French and Francophone Literature: Library and Internet Research Guide for Junior Essay and Senior Thesis Writers

2. Using HOLLIS for Literary Research

The HOLLIS catalog contains records for books, journals, sound recordings, manuscripts, visual materials, maps, government documents, CD-ROMs and other electronic resources, etc. held by various libraries at Harvard. Records for Journals, but not journal articles, are included in the catalog. To search for citations to articles and chapters in books, see 3. Finding Journal Articles.

HOLLIS and literary research

If searching for the works of a prolific author [via Search type: Author (last name first)], you may select one of two results displays:

  • Click on the author's name to retrieve results in order of latest date of publication (unless there are over 1000 works in the retrieval). You may re-sort the list by title or author to view an alphabetical arrangement by clicking on the underlined Title or Author heading at the top of the list.
  • Click on "Sorted Index" for a display of an alphabetical list of the author's works, allowing you to see various versions and editions of titles grouped together.
  • The catalog cannot sort retrievals of over 1,000 records. You can reduce the number of records by using “Modify.”
  • Click the “Availability” link in a record to see whether an item is checked out and to request retrieval of items at the Harvard Depository.

Subject Searching in HOLLIS: Two Approaches

To find works about an author and his/her work, including critical and interpretative works, you may use either keyword or subject searching.

Keyword searching

Using Search type: keywords anywhere: rousseau and criticism will lead to records with official subject headings such as:

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1712-1778--Criticism and interpretation

Hollis screenshot

or to broader headings, such as:

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1712-1778--Influence
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1712-1778--Self in literature

Click on the underlined subject headings in the HOLLIS record to narrow your search and/or explore the nuances of your topic.

**Note that the Keywords anywhere will search the selected terms anywhere in the HOLLIS record, including contents notes and subject headings. Keyword search may lead to "false drops," results that do not match the intent of the search. If this occurs, try adding or modifying terms for more precision.

Searching Authors as Subjects

Determining which "official" subject headings are established for aspects of a topic is an important step in finding relevant materials. Several methods may be used to browse the official subject headings and subheadings in HOLLIS. You may browse on authors' names, or on terms related to literary concepts or movements, genres and/or genres/periods, etc.

To do so, use Search type: Subject beginning with..." and enter the author's name in last name/comma/first name order to see the results for author as subject. When browsing the entries for prolific authors, a range of subheadings will display, for example:

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1712-1778--Bibliography
--Correspondence
--Influence
--Literary Style
--Political and social views

Baudelaire, Charles, 1821-1867--Criticism, Textual
--Symbolism
--Technique

Interspersed in the index will be works devoted primarily to one particular title, such as:

Baudelaire, Charles, 1821-1867. Epaves.
Montaigne, Michel de, 1533-1592. Apologie de Raymond Sebond.

Genres such as French poetry and French literature subdivide by period, then topic.
e.g. French poetry--20th century--History and criticism
French literature--18th century--History and criticism

Other Search Strategies

Searching for Author journals

To search for author journals in HOLLIS, use Expanded Search, enter Keywords from: Subject use author's name (last, first) and Subject: periodicals.

Example: Keywords from:
Subject words: voltaire
and
Subject words: periodicals

In WorldCat, select Advanced Search and enter author's name (last, first) as a Subject term and Limit type to: Serial Publications.

Example:

Search for: montaigne as Subject
and
Limit type to: serial publications

Searching for Journal Titles in HOLLIS

Use the subset, "Journals," in the catalog to find the location of journal titles in the libraries. Only a relatively small number of journals have links to full-text of articles. Resources listed in the following section (Finding Journal Articles) will lead you to the citations for articles, and in some cases, full-text of articles, in a variety of online databases licensed by Harvard.

Finding Material by Form, Date, or Language: Expanded Search

Use Expanded Search when you wish to combine more than two search terms and/or you wish to limit the search by format (visual for videos, audio for recordings, maps, manuscripts, etc.), language, library location and/or date range. This is a good way to find materials at Houghton, Music and Fine Arts Libraries, for example.

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Widener Library Guides & Forms

For a quick guide to the call number system, the stack layout and other notes on finding books at Widener, see: Finding Materials in Widener.

It's always advisable to check the Call Number Location chart before looking for items in the stacks. The charts are also available in the Circulation area and Reading Rooms.

Occasionally you'll find that we do not own a book or journal that is pertinent to your research. To request the title, use Interlibrary Loan.

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Next: 3. Finding Journal Articles

Page Last Reviewed: August 3, 2009