HOLLIS ClassicInformation for Department Chairs
The Library
Department chairs can alert their faculty colleagues to many useful resources in the Harvard College Library.
Librarians provide a variety of services designed to complement the teaching and research programs of FAS departments. The following is an overview rather than a comprehensive description of services. Chairs and faculty are invited to contact Susan Fliss, the Associate Librarian of Harvard College for Research, Teaching, and Learning, for specific requests or questions at 617-495-2401 or via e-mail.
What are Library Liaisons and Research Contacts?
The Library Liaison program affiliates a librarian with an FAS department, academic committee, or program. Liaisons establish ongoing relationships within departments and collaborate with faculty and instructors on creating and teaching library-related classes. They meet with students and faculty, provide one-on-one consultation, develop course research guides, develop library-related content for course iSites, assist in designing assignments to develop student research skills, and provide general reference services to the department’s faculty and students.
The current Library Liaisons can be found on the HCL web site within the Research Contacts list. These individuals can arrange for any of the services mentioned in this directory. If you would like more information about the program, please contact Susan Fliss.
In addition to the Liaisons, faculty can work with Research Contacts who are librarians with subject or language specialties.
Whom should one contact to discuss purchasing new materials?
Harvard College Library’s collections support scholarship and teaching across the University’s broad range of academic programs. Bibliographers, Library Liaisons, curators, and other collection development librarians are available to discuss information needs and potential acquisitions with faculty and students. For a contact list, please see Collection Development Librarians by Subjects and Regions.
Faculty who wish to request the purchase of specific library materials can do so via the online Purchase Request form.
For additional information, please contact Dan Hazen, the Associate Librarian of Harvard College for Collection Development, at 617-495-2425 or via e-mail.
What library services are available for those who teach?
The services listed below can be arranged through a department’s Library Liaison or by contacting the Research Services staff at any of the libraries. Additional details about these resources can be found on the Programs and Services for Instructors page.
Locating and Linking E-Resources to Course Web Pages
Librarians can help instructors identify and locate e-resources and link them from course web pages, giving students direct access to online readings. This may help reduce the size and cost of printed course packs. Contact the department’s Library Liaison for assistance. For detailed instruction, see the research guide Linking to Harvard Library E-Resources and Journal Titles Migrated to Electronic-only Format as of Fall 2009.
Assembling Source Materials for Courses
Librarians can help instructors assemble course reading materials. In addition, the HCL research guide Assembling Course Source Materials provides directions on finding, preparing, and presenting source materials. This guide also discusses when to put books on reserve versus when to create links to full-text articles from the course syllabus or from a reading list on the course site.
The libraries will also assist instructors with course reserve readings. Support includes processing requests from faculty and identifying, locating, photocopying, and sometimes purchasing or borrowing materials. When possible, readings will be made available online by either digitizing print materials or linking to electronic resources. The following HCL libraries participate in the reserves program: Cabot, Fine Arts, Fung, Harvard-Yenching, Lamont, Loeb Music, and Tozzer. For additional information, see the Course Reserves page.
Course-Related Research Instruction
A librarian can work with an instructor to design a research class that is tailored to the specific goals of the course and covers the resources the instructor would like the students to use in their research. Library instruction often includes an introduction to research strategies and demonstrations of specific online databases and other research tools.
Instructors who wish to schedule a class can do so online via the Schedule a Class form.
For more information about scheduling instruction, contact the department’s Library Liaison or Susan Fliss, Associate Librarian of Harvard College for Research, Teaching, and Learning, at 617-495-2401 or via e-mail.
Research Guides
Research guides created by HCL librarians give detailed advice on how to use the libraries to conduct research. Librarians will also collaborate with instructors to create course-specific guides.
For a complete listing, visit HCL Research Guides. The guides are also accessible via the E-Research site.
Library iSites
In collaboration with faculty and departments, HCL librarians are developing a series of subject-specific research sites and guides using the iSites platform. These highly-customized research tools contain links to library print and e-resources, special collections, scholarly web sites, HCL research contacts, and more. Individual topics or pages from these guides can be integrated directly into FAS course web pages. Please contact the department's Library Liaison listed on the Research Contacts page for additional information.
