Please Note: This page was created in a previous semester. It may be useful to those who are interested in seeing the work we have done in the past. Some links may no longer be active, and the Library will not be updating them. If you wish to visit a site with an inactive link, please consider using a search engine or contacting a reference librarian for assistance.
The Harvard College Libraries
The Harvard College Library (HCL) is actually eleven different libraries, located in buildings all over the Harvard campus. To get an overview of these libraries, visit Threading the Maze, a start-to-finish guide useful to anyone trying to familiarize themselves with the College libraries.
You may also find the Harvard College Library Website useful, as much more information about the College Library is available there.
Widener Library Services
These links will take you to forms or information about specific Widener Library Services.
- Request a book labelled "Ordered-Received" in HOLLIS
- Request a book labelled "On Order" in HOLLIS
- Request a book or journal from the Harvard Depository
- Request materials through Interlibrary Loan
- Recalling books currently checked out to others
- Request the purchase of a book
- Can't find something on the shelf? Put a trace on it.
- Contact a research librarian in a particular subject
Selected E-Resources at Harvard
As of this writing, the Harvard Libraries offer over 6,400 electronic resources through the Harvard Libraries portal (http://lib.harvard.edu). What follows is a very small selection of electronic research tools. For recommendations of other sources please get in touch with Cheryl LaGuardia via e-mail. Note well: all these resources require the use of a Harvard ID and PIN to access remotely.
- Academic Search Premier (EBSCOHOST) is a multi-disciplinary database containing citations and abstracts from over 4,500 scholarly publications (journals, magazines and newspapers). Full text is available and searchable for more than 3,500 of the publications. Most complete coverage begins in the 1990s, and the file is updated daily.
- AccuNet/AP Multimedia Archive is a searchable database of over 700,000 Associated Press photographs, charts and other graphics from the 1840s to the present. Accompanying captions and credits are also included. Images can be downloaded for later use. You can search this file by topic, location, date and concept.
- ArchivesUSA contains summary descriptions of over 132,000 archival and manuscript collections in about 5,500 U.S. repositories.
- Dissertations and Theses Full Text indexes dissertations and masters' theses from most North American graduate schools as well as some European universities. Provides full text for most indexed dissertations from 1990-present.
- GenderWatch is a full text database of unique and diverse publications that focus on the impact of gender across a broad spectrum of subject areas. The database provides abstracts and the full text of some 175 academic and scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books, booklets and pamphlets, conference proceedings, and government, non-governmental organization, and special reports.
- Google Scholar: Google Scholar enables you to search for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all broad areas of research. This restricted entry allows Harvard ID holders to access the full text of licensed resources to which Harvard subscribes. Indviduals outside of Harvard may access Google Scholar directly at http://scholar.google.com/.
- LexisNexis Academic. LexisNexis will give you the full text of recent articles from English-language newspapers, newsletters, magazines, trade journals, wire services, and radio and television broadcasts. It also offers international sources in Spanish, French, Italian, German and Dutch.
- Lib-Web-Cats provides links to web-based library catalogs throughout the world.
- Online Archival Search Information System (OASIS) provides central access to a number of finding aids for archival and manuscript collections at Harvard.
- Oxford English Dictionary is an historical dictionary of English, covering the language from the earliest times to the present day. You may search the full text, definitions, etymologies, and quotations.
- Visual Information Access (VIA) is a union catalog of visual resources at Harvard focusing on artistic and cultural materials. It includes catalog records for objects and images owned, held, or licensed by Harvard.
- Web of Science is a multidisciplinary database covering the journal literature of the arts and humanities, sciences, and social sciences. It indexes 12,000 major journals across more than 220 disciplines.
- America: History and Life is the primary bibliographic reference to the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present, covering over 2,000 journals published worldwide.
- ATLA (American Theological Library Association) Religion Database with ATLASerials indexes journal articles, essays, and book reviews in the field of religion. Citations cover all religions and all theological points of view.
- Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) holds more than 545,000 records on all subjects related to East, Southeast, and South Asia from 1971 to the present (primary disciplines covered are in the humanities and social sciences). The most important 100+ periodicals in Asian Studies have been indexed on a priority basis to make their coverage as up-to-date as possible.
- FRANCIS indexes publications that cover a wide range of multilingual, multidisciplinary information in the humanities and social sciences, including art and art history, education, economics, ethnology, geography, history of science, linguistics, literature, philosophy, religion and sociology.
- GenderWatch is a full text database of unique and diverse publications that focus on the impact of gender across a broad spectrum of subject areas. The database provides abstracts and the full text of some 175 academic and scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books, booklets and pamphlets, conference proceedings, and government, non-governmental organization, and special reports.
- Historical Abstracts is a reference guide to the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada, which are covered in America: History and Life). Currently over 2,000 journals published throughout the world are covered in the database, including key historical journals from virtually every major country. All abstracts are written in English.
- History of Science, Technology, and Medicine includes books, book chapters, and journal articles. Some social sciences material is included. It is the electronic equivalent of four printed indexes: Isis Current Bibliography of the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences, 1975-; Current Bibliography in the History of Technology, 1987- ; Wellcome Bibliography of the History of Medicine, 1991- ; and Bibliografia Italiana di Storia della Scienza, 1982- .
- JSTOR is comprised of the full text of more than 500 academic journals covering a wide range of disciplines. JSTOR allows browsing by issue and full text searching of individual titles, by discipline(s) or the entire collection.
- LLBA (Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts) currently indexes and abstracts journal articles from over 1200 journals annually in all areas of language and linguistics. International in scope, this index covers phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics as well as descriptive, historical, comparative, theoretical, and geographical linguistics.
- MLA International Bibliography, produced by the Modern Language Association, consists of bibliographic records pertaining to literature, language, linguistics, and folklore, and includes coverage from 1963 to the present. The MLA International Bibliography provides access to scholarly research in over 3,000 journals and series.
- Periodical Contents Index (PCI) is an index to the contents of thousands of journals in the humanities and social sciences, from the 18th century to the present.
- Philosopher's Index is the major indexing source for scholarly research in philosophy. It contains several hundred thousand bibliographic citations, with author abstracts for many of the citations. The database gives bibliographic information for journal articles and major articles from anthologies and books published since 1940. The articles covered in here are written in English, Spanish, German, Italian, and French, coming from more than 480 journals from 38 countries.
- Web of Science is a multidisciplinary database covering the journal literature of the arts and humanities, sciences, and social sciences. It indexes 12,000 major journals across more than 220 disciplines.
- Alt HealthWatch is a full text database of periodicals, peer-reviewed journals, academic and professional publications, magazines, consumer newsletters and newspapers, research reports, and association newsletters focused on complementary, alternative and integrated approaches to health care and wellness.
- Applied Science & Technology Abstracts indexes articles, product evaluations, and book reviews in 575 leading English-language periodicals published in the U.S. and elsewhere.
- BIOSIS Previews covers original research reports and reviews in biological and biomedical areas. Coverage includes traditional areas of biology, such as botany, zoology and microbiology, as well as related fields such as biomedical, agriculture, pharmacology and ecology. Interdiscplinary fields such as medicine, biochemistry, biophysics, bioengineering and biotechnology are also included. Nearly 5,500 serials are monitored for inclusion.
- CAB Abstracts indexes research and development literature in agriculture, forestry, human and animal nutrition, animal health, natural resource management and conservation, and related aspects of human health.
- Computing Reviews provides full text reviews of the computer science literature.
- Environmental Issues and Policy Index provides citation and abstracting information for articles from 1,500+ international journals, with full-text provided from more than 250 journals. Subjects covered include agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, environmental law, geography, marine and freshwater resources, public policy, social impacts, and urban planning.
- GenderWatch is a full text database of unique and diverse publications that focus on the impact of gender across a broad spectrum of subject areas. The database provides abstracts and the full text of some 175 academic and scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books, booklets and pamphlets, conference proceedings, and government, non-governmental organization, and special reports.
- History of Science, Technology, and Medicine includes books, book chapters, and journal articles. Some social sciences material is included. It is the electronic equivalent of four printed indexes: Isis Current Bibliography of the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences, 1975-; Current Bibliography in the History of Technology, 1987- ; Wellcome Bibliography of the History of Medicine, 1991- ; and Bibliografia Italiana di Storia della Scienza, 1982- .
- INSPEC contains abstracts and index citations for articles from more than 3,400 and 2,000 conference proceedings from 1969 on. Coverage is international in scope and includes all fields of physics, electrical engineering and electronics, control engineering, manufacturing and production engineering, computing and information technology, with significant additional coverage in materials science, oceanography, nuclear engineering, geophysics, and biomedical engineering.
- Kluwer Academic Publishers Online provides access to the full text of over 600 journals. Articles are generally from 1997 forward and are available in Acrobat portable document format (pdf).
- PubMed is the National Library of Medicine's free access to MEDLINE and PreMEDLINE (preliminary citations and abstracts before they appear in MEDLINE). Citations include links to related articles and to molecular biology databases of DNA/protein sequences and 3-D structure data.
- ScienceDirect provides access to the full text of several hundred journals published by Elsevier Science. Articles are generally available from 1995 forward and are in Acrobat portable document format (pdf). Please note that Harvard does not subscribe to all of the journals contained within ScienceDirect. Subscribed journals are identified with a green icon in the title list. Unsubscribed titles are identified with a white icon. A small number of complimentary issues are provided, indicated by a yellow icon on a journal's contents page. Subscribed titles may also be accessed by their own individual links in the Harvard Libraries e-resources list.
- Web of Science is a multidisciplinary database covering the journal literature of the arts and humanities, sciences, and social sciences. It indexes 12,000 major journals across more than 220 disciplines.
- Wiley InterScience provides access to the full text of 463 titles published by John Wiley and Sons, including journals, online books, encyclopedias, and selected Current Protocols. Full text for all journals is available in Acrobat portable document format (pdf); full text for selected journals is also available in HTML format. Subjects covered include life and medical sciences, mathematics and statistics, computer science, chemistry, earth science, engineering, physics, and psychology as well as business, finance, management, education, and law.
- ABI Inform provides summaries and citations from over 1000 academic management, marketing, and general business journals, with full text available for more than 500 of these publications, including the Wall Street Journal. Over 350 English-language titles from outside the United States are included as part of this collection.
- America: History and Life is the primary bibliographic reference to the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present, covering over 2,000 journals published worldwide.
- Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) holds more than 545,000 records on all subjects related to East, Southeast, and South Asia from 1971 to the present (primary disciplines covered are in the humanities and social sciences). The most important 100+ periodicals in Asian Studies have been indexed on a priority basis to make their coverage as up-to-date as possible.
- Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO): is designed to be a comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs. It publishes a wide range of scholarship from 1991 on that includes working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from non-governmental organizations, foundation-funded research projects, and proceedings from conferences. At least 400 working papers, 40-50 papers presented at conferences, and 10-12 complete books are added, cross-indexed, and archived annually. It also has more than 160 links to international affairs centers, institutes, and resources; U.S., international, and foreign government sites; environmental studies Web pages; and news media services. Please note: to access CIAO, you must use Netscape Navigator 3.0 or later or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.2 or later.
- Declassified Documents Reference System Online: From the presidential libraries, the C.I.A., the F.B.I., and a host of other agencies comes this collection of U.S. government documents chronicling the major domestic and international events of the post-World War II world in information by and for presidents, senators, and congress members. All were classified. Some were top secret. View a digital facsimile to see what was removed and what was left in. A tool for international relations specialists, political scientists, economists, journalists, historians, and anyone else interested in how a government thinks and acts.
- EconLit is a comprehensive indexed bibliography with selected abstracts of the world's economic literature. It includes coverage of over 600 journals as well as articles in collective volumes (essays, proceedings, etc.), book reviews, dissertations, and working papers from the Cambridge University Press' Abstracts of Working Papers in Economics.
- EIU Country Reports. Produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit this resource provides annual and quarterly analysis and forecasts of the political, economic and business environment in more than 200 countries. It includes statistics, maps and charts. The "Country Profile" is the annual compilation and analysis of data on the country, with historical information as well as current information. The "Country Report" is the most recent quarterly update.
- Ethnic NewsWatch is an interdisciplinary, bilingual (English and Spanish), and comprehensive full text database of the newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press.
- Factiva is a database of over 8,000 business and news publications, most in full text. Sources are in 22 languages, date back as far as 1969, and include trade journals, newswires (Dow Jones, Reuters, and others), media programs, and company and stock reports. Find information on over 22,000 public and private companies including description, history, current stock quote, financial data, competitors, and the latest news on business activities.
- FRANCIS indexes publications that cover a wide range of multilingual, multidisciplinary information in the humanities and social sciences, including art and art history, education, economics, ethnology, geography, history of science, linguistics, literature, philosophy, religion and sociology.
- GenderWatch is a full text database of unique and diverse publications that focus on the impact of gender across a broad spectrum of subject areas. The database provides abstracts and the full text of some 175 academic and scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books, booklets and pamphlets, conference proceedings, and government, non-governmental organization, and special reports.
- History of Science, Technology, and Medicine includes books, book chapters, and journal articles. Some social sciences material is included. It is the electronic equivalent of four printed indexes: Isis Current Bibliography of the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences, 1975-; Current Bibliography in the History of Technology, 1987- ; Wellcome Bibliography of the History of Medicine, 1991- ; and Bibliografia Italiana di Storia della Scienza, 1982- .
- International Political Science Abstracts (IPSA) provides abstracts of political science articles published in scholarly journals and yearbooks worldwide. Topics include method and theory; political thinkers and ideas; political and administrative institutions; political processes; international relations; and national and area studies. Articles in languages other than English are abstracted in French, with all titles in English.
- ISI Emerging Markets: provides current, comprehensive country and company information from more than 500 sources for emerging markets in Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East-North Africa. Arranged by country, this resource includes country profiles; macroeconomic statistics, forecasts, and analysis; reports on financial markets, companies and industries; exchange rates; analyst reports; and business news. Some text and spreadsheet information is downloadable into Microsoft Word and Excel. The file is updated daily.
- PAIS International indexes the public and social policy literature of public administration, political science, economics, finance, international relations, law, and health care. International in scope, PAIS indexes publications in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.
- PolicyFile provides convenient, efficient, online access to public policy research and analysis from think tanks, university research programs, research organizations, and publishers.
- PsycINFO indexes and provides abstracts for the professional and academic literature in psychology and related disciplines (psychiatry, education, linguistics, neurosciences, etc.) It indexes over 1800 journals in more than 24 languages annually, as well as books, book chapters, dissertations, reports, etc.
- Sociofile is a core resource for researchers, professionals, and students in sociology, social planning/policy, and related disciplines. It includes citations and abstracts from over 1800 journals, relevant dissertations, selected books and book chapters, and association papers, as well as citations for book reviews and other media.
- Web of Science is a multidisciplinary database covering the journal literature of the arts and humanities, sciences, and social sciences. It indexes 12,000 major journals across more than 220 disciplines.
- World News Connection (FBIS and JPRS): provides online access to full text English translations of current non-U.S. media sources from 6/1994 to the present. The file is updated monthly. Please note: coverage for earlier years is available for FBIS (1941-) and JPRS (1957-) in the Government Documents and Microforms Department in Lamont Library.
- Worldwide Political Science Abstracts: indexes the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration / policy, with abstracts for most citations. Older records are based on the merged backfiles of Political Science Abstracts and ABC-Poli Sci. Available online from 1975 to the present and updated monthly.
Citing Sources
After you've completed your research, you'll probably need to create a bibliography of the works you consulted. Citing Sources, in our guide called Threading the Maze, gives advice on how to do this.
Using Networked Library Resources Inside and Outside the Library
Inside the library
For library locations, consult the Harvard University Library Map/Guide. For library hours, visit the Library Hours page of the Harvard Libraries site.
Outside the library
Some of the networked resources you will need are available to you through a subscription paid for by the Harvard libraries. When you use these resources from outside of a Harvard library, you will be asked to enter your Harvard ID number and PIN. If you do not yet have a Harvard PIN and would like to use these resources from home or office, go to the Harvard University PIN Administration Site.
Questions?
If you have questions about doing research beyond what we covered in this class or on this webliography, you may want to schedule a follow-up consultation with us:
- Cheryl LaGuardia, Head of Instructional Services, Widener Library, 617-496-4226, e-mail.
- Dr. Raymond Lum, Librarian for the Western Languages Collection, Harvard-Yenching Library/Asian Bibliographer, Widener Library, 617-495-0585, e-mail.