Research Guides
Research Sites
Titles with a globe icon 
are interdisciplinary sites that bring together information from a wide range of sources. Current sites include classics and medieval studies, film studies, folklore and mythology, Germanic studies, photographic studies, Renaissance studies, Romance languages and literatures, Science Libraries.
Faculty interested in having a research site created for their subject area should visit Programs and Services for Instructors.
Click on the headings below to browse through our guides:
- Guides for First-Time Library Users
Learn the system, hone your research skills
- Evaluating Web Sites
- Interrogating Texts: 6 Reading Habits to Develop in Your First Year at Harvard
- Popular Magazines and Scholarly Journals: Characteristics and Differences
- Threading the Maze: A Guide to the Harvard Libraries
- Translation: A Guide to Harvard Libraries in Plain English
- Guide to Graduate Student Resources
- Guide for Transfer, Visiting and Exchange Students
- Subject Guides
For research in a specific area of study
- African-American Studies: Newspaper Research
- African Video Collections
- Finding Periodical Articles and Book Reviews on Africa
African and African-American Studies
- Science Libraries @ Harvard
- Finding Periodical Articles and Book Reviews on Archaeology
- Getting Started in Astronomy Research
- Beyond the Basics in Astrobiology Research
- Science Libraries @ Harvard
Anthropology & Archaeology
Astronomy
- Getting Started in Biology Research
- Getting Started in Zoology Research
- Beyond the Basics in Astrobiology Research
- Beyond the Basics in Food & Nutrition Research
- Beyond the Basics in Botany Research
- Beyond the Basics in Biomedical Engineering
- Science Libraries @ Harvard
Biological Sciences
- Beyond the Basics in USGS Resources
- Cartography and GIS Links
Cartography/GIS
- Celtic Languages and Literatures: Library Resources for Students, Faculty, and Researchers
Celtic Languages and Literatures
- Getting Started in Chemistry Research
- Beyond the Basics in Chemistry Research: Tools for Keeping Up With the Literature
- Beyond the Basics in Chemical Data Research
- Science Libraries @ Harvard
Chemistry and Chemical Biology
- Inter Libros: Research Guide for Classics & Medieval Studies
- Medieval Studies in Microform to 1500
Classics
- Comparative Literature: Library and Internet Research Guide
Comparative Literature
- Getting Started in Computer Science Research
Computer Science
- Beginner's Guide to Locating and Using Numeric Data
- Education Data Resources
- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Documents
- Foreign Direct Investment Data Resources
- Getting Started in Economics Research
- Great Britain: Guide to the Documents
- Health Data Resources: International
- Health Data Resources: United States
- Inter-governmental Data Resources
- Introduction to Data Resources for Japan
- League of Nations Documents
- Public Opinion Data Resources
- Trade Data Resources
- UNESCO Documents
- United States Census Data Resources
- United Nations Documents
Data (U.S. and International)
- Getting Started in Geology Research
- Beyond the Basics in USGS Resources
- Beyond the Basics in Water Resources Research
- Science Libraries @ Harvard
Earth and Planetary Sciences
- East Asian Studies Research Guide
- Digital Resources for Chinese Studies
- Digital Resources for Japanese Studies
- Digital Resources for Korean Studies
- Finding Images of East Asia at Harvard and Beyond
- Finding Periodical Articles and Book Reviews on South and Southeast Asia
- Introduction to Data Resources for Japan
East Asian Languages and Civilizations
- Getting Started in Engineering and Technology Research
- Beyond the Basics in Biomedical Engineering Research
- Beyond the Basics in Electrical Engineering Research
- Science Libraries @ Harvard
Engineering Sciences
- English and American Literature and Language: Resources for Graduate Students
- English Junior Tutorial and Senior Thesis Library Research Guide
English and American Literature and Language
- Getting Started in Environmental Research
- Beyond the Basics in USGS Materials
- Beyond the Basics in Water Resources
- Science Libraries @ Harvard
Environmental Studies
- Threading the Maze: A Guide to the Harvard Libraries for Students
Expository Writing
- Reel Research:
Research Guide for Film Studies
Film Studies
- Getting Started in Geology Research
- Beyond the Basics in USGS Resources
- Beyond the Basics in Water Resources
- Science Libraries @ Harvard
Geology
- Germanic Research Web: Research Guide for Germanic Studies
Germanic Languages and Literatures
- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Documents
- Great Britain: Guide to the Documents
- League of Nations Documents
- UNESCO Documents
- United Nations Documents
- U.S. Congressional Publications
- U.S. Foreign Broadcast Information Service Daily Reports (FBIS)
- U.S. Presidential Documents
Government
- Finding Periodical Articles and Book Reviews on History
- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Documents
- Great Britain: Guide to the Documents
- League of Nations Documents
- UNESCO Documents
- United Nations Documents
- U.S. Congressional Publications
- U.S. Foreign Broadcast Information Service Daily Reports (FBIS)
- U.S. Presidential Documents
History
- History and Literature: A Guide to Research Resources
History and Literature
- Finding Images of East Asia at Harvard and Beyond
- Guide to Research in History of Art & Architecture
- Online Resources for Medieval Art and Architecture
- Photographica: Research Guide for Photographic Studies
- Reference Tools in Islamic Art and Architecture
History of Art and Architecture
- Finding Periodical Articles and Book Reviews on the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology
- Getting Started in History of Science Research
- Science Libraries @ Harvard
History of Science
- Literature: Library and Internet Resource Guide
- Latin American Literature: A Guide for the General Examinations
- Spanish Literature: A Guide for the General Examinations
Literature
- Beyond the Basics in Biomedical Engineering
- Beyond the Basics in Complementary & Alternative Medicine
- Beyond the Basics in Food & Nutrition Research
- Getting
Started in Health and Medicine Research
- Getting Started in Mind/Brain/Behavior Research
- Science Libraries @ Harvard
Medical Sciences
- Inter Libros: Research Guide for Classics & Medieval Studies
- Medieval Studies in Microform to 1500
- Rinascimento: Research Guide for Renaissance Studies
Medieval Studies
- Reference Tools in Islamic Art and Architecture
- Research in Middle Eastern Studies
- Library Research Guide for the Center for Middle Eastern Studies
Middle Eastern Studies
- Library Research Guide for Near Eastern
Languages and Civilizations Students
Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
- Getting Started in Psychology Research
- Getting Started in Health and Medicine Research
- Getting Started in
Mind/Brain/Behavior Research
- Science Libraries @ Harvard
Psychology
- Rinascimento: Research Guide for Renaissance Studies
Renaissance and Early Modern Studies
- Latin American Literature: A Guide for the General Examinations
- Spanish Literature: A Guide for the General Examinations
- Spanish and Latin American Literature: A Library and Internet Research Guide for Junior Essay and Senior Thesis Writers
- French and Francophone Literature: A Library and Internet Research Guide for Junior Essay and Senior Thesis Writers
- French and Francophone Literature: Library and Internet Research Guide
- Italian Literature: A Library and Internet Research Guide for Junior Essay and Senior Thesis Writers
- Portuguese and Brazilian Literature: A Library and Internet Research Guide for Junior Essay and Senior Thesis Writers
- Romance Languages: Second Language Teaching and Learning
- RLL-Research: Research Guide for Romance Studies
Romance Languages and Literatures
- Slavic and Eurasian Studies: A Research Guide
Russian and Eastern Europe, Central Asia
- Beyond the Basics in Women in Science Research
- Beyond the Basics in Science and Ethics Research
- Science Libraries at Harvard
- Scientific Foreign Language Dictionaries
Science
- Slavic and Eurasian Studies: A Research Guide
Slavic Languages and Literatures
- Getting Started in Mind/Brain/Behavior Research
- Sociology: An Introduction to Library Resources
Sociology
- Beyond the Basics in Women in Science Research
- Researching Women, Gender and Sexuality
Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality
- Slavic and Eurasian Studies: A Research Guide
Ukrainian Studies
- See Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality
Women's Studies
- Course Guides
Guides tailored for specific Harvard courses
(Course Guide Archive)- Celt S-110: Introduction to Irish Myth and Folklore
African American Studies
Celtic Languages and Literatures
- Alex Krieger's Literature and Arts B-20: Designing the American City: Civic Aspirations and Urban Form
- Professor Greene's Historical Studies A-34: Medicine and Society in America
- Bernard Septimus' History 1080: The Jews in Muslim and Christian Spain
- John Huehnergard's Social Analysis 74: Visible Language: Writing Systems, Scripts, and Literacy
- Professor Ian J. Miller's Historical Study B-67: Japan's Modern Revolution
- Professor Hue-Tam Ho Tai's Core Course: Foreign Cultures 60 Individual, Community, and Nation in Vietnam
- Professor Michael Szonyi's Historical Study A-89 Course: The Chinese Overseas
Core
- Jay M. Harris's Culture and Belief 13: The Contested Bible, The Sacred-Secular Dance
- Professor Shigehisa Kuriyama's Culture and Belief 11: Medicine and the Body in East Asia and in Europe
Culture and Belief
- Puzzle Guide for East Asian Studies 210: Asia in the Making of the Modern World, a Graduate Seminar in General Education
- Abé Mark Nornes' Japanese Literature 160: The Pacific War Through Film
- Research Guide for Graduate Students in East Asian Languages and Civilizations
- Melissa M. McCormick's Japanese Literature 133: Gender and Japanese Art
- Helen Hardacre's and Melissa M. McCormick's Japanese History 255: Topics in the Study of Shinto
East Asian Languages and Civilizations
- English 97: Sophomore Seminars
- Elizabeth D. Lyman's English 97 Seminar: Going to Extremes: Literature of Moderation and Excess
English and American Literature and Language
- John McMillian's Expository Writing 20: American Slavery in History and Memory
- Owen Chen's Expository Writing 20: The Art of Representing the Other
- Professor Weitzel's Expository Writing 20/E-25: Travel and the Gods
- Lydia Fillingham's Expository Writing 20: Conformity and Rebellion, Fall 2008
- Rebecca Summerhays' Expository Writing 20: Art and the Emotional Bond
- Ken Urban's Expository Writing 20: Contemporary Theatre
- Threading the Maze: A Guide to the Harvard Libraries for Students
- Sarah Ferguson-Wagstaffe's Expository Writing 20: The Mystery of Identity
- John McMillian's Expository Writing 20: American Slavery in History and Memory
- Emily Shelton's Expository Writing 20: Tales of Murder
Expository Writing
- Felicity Lufkin's Folklore and Mythology 170: Folk Art in the Modern World
Folklore and Mythology
- Ofrit Liviatan's Freshman Seminar 42k: Comparative Law and Religion
- Mariano Siskind's Freshman Seminar 42q: Cosmopolitanism and Globalization: A Latin American Perspective
- Sally Allen Livingston's Freshman Seminar 37i: Love, Medieval Style
- Professor Maxine Isaacs' Freshman Seminar 41p: American Presidential Campaigns and Elections 1960-2008
- Wai-Yee Li's Freshman Seminar 35m: The Story of the Stone
- Ali S. Asani's Freshman Seminar 37y: Muslim Voices in Contemporary World Literatures
- Stephen Marks' Freshman Seminar 42v: Human Rights Between Rhetoric and Reality
- Theodore Macdonald's Freshman Seminar 41g: The Faces of Human Rights in Latin America: Anthropological Perspectives
- Judith Palfrey's Freshman Seminar 24n: Child Health in America
- Sindhumathi Revuluri's Freshman Seminar 33q: Global Pop Music
- John Huehnergard's Freshman Seminar 38g: Back to Life: Lost Languages and Decipherment
- Everett Mendelsohn's Freshman Seminar 43q: Historian and the Genes — From Mendel to Human Clones
- Professors Jacqueline Bhabha and Jennifer Leaning's Freshman Seminar 46p: Human Rights in Peace and War
Freshman Seminars
- Professor Browne and Berry's Science of Living Systems 12: Understanding Darwinism
- Jay M. Harris's Culture and Belief 13: The Contested Bible, The Sacred-Secular Dance
- Professor Shigehisa Kuriyama's Culture and Belief 11: Medicine and the Body in East Asia and in Europe
General Education
- Professor Emad Shahin's Government 1206 Course: Contemporary Political Islam
- Research Guide for Government 1273: The Political Economy of Japan
Government
- Bernard Septimus' History 1080: The Jews in Muslim and Christian Spain
- Puzzle Guide for History 2628: Asia in the Making of the Modern World, a Graduate Seminar in General Education
- Library Guide for History of American Civilization New Graduate Students
History
- HAA 270m: The Ethnographic Imagination
History of Art and Architecture
- History of Science Junior/Senior Tutorial
- Professor Gitelman's History of Science 184v: The Social Life of Paper
History of Science
- Research Guide for the Center for Jewish Studies' Visiting Scholars and Fellows
- A Research Guide for Linguistics 99 Students
Jewish Studies
Linguistics
- Literature: Library and Internet Research Guide
- Literature 163: Jewish Languages and Literature
Literature
- Research Guide for Center for Middle Eastern Studies Graduate Students
Middle East Studies
- African and African American Studies 182: R&B, Soul, and Funk
- Music 201b: Current Methods in Ethnomusicology
- Music 97r: Sophomore Tutorial - Music History and Repertory
- Music 201a: Current Methods in Historical Musicology
- Freshman Seminar 33q: Global Pop Music
- Literature and Arts B-82: Sayin' Something: Jazz as Sound, Sensibility, and Social Dialogue
Music
- Dr. Emily Jane O'Dell's Ancient Near East 110 Seminar: Imag(in)ing Ancient Egypt in the Past, Present, and Future: Ancient Egypt in the Popular Literary, Cinematic, and Theatrical Imagination
Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
- Research Guide for Radcliffe Fellows
Radcliffe Fellows
- East Asia Workshop
Regional Studies
- Nicola Denzey's Religion 43: The Making of Christianity
- Laura Nasrallah's Religion 2348: Archaeology and the World of the New Testament
- Puzzle Guide for Religion 3015: Asia in the Making of the Modern World, a Graduate Seminar in General Education
- Jonathan Schofer's Religion 1035 (Divinity School Religion 3729): Introduction to Comparative Religious Ethics: Character and a Good Life
Religion
- French 102: Introduction to Medieval Literature and Old French
- French 139a: The 18th Century: Self and Society
- French 194: Negotiating Identities in Contemporary Postcolonial Francophone
Literature: From North Africa to the Pacific
- French 231: India and the French Imaginary
- French 255: Metamorphoses of the Vampire
- History of Art and Architecture 270m: The Ethnographic Imagination
- French and Francophone Literature: A Library and Internet Research Guide for Junior Essay and Senior Thesis Writers
- Italian Literature: A Library and Internet Research Guide for Junior Essay and Senior Thesis Writers
- Portuguese and Brazilian Literature: A Library and Internet Research Guide for Junior Essay and Senior Thesis Writers
- Spanish and Latin American Literature: A Library and Internet Research Guide for Junior Essay and Senior Thesis Writers
Romance Languages and Literatures
- Library Course Guide for Russian, Eastern European, and Central Asian Studies (REECA) Graduate Students and Visiting Researchers
Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies
- Library Course Guide for Nicole D. Newendorp's Social Studies 98gf: Modernity and Social Change in East Asia
Social Studies
- Library Guide for the 2009 Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute
- Professor Lekus's Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality 1177. AIDS: Politics, Culture, and Science
- WGS 1241: Race-Gendered Adolescence
Ukrainian Studies
Women, Gender, and Sexuality
- Guides for Using Online Research Tools
Navigating the HOLLIS catalog, using RefWorks, etc.
- Using RefWorks, EndNote, and Other Citation Tools
- Searching the HOLLIS (Harvard Online Library Information System) Classic Catalog
- Searching the Citation Indexes (Web of Science) - includes Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index
- Guide to World Biographical Information System
- A Scholarly Guide to Google
- Truncation Symbols in Major E-Resources
- Using RefWorks, EndNote, and Other Citation Tools
- Guides for Identifying Sources
of InformationHelp locating periodicals, government documents,
numeric data, etc.- Finding Book Reviews
Book Reviews
- Beginner's Guide to Locating and Using Data
- Education Data Resources
- Foreign Direct Investment Data Resources
- Getting Started in Economics Research
- Great Britain: Guide to the Documents
- Health Data Resources: International
- Health Data Resources: United States
- Inter-Governmental Data Resources
- Introduction to Data Resources for Japan
- League of Nations Documents
- Public Opinion Data Resources
- Trade Data Resources
- UNESCO Documents
- United States Census Data Resources
- United Nations Documents
Data (U.S. and International)
- Finding Dissertations and Theses
Dissertations and Theses
- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Documents
- Great Britain: Guide to the Documents
- League of Nations Documents
- UNESCO Documents
- United Nations Documents
- U.S. Congressional Publications
- U.S. Foreign Broadcast Information Service Daily Reports (FBIS)
- U.S. Presidential Documents
Government Documents
- Finding Songs in Collections
- Finding Concert Reviews
Music
Music Reviews
- Widener Collection of Newspapers on Microfilm
Newspapers in Microform
- Digital Resources Guide for Japanese Studies
- Finding Articles in General and Popular Periodicals (North America and Western Europe)
- Finding Periodical Articles and Book Reviews on Africa
- Finding Periodical Articles and Book Reviews on Archaeology
- Finding Periodical Articles and Book Reviews on History
- Finding Periodical Articles and Book Reviews on South and Southeast Asia
- Finding Periodical Articles and Book Reviews on the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology
- Finding Periodical Articles and Book Reviews on Latin America
- U.S. Foreign Broadcast Information Service Daily Reports (FBIS)
Periodicals
- Public Opinion Data Resources
Public Opinion Polls
- Guides for Instructors
Integrating library resources into course material
