Home > Research Guides > Threading the Maze: A Guide to the Harvard Libraries for Students

5. Finding books

Books can be popular or scholarly and will often include bibliographies which may lead you to other sources on your topic. Because books are longer and often cover their subject in greater depth than magazine or journal articles, you may find a chapter of a book rather than a whole book of more use for some assignments.

In this section of the Guide we'll tell you how to find books in the libraries at Harvard.

---

HOLLIS Catalog

When you're looking for a book, the first place to go is our online library catalog, called the HOLLIS Catalog. The HOLLIS Catalog tells you which libraries at Harvard own a book and where in each library the book is located.

Tips:

• The quickest way to find a book is to search by title -- use the "Title beginning with..." option in the "Search Type" menu. Drop initial articles such as a, the, le and la.
• When you're searching for any books on a research topic, and not for a specific title, begin by using the "Keywords anywhere" option in the "Search Type" menu.
• Sometimes all you'll need is one chapter in a book--for example, one essay in a collection of essays. Some HOLLIS Catalog records for essay collections include a list of the essays included in the collection. To see if such a list is available in a Catalog record look for a field labeled "Notes."
• The HOLLIS Catalog has over 9 million records; it's the largest online academic library catalog in the world. If you don't find any items on your topic, check your search for errors. You may have to use different words in your search.
• If you're having trouble finding what you need, ask a reference librarian for advice. We can be reached online through our Ask a Librarian form, or on the phone or in person at any library.
• For online tips on using the HOLLIS Catalog, click on the "Search tips" link on every search screen. For more extensive online help, click on the "Help" link in the menu at the top of every screen.

---

Library hours

Whether you are an early-riser or a night owl, you'll probably find it useful to know that Lamont Library is open 24 hours a day 5 days a week. During final exams, Cabot Library in the Science Center stays open twenty-four hours a day.

For more on library hours, see Hours. If you are in a hurry and need to find an open library ASAP, see HCL Libraries open right now.

---

Library locations

See Directions for library locations.