HOLLIS

This is a general HOLLIS section. Techniques for finding material on specific subject are given on the other pages of this guide.

To find books, periodicals, manuscripts, videos, etc., on a topic in HOLLIS, put in likely keywords and choose Library Catalog.  Look at pertinent records and find the terms under Subject. For example, searching patients "breast cancer" yields

Never say die : a doctor and patient talk about breast cancer, by Lucy Shapero, Anthony A. Gooman. New York : Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1980, 170 p.
Subjects
Shapero, Lucy, -- 1932-
Breast -- Cancer. Medical care.
Breast -- Cancer -- Patients -- United States -- Biography.
Med. subject
Breast Neoplasms.
Form / genre
Popular Works.
Biography.
HOLLIS Record

Under Refine my results: Subject on the right of the results list there are more main terms (Physician and patient; Physician and patient relations; Women's health) to try, but not the terms after the dashes ( -- Cancer -- Medical care; -- Cancer -- Patients -- United States -- Biography) which are called subdivisions.  NOTE: If you hit one of the terms in this Subject list, HOLLIS will find records with the term, say  Physician and patient, only on records in the set originally formed by searching doctor patient "breast cancer".

Redo your search using the terms that HOLLIS uses.  Example.

Also, go to Starts with.../Browse (top black band) and put in Breast cancer, adjusting to Starts with/Browse by Subject.  This is very useful in breaking down a large subject and in giving you more subdivisions, which can be applied to other Subject terms, to search.  Thus:

  • Heart -- Diseases -- Popular works

Example: 
Subject: "breast cancer" OR "breast neoplasms"
AND
Subject: biography OR diaries OR narratives OR interviews OR Writings
Limited to 1970-1979

Don't be too specific with your search terms.  Try searching just "breast cancer" OR "breast neoplasms", limited to 1970-1979.  If you get too many to go through, then apply the specific subdivisions: biography, narratives, etc.

When you find a pertinent book, go to Starts With.../Browse and put in the call number, adjusting the menu to Library of Congress (Wid-LC) or Other. This shows you other books on the same subject, even though they may be in storage or checked out.

Limit to English, and by date if needed.

Whenever you have a reference to a useful book, look it up in HOLLIS and see what the Subject terms are.

See the Library Research Guide for History and the HOLLIS Help guide for more information on searching HOLLIS.