Welcome
This research guide is designed for students in Tongue-Tied, a Fall 2024 Expos course taught by Taleen Mardirossian.
The resources and strategies described on this page are specifically targeted: they represent our first best guesses at where you might find the 
information you'll need for Essay 2.
We want you, first and foremost, to understand HOLLIS, because it's such a foundational research tool for Harvard students, faculty, and researchers. We also suggest a way to branch beyond it -- by using a supplementary tool, which you'll hear called a "subject" or "research" database. But given that this is an introductory session -- no one expects you to be a super-searcher this early into your career -- we've kept our goals small. As time goes on, you'll enlarge your skill set, and your repertoire of research tools.
As you begin, remember that good research is often about following up on hunches, testing out a hypothesis and then seeing where else (or to what else) it leads. If you hit a dead-end, that's normal: problem-solving is part of the process.
Language -- the very thing you're studying in this course -- is always critical. Searching depends on words and the relationships you express between them.
So use language creatively and flexibly. You may even need to try several search combinations before you strike gold. That's normal, too.
Let me know how I can help as your work on Essay 2 gets underway. We can triage by email or meet up in Lamont for a longer conversation!
Enjoy your research adventure!
Sue Gilroy, Librarian for Undergraduate Writing Programs, Lamont Library
