This informational guide is intended to provide an introduction to the Harvard Libraries for students new to Harvard College who are transfering from other schools and universities. It includes selective lists of reference resources, both online and in print, which will lead to books, articles, reviews, media, and websites.
Overview of the Harvard Libraries
The "Harvard University Library" is actually more than ninety libraries supporting research throughout Harvard University. At which of these libraries will you end up doing most of your work? The answer to this question will vary depending on your needs.
Widener Library is the single largest library at Harvard. It holds one of the world's most comprehensive research collections in the humanities and social sciences. The Lamont Library is the undergraduate library at Harvard. It is open 24 hours a day/5 days a week, offers a variety of study spaces, and has a cafe. The Government Documents/Microforms at Lamont Library is a United States federal government depository, and also has the official documents of 160 foreign governments and many international organizations, including the UN and the EU.
To get most books and journal articles in any of these libraries, you will need to find the call number (also known as the classification number) for each book or journal and then locate it in the library stacks. You can find the location and call number for almost all books and journals owned by Harvard libraries in HOLLIS, the online library catalog.
Finding Books
To find books in the Harvard libraries, go to the HOLLIS Catalog. Once you're in HOLLIS, we suggest the following basic ways to search:
Do a "Keywords anywhere" search if:
- You are looking for a topic but don't know an exact subject heading
For example:multiculturalism Europe migration - You are looking for a specific work and know the topic but not the
exact title
For example: European integration and diversity - You are looking for a specific work and know the author's last name
and what it is about
For example: money laundering EU and Alexander - You know the last names of two or more authors or editors of a work
For example: Arbatov Kaiser
Do a "Title beginning with..." or "Author (last name first)" search if:
- You know the exact title or the beginning of the title
For example: postsocialism ideals ideology - You know at least the author's last name and first initial
For example: colton, t
Tips
- Go to the Expanded Search screen to create more complicated searches and to limit results
- Use ? to truncate search words: democra?
- Put " "around words to search them as a phrase: “French nationalism”
- Click on Save/Mail when you are looking at a record to e-mail search results to yourself
- When you find a relevant book in HOLLIS click on any SUBJECTS listed on the screen to find more books on that topic.
Finding Journal Articles and Book Reviews
To find journal articles, you'll need to consult journal indexes and databases. To find out what indexes Harvard has electronically or to browse e-journal collections, go to:
Once you click on E-Research @ Harvard Libraries, use "find e-resources" to find all resources except online journals, for which find e-journals is used. When looking for journal article databases or collections of journals (such as JSTOR), use find e-resources.
Below is a list of some of the journal indexes and databases that may be useful to you. Remember that if you are outside of a library, you will need to use your Harvard ID number and PIN number to access these resources.
Academic Search Premier (ASP): A multi-disciplinary database that includes citations and abstracts from over 4,500 English-language scholarly journals, magazines and newspapers.
Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO): A comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs.
Historical Abstracts: A database that offers annotated citations to journal articles on topics from the Renaissance to the present. All abstracts are written in English. In addition to articles, Historical Abstracts includes citations to historical books and to abstracts of dissertations completed worldwide of particular interest for historical research.
JSTOR: A digital archive of the back issues of many scholarly journals. Content in JSTOR spans many disciplines, primarily in the humanities and social sciences.
LexisNexis: LexisNexis Academic provides access to thousands of news, business, legal, and medical publications and information sources, including: newspapers, newsletters, magazines, trade journals, wire services, and broadcast transcripts. Additionally LexisNexis Academic offers international resources in French, Italian, and German.
Web of Science: The Web of Science (citation indexes) is a multidisciplinary database, with searchable author abstracts, covering the journal literature of the sciences, social sciences and arts.
When You Have a Citation to an Article
When you have a citation to a journal article look for the full text of the article by following these instructions:
-
If you're in a Harvard Libraries e-resource and see a
button, click on it. A new screen will open that provides a link to
an electronic version of your article, if available. If there is no
link to an electronic version of your article then follow the link to
the HOLLIS Catalog, which will show you which Harvard libraries own
a paper copy.
-
If you're not in a Harvard Libraries e-resource:
1. Open a browser window and go to HOLLIS. At the bottom of the screen, click on the link for Citation Linker.
2. Enter as much of the article's citation information as you have (e.g. journal title, date, volume number, etc.), then click on.
3. A new screen will open that provides a link to an electronic version of your article, if available. If there is no link to an electronic version of your article then follow the link to the HOLLIS Catalog, which will show you which Harvard libraries own a paper copy.
If the
does not bring you to either an electronic version of your article or
a HOLLIS Catalog record, then:
1. Go to the Harvard
Libraries site and click on 
in the upper left-hand corner.
2. Once you're in HOLLIS, click on "Journals"
in the menu at the top of the screen.
3. Search for the title of the journal in which the
article appeared:
a) In the "Browse an Alphabetical List" menu, click on "Journal title beginning with..."
b) Type the title of the journal in the search window, then click on the "Browse" button.
c) Select the matching title in the Browse List.
d) If more than one title is displayed, select the one that is the closest match. The record for that title will show you which Harvard libraries own paper copies of the journal you need.
e) See Locating Journals for instructions on how to locate the paper copy in a library.
Useful Web Sites
hcl.harvard.edu: A Research Tool for Library Users
Searching the HOLLIS (Harvard OnLine Library Information System) Catalog
Threading the Maze: A Guide to the Harvard Libraries for Students
Citing Sources
Citation Management Tools
Style Manuals
The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.
Lamont REFERENCE READY REF Z253 .U69 2003
Widener Atkins Reference Desk RR 2117.4.2
Widener Phillips Reading Room WID-LC Phillips Z253 .U69 2003
For more locations, see the HOLLIS record for this book
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly
Publishing. 2nd ed. New York: Modern Language Association
of America, 1998.
Lamont Reference Room PN147.G444 1998
Lamont PN 147 .G444 1998
Lamont Reference Room Ready Reference PN147.G444 1998
Widener Loker Reading Room RR 2117.7.5
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association.
5th ed. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 2001.
Lamont Library REFERENCE BF 76.7 .P83 2001
Widener Loker Reading Room RR 2117.10
For more locations, see the HOLLIS Record for
this book.
Citing Electronic Resources
Walker, Janice R. The Columbia Guide to Online Style.
New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.
Also available in the print version at:
Widener Loker Reading Room RR 2117.45.10
Lamont Reference Room PN 171.F56 W35 1998
Online:
a Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources
From Bedford St Martin's, detailed advice for citing online sources. “Citation
styles” gives links to descriptions of MLA, APA, Chicago and CBE
styles as well as citation styles for WWW sites, e-mail messages, listservs,
newsgroups, etc.
Contacts for Further Research Assistance
To schedule a research consultation, please contact a research librarian in your subject area listed on the List of Research Contacts.