Special Collections: Archival Collections at the Frances Loeb Library

To access the collections, all users of Special Collections must create a HOLLIS Special Request account and follow these step-by-step instructions. Once the items you've requested arrive, Special Collections staff will email you information about scheduling an appointment to visit the Reading Room. A Harvard ID or government-issued ID must also be presented to staff during each visit.

For researchers visiting outside of Cambridge, please reach out to us through Ask a Design Librarian to inform us of the extent of your research, requests, and visit plans so we can best support you.

You can make requests directly from the finding aids in HOLLIS for Archival Discovery. After signing in with your login and password to your HOLLIS Special Request account, the system will create a pre-populated request for you.

Alternatively, if the collection you are interested in does not have a finding aid available in HOLLIS for Archival Discovery, you can use HOLLIS Special Request to submit the collection title and the subject, project, location, events, or people you are interested in. Special Collections staff will contact you and ask further questions to determine if the collection is relevant to your research.

If you have any questions about HOLLIS Special Request, please review the Common Questions section of the HOLLIS for Archival Discovery user guide.

For additional information about planning your visit to the Frances Loeb Library's Special Collections Reading Room, please visit the Plan Your Research Visit guide.