HOLLIS is two databases in one.
It combines the extensive contents of our library catalog and another, large and multidisciplinary database of journal, newspaper, and magazine articles. HOLLIS enables you to search across subjects, languages, time periods, and information formats.
There's sometimes an advantage to searching the library catalog separately, however:
In HOLLIS, you'll only get at articles by choosing the "Everything" search.
Creating search strings with some of the techniques below can help you get better results up front.
While searching HOLLIS you may sometimes find yourself overwhelmed by either the numbers or types of results your search returns. If this happens, try one of these easy tricks to bring your results into sharper focus:
1. Limit your Everything search results set to items that are identified as PEER REVIEWED ARTICLES.
3. Think about limiting your results to publications from the last 5, 10, 15, or 20 years.
4. Try adding a keyword (or keywords) to indicate what you're after
When an article you find in HOLLIS is not owned at Harvard, or is available in a printed journal volume but not online, you can ask us to make a PDF for you through a service called Scan and Deliver. This service is also an option if you want up to two chapters of any Harvard-owned book digitized for your use.
If a book you need is not owned by the Harvard Library or is not currently available from the Library, use BorrowDirect to search for and request a copy from another university library.