This informational guide is intended to provide an introduction to the Harvard Libraries for visiting scholars at The Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies. It includes selective lists of reference resources, both online and in print, which will lead to books, articles, reviews, media, and websites.
People to Contact
There are many staff and librarians at Harvard ready to help you with your research. Here's a list of some of the people you will want to contact to help you:
At the CES Library:
Paul Dzus
IT/Library Manager
e-mail or 617-495-4303 x246
For Government Documents, Maps, and Social Science Data:
Diane Sredl
Data Reference Librarian
e-mail or 617-496-6936
Vida Margaitis
Reference/Government Documents Librarian
e-mail or 617-496-2536
Joseph Garver
Reference Librarian for the Harvard Map Collection
e-mail or 617-495-2417
For Humanities and History Research:
Fred Burchsted
Research Librarian and Library Liaison for History
e-mail or 617-496-4222
Mary Beth Clack
Research Librarian and Library Liaison for the Departments of Romance Languages and Literatures and Literature and Comparative Literature
e-mail or 617-496-7465
Sebastian Hierl, Librarian for Western Europe, Germanic Emphasis and Interim Librarian for France, Italy, and Scandinavia
e-mail or 617-495-2426
Elizabeth McKeigue, Research Librarian and Library Liaison for Germanic, Celtic, and Slavic Languages and Literatures
e-mail or 617-496-4023
Kathleen Sheehan, Research Librarian and Library Liaison for Government and Sociology
e-mail or 617-384-8089
Lynn Shirey, Librarian for Latin American, Spain & Portugal
e-mail or 617-495-2427
Hugh Truslow, Librarian for the Davis Center and Liaison for Government
e-mail or 617-495-4030
For additional subject specialists and contacts, consult the list of Research Contacts.
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 Fung Library serves the Government department as well as the international and regional studies centers at Harvard. 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. Other libraries that will be useful to you include the Law School Library, Gutman Library (for Education), and the JFK School of Government Library. For a full list of libraries, consult the complete list on the Harvard Libraries page.
The CES Library is a small library located on the ground floor of CES providing materials for the study of the history, culture, politics, and sociology of modern Europe.
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
Harvard's Library Catalog, HOLLIS Classic
To find books in the Harvard libraries, go to HOLLIS Classic . Once you're in HOLLIS, we suggest the following basic ways
to search:
Do a TITLE BEGINS WITH or AUTHOR BEGINS WITH 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, tDo 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 KaiserTips
- Use a truncation symbol like ? or * 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.
WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog of books, periodicals, scores, films, recordings, etc. cataloged by over 41,000 libraries, primarily but not exclusively, from libraries in the United States, but extending to 82 other nations.
Finding Journal Articles, Book Reviews, and Dissertations
To find out what indexes and databases Harvard has electronically or to browse e-journal collections, go to:
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. To find additional databases in a specific subject, go to Find-E-Resources, then click on the Subject tab.
ABSEES (American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies): A database of journal articles on all subject areas relating to the republics of East-Central Europe and of the former Soviet Union published in the United States and Canada.
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.
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.
Factiva: Factiva is a database of over 8,000 business and news publications, most in full text.
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.
International Political Science Abstracts: A database that provides abstracts of political science articles published in scholarly journals and yearbooks worldwide.
Internationale Bibliographie der geists und sozialwissenschaftlichen Zeitschriftenliteratur (IBZ Online): The IBZ has been published since the late 19th century as an international and interdisciplinary bibliography of academic periodical literature focusing on the Humanities, Social Sciences and Arts.
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.
PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) International: Indexes public policy literature, with emphasis on contemporary issues and the making and evaluating of public policy. 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.
Russian Academy of Sciences Bibliographies: This database covers material in the humanities and social sciences published in the Commonwealth of Independent States, in Eastern European countries, and elsewhere, including periodicals, books, and manuscripts.
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.
WorldWide Political Science Abstracts: This database indexes the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration / policy. Abstracts are provided for most citations.
When You Have a Citation to an Article
Use the Citation Linker feature when you have a citation to a journal article look for the full text of the article by following these instructions:
-
If you are 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 you are in a Harvard Libraries e-resource:
Look for 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 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.
Other Useful Research Guides Created by Harvard Librarians
Reel Research: Research Guide for Film Studies
GRW-Germanic Research Web: Research Guide for Germanic Studies
RLL-Research: Research Guide for Romance Studies
Threading the Maze: A Guide to the Harvard Libraries for Students
Citing Sources
Citation Management Tools
Citation tools offer a better way to collect, store, and manage reference information, research notes, and documents. They work with your word processor to manage in-text citations and to build bibliographies in nearly any format. Everything you collect - notes, quotations, file attachments - becomes part of a searchable database which you can reach into whenever you want to add a citation to your paper or create a bibliography for it. Using one can save you hours of time. To decide which one is best for you, and to learn more about them, consult the following guide:
Using
RefWorks, Endnote, and Other Citation Tools
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.