Literary Research in Harvard Libraries

Contemporaneous Newspapers, Magazines, Images, etc.

• Add journals OR newspapers OR magazines OR periodicals to your Databases search for a specific region or time period
• Learn more from a guide to periodicals, such as the excellent American Literary Magazines
• Consult the History liaisons' guides to Periodicals and Newspapers
• Browse the stacks---you'll find general periodicals from the 19th and 20th centuries on Lamont Level A and/or Widener Level D-West
• Consult with the experts at Harvard's Fine Arts, Music, and Performing Arts collections

Media - Audio and Video ("time-based media")

• Add AND (streaming OR video OR audio) to your databases.hollis.harvard.edu search
• Filter your HOLLIS results by Resource Type (film/video, sound recording, etc.)
• For poetry in particular, PennSound and Harvard's Woodberry Poetry Room are major sources
• Search (with caution!) YouTube for videos/audio or Listen Notes for podcasts

Find What's Unique to Harvard

Houghton Library: A Student's Guide gives you a sense of how to explore a special collection at Harvard.

• Search HOLLIS (limit to Library Catalog) or HOLLIS for Archival Discovery
• Explore Collections and Library home pages on library.harvard.edu to get a sense of our collecting areas
• Talk to a librarian or curator about your project (ask Odile for recommendations!)

Unique Sources (wherever they may be)

The Research Travel Checklist gives you a sense of how to prepare for a research trip.

FACSIMILES AT HARVARD (digital, microform, print)

We have many large collections of primary sources whose originals are located elsewhere. Swap out "literary" for your preferred search terms

• Add archiv* OR manuscript* OR digitized OR primary to your Databases search

• Add form/genre=microform to your HOLLIS search

• Add sources OR archival OR facsimile to your HOLLIS search

FACSIMILES ELSEWHERE (digital, microform, print)

• See Have the materials been microfilmed, digitized, or published? on the Research Travel Checklist

A SPECIFIC PERSON'S PAPERS AND BOOKS

• Critical biographies often include information about where the bulk of a person's letters and manuscripts are held, while book-length biographies will list major sources in their acknowledgments and notes. Acknowledgments can be especially helpful if the papers are still privately held!

  • See "Critical Biographies" (at the bottom of the "Find Background" page)

  • Add author="former owner" in HOLLIS to find Houghton books that originally came from a specific person's library

  • Search for subject=authorname AND ("books and reading" OR library)

• Also try SNAC (Social Networks and Archival Context), a person-based search across collections info aggregated from many sources; helpful if your person is represented in only a few archives or is somewhat obscure

• See my colleagues' Guide for Finding Manuscripts and Archival Collections for more details and additional methods

FIRST EDITIONS

• Look for published bibliographies

• Sort your results by "date oldest"

• Ask for help! Bibliographical research like this can get tricky!