Sustainability Program Introductory Research Guide

HOLLIS is the library's main search interface. It includes the Harvard library catalog as well as a huge collection of citations for a variety of materials. 

• By default, HOLLIS will search "Catalog & Articles" which includes the Harvard library catalog as well as a huge collection of citations for a variety of materials. You can also change the search box to only search "Library Catalog."
• HOLLIS does not contain everything Harvard owns, and Harvard doesn't own everything in HOLLIS, but we can get you almost anything through services like BorrowDirect and Interlibrary Loan (ILL).
• Remember to sign-in to take full advantage of HOLLIS, especially to see borrowing links and Scan and Deliver links. 

There are some browser tools that you can use to make connecting to library resources faster:

• Lean Library. 

  Use this browser extension to seamlessly access Harvard Library resources from anywhere on the web.

• Check Harvard Library Bookmark. You can use this in addition to or instead of Lean Library.  Or, if you find that Lean Library isn't working in a way that's helpful to you, you can try this tool that lives in your browser bookmarks. As you're viewing something on the web, click on the bookmark to see if it's available through Harvard Library

Most pages in HOLLIS have a vertical blue "Chat With A Librarian" link on the side of the page.  You can get help right away if this service is active. 

The HOLLIS Journals Tool is especially useful for finding a known article or journal when you have a piece of information about it, like a title, or a date and journal title, or an ISBN number, or a DOI or PubMed number. 

Here are additional details about the different options for searching:

Choose Catalog & Articles if:

• You want to explore the broadest variety of sources
• Your topic is very interdisciplinary or very current
• You already have the title of an article you want

Choose Library Catalog if:

• You want book-length treatments of a topic
• You want to search Harvard's shelves
• You need reliable filters for authors and subjects

If you specifically want to search Harvard's special collections and archives, especially for primary sources, you might want to use HOLLIS for Archival Discovery.

Skilled use of your search words will make a significant improvement in your search results. You will also need to conduct multiple searches and continually revise your search. Assess the titles, summaries/abstracts, and subject headings from search results. Adjust your search based on what you find. The Diagnose Your Search Problems tutorial provides help with adjusting searches.   

• Tips and Tricks for Keyword Searching
  • Use quotation marks for exact phrases.
    • "aquatic ecosystems"
  • Connect search terms and phrases with AND, in capital letters, to find all of the search words.
    • "climate change" AND "environmental law"
  • Connect search terms and phrases with OR, in capital letters, to find at least one of the search words. 
    • "water crisis" OR drought OR "water scarcity"
  • Enclose synonyms or interchangeable concepts in parentheses.  
    • ("climate change" OR "global warming" OR "climatic change") AND (tourism OR ecotourism)
  • Truncate words with an asterisk to pick up alternatives. 
    • sustainab* AND touris* AND australia 

Using the Filters after searching helps narrow down the search results to what you are looking for.

• Examples of refining your results 
  • Show only: Peer-reviewed articles
    • Limits to articles from journals designated as peer-reviewed.
  • Show only: Online
    • Limits results to online only.
  • Date:
    • Set a date range to limit to current information, or limit to past dates to help find primary sources.
  • Resource Type: Books, or Reference Entries
    • Limit results to books, or reference entries, to find general overviews rather than specific research articles. 

Browsing in the catalog is helpful when you're trying to discover your interest. It helps you see how writing about an author, an idea, an event, etc. has been broken down and categorized. Browsing by Subject is often most helpful.

• How to Browse
  • Click on the STARTS WITH / BROWSE link above the search box. 
  • Change the drop-down to Browse by SUBJECT.
  • Enter a broader and major topic word to discover subject headings. 
    • Example: deforestation
• Advanced Search Tip
  • It's often best to adapt the subject headings and subheadings you see in search results, or from browsing, into a new search. 
  • From Advanced Search, select "Subject" from the "Keywords anywhere" drop-down, and add different combinations of subject words or subheading words. 
    • Example: deforestation AND economic aspects