loeb Music, and Tozzer.  For additional information, see the Course Reserves page.

Preparing a Library Research Class

A librarian can work with an instructor to design a research class that is tailored to the specific goals of the course and covers the resources the instructor would like the students to use in their research.  Library instruction often includes an introduction to research strategies and demonstrations of specific online databases and other research tools.

Instructors who wish to schedule a class can do so online via the Schedule a Class form.  

For more information about scheduling instruction, contact the department’s Library Liaison or Susan Fliss, Associate Librarian of Harvard College for Research, Teaching, and Learning, at 617-495-2401 or via e-mail.

Creating Research Guides

Research guides created by HCL librarians give detailed advice on how to use the libraries to conduct research.  Librarians will also collaborate with instructors to create course-specific guides. 

For a complete listing, visit HCL Research Guides.  The guides are also accessible via the E-Research site.

Creating Library iSites

In collaboration with faculty and departments, HCL librarians are developing a series of subject-specific research sites and guides using the iSites platform. These highly-customized research tools contain links to library print and e-resources, special collections, scholarly web sites, HCL research contacts, and more. Individual topics or pages from these guides can be integrated directly into FAS course web pages. Please contact the department's Library Liaison for additional information.

Consulting One-on-One

Research librarians in any of the HCL libraries will schedule individual consultations with you to collaborate on course needs or with students to assist them in effective use of library resources or to devise strategies for class assigments, theses, dissertations, and other research project.

Students are often unaware of this service, so we encourage you to enlighten them!

Purchasing New Library Materials

Harvard College Library’s collections support scholarship and teaching across the University’s broad range of academic programs.  Bibliographers, Library Liaisons, curators, and other collection development librarians are available to discuss information needs and potential acquisitions with faculty and students. For a contact list, please see Collection Development Librarians by Subjects and Regions.

Faculty who wish to request the purchase of specific library materials can do so via the online Purchase Request form.

For additional information, please contact Dan Hazen, the Associate Librarian of Harvard College for Collection Development, e-mail or 617-495-2425.

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