Schlesinger Library

Research
Services

Student conducting archival research at the Schlesinger Library
Students conduct archival research at the Schlesinger. Photo by Kevin Grady

The Schlesinger Library’s Reading Room is open Monday through Friday from 10 AM to 5 PM.

Schlesinger Library Access Policies Remote Research Guide
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Ask a Schlesinger Librarian

Virtual reference services are available. Click through to ask a question or make an appointment with a research librarian at the Schlesinger Library. We’re eager to talk about your research needs.

How can we help you?

Search the Catalog

We’re Here to Help

Our librarians have expertise in a number of areas. See what else we can help you with.

Teaching and Learning with Special Collections Reproduction of Materials Permissions and Copyright Remote Research Guide Research Guides
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Research Tools

Make the most of your research time with the resources in this section. While no appointment is necessary to use holdings during normal operations, researchers are strongly encouraged to contact the Library in advance because material may be stored offsite and/or have restrictions.

Here, a brief explanation of the tools linked below.

HOLLIS is the Harvard Library’s catalog. Search HOLLIS for articles, books, manuscript materials, media, and more.

With HOLLIS for Archival Discovery, search for letters, photographs, film and video, print items, digital materials, objects, and other primary sources.

HOLLIS Images is the Harvard Library’s dedicated image catalog. It includes content from archives, museums, libraries, and other collections throughout Harvard University.

Use Ask a Librarian to submit research questions as well as queries about Library policies and procedures, to schedule a research consultation, and to confirm availability of collections. To locate materials, use the HOLLIS catalog to start you search. You can limit results to Schlesinger Library holding in the advanced search mode.

Use HOLLIS Special Request to order Schlesinger materials for use in the Carol K. Pforzheimer Reading Room. HOLLIS Special Request is available to Harvard and non-Harvard researchers and can be used at any participating Harvard library or archives. For more information on how to create, manage, and navigate the Harvard Special Request tool, see the HOLLIS Special Request guide.

Consult our Research Guides for an introduction by subject to various holdings. The guides are meant to help you begin your research on select topics and are not complete lists of relevant material.


HOLLIS (Library Catalog) HOLLIS for Archival Discovery HOLLIS Images Ask a Librarian HOLLIS Special Request Research Guides