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HOLLIS Advanced Help & FAQ

HOLLIS Advanced Help & FAQ

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This page includes content not covered in the HOLLIS Research Guide guide. 

See also HOLLIS beta migration FAQ March 2026

 

Searching

Search by HOLLIS number 

  • Option 1: Type or paste the HOLLIS number into the simple search box

  • Option 2: Choose "HOLLIS number" from the dropdown list in the Advanced Search box.

Quotation marks

  • In Basic search, quotation marks are needed if:

    • You want to turn off stemming

    • You want the terms searched as a phrase, in that exact order.

    • Without the marks, multiple words will be treated as an AND search. Results may include hits with those words in different order or different places in the record

  • Use of wildcards within a phrase search is not supported

  • In Advanced search, we have several documented case where the use of quotation marks in a nested OR statement within a broader AND statement is causing several irrelevant results to appear. In the known examples, where a fielded search is combined with a keyword search, the problem was resolved by using the keyword search in the first line and the fielded search in the second. For example, the first search below retrieves too many hits, but the second search retrieves the correct number. 

Wildcards for CDI searches

A wildcard search does not necessarily return more results than the same search without the wildcard. This is because CDI’s multilingual search features (such as stemming/lemmatization, synonym mapping and spelling normalization) are not applied to wildcard searches. Additional information. 

Stop words

  • Stop words are included in phrase searches and omitted from keyword searches (regardless of whether you in Advanced or Basic mode). 

  • In Advanced Searches, if any of your terms include a stop word, make sure to use the option "exact phrase" rather than "contains" to include the stop word in the search. 

  • Technical details from Ex Libris

  • Common stop words for English are : a, and, the, is. 

  • Included stop words in keyword searches will not effect the number of results, though it may effect relevancy. 

Boolean

Starts With / Browse

  • When browsing by LC call number, enter at least two characters after the decimal point for best results (with or without leading zeros)

Monographic series

Series are included in the title browse. Go to the Starts with / Browse option and Browse by Title and enter the series name. Clicking on the entry will take you to that result set where you can sort by year. (We're investigating an option to sort by volume). 

Advanced searches by code

  • MARC language code - see the Library of Congress list of MARC language codes

  • MARC place of publication - see the Library of Congress list of MARC country codes

  • Library+collection codes

    • To search by library only use the 3-character code with an asterisk

    • To search by library and location code use the 3-character library code followed by the location code, with no spaces in between them

      • Starting on March 17, 2026, HOLLIS offers a different method to search within a specific library's collection. First, run your search, then, use the Library + Location filter to limit your results to specific library location.

        Library + Location is one of the last filter options listed. It collapsed by default. To expand the list, select the "Library + Location" filter header.

  • Local call numbers (compressed with no spaces and no punctuation)

    • This is NOT designed to find a specific call number. This is designed to find a group of records with the same class number (e.g. beginning part of the call number)

    • Includes local call number schemes (852 1st ind 7,8) 

    • Search strings should omit spaces and punctuation, and include an asterisk, e.g. FilmS830* (instead of Film S 830*)

    • Your search must include at least 3 characters

    • To find an individual call number, use the HOLLIS Browse / Starts With for call number. 

Place vs. Place of publication keyword searches

  • Place includes geographic LC subject headings and subdivisions (controlled headings), as well as geographic and hierarchical place name added entries. 

  • Place of publication includes the place from the transcribed statement of publication/production/distribution/etc., as well as geographic and hierarchical place name added entries. 

  • For details on MARC fields or other data elements, visit https://harvardwiki.atlassian.net/wiki/x/soGUAg

Using Advanced Search with CDI data

  • CDI data is indexed somewhat differently than our local data. In the Library Catalog scope, you can do extremely precise searching because these records are in the MARC format. For CDI records though, the data is not as heavily structured so searches cannot be as precise. Vendors supply data in many different formats, such as Dublin Core or even csv files. You may find that when trying to do precision searching with CDI data, you get more results than you expected. 

  • In CDI, search expansion is constant, by term inflection applied to all searches, as well as higher recall in general by design. This expansion cannot be prevented by features such as Boolean operators, quotation marks or Advanced Search. 

Expanded search results 

Search Expansion with Controlled Vocabulary

This feature uses LC and MeSH subject lists to provide the expanded search term suggestions. Users are provided with an option to revert to using only their original search term. Full documentation from Ex Libris. 

Search Expansion for No / Low Results

The system automatically expands search results, where possible, when there are no or very few results. In the past there was no notification in the interface that this occurred. A new notification has been added to the search results page. Note that if there is also a "Did you mean" alert, this will override the "expanded search" alert. Search expansion methods include: 

  • Local content (HOLLIS tab), for zero results: 

    • Stemming (based on predefined algorithm)

    • OR query (some search words may be dropped according to predefined algorithm)

  • Article content (Primo Central Index), for fewer than 2 results, or for fewer than 10 results and relevancy rank is less than 0.000001. 

    • Full-text searching (where available) 

Authority record expansion

During the Alma-to-Primo publishing process, controlled headings in record are checked against authority files. The Alma bibliographic record is "expanded" with cross-reference information for names, subjects, and series. These cross-references are added as searchable fields. If the heading in the bib record is the non-preferred term, it will be flipped to the preferred term. Cross-references do display in the Browse feature. Headings are configured as follows: 

  • 100, 600, 700, 800 – Cross-references for searching and browsing

  • 110, 610, 710, 810 – Cross-references for searching and browsing

  • 130, 630, 730, 830 – Cross-references for searching and browsing 

  • 650 – Cross-references for searching and browsing. Related terms in separate display field. 

  • 655 – Cross-references for searching and browsing. Related terms also searchable. 

NEED TO VERIFY WHETHER THIS IS STILL TRUE FOR ALMA: Authority expansion does not occur for these fields: 

  • 111, 611, 711, 811

  • 651

Paging through more than 250 search results

HOLLIS limits guest user access (anyone not signed in) to the first 250 search result entries as a security safeguard to prevent automated scripts from overwhelming the system. Users with an active Harvard affiliation can sign in to HOLLIS and access the first 2,000 search result entries.

To effectively navigate and refine large search results, consider these strategies:

  • Authenticate: Harvard affiliates can sign in to HOLLIS to access the first 2,000 search result entries. Sorry, HOLLIS sign in is not available to non-affiliates.

  • Advanced Filtering: Add specific parameters like dates, tags, or categories to your query. The more targeted the search, the fewer total hits you generate, eliminating the need to page through massive numbers of records.

  • Export search results in bulk: For signed-in users, HOLLIS allows the bulk export of 5,000 records or more from search results.

    How to export records in bulk from search results:

    • Sign in to HOLLIS to enable the bulk export feature.

    • Perform your search and refine the results using filters as needed to narrow down the dataset you need.

    • Select at least one record on the brief results page to reveal the Export 5,000 or more button located at the top of the list.

    • Click the button, select your desired format (Excel/CSV, RIS, or BibTeX), and enter the email address where you want the file sent.

Accessibility - using JAWS for search result navigation

We have found that using the JAWS feature where you can navigate by the list of headings or list of links makes going through the results easier. All of the search result titles are coded as “H3” so you can use the JAWS shortcut to bring up a list of them, rather than reading through the entire page.  The list of links is longer, but that would allow you bring up the record more directly from the JAWS window.

Relevancy

On the Everything tab, local records are boosted over PCI records. Records that are boosted can appear from the second position onwards.  The top position is always reserved for the top record based on the hit rank. Hit rank is determined by a number of factors, such as in which fields the matching terms appear, how many times the terms appear, etc. 

Exact matches for journal titles are boosted over other resource types.  

Book reviews are ranked lower than other resources unless a user is explicitly searching for book reviews by searching for "book review" OR "book reviews" in title or subject. 

Refine / filtering options (facets)

General usage

Clicking on one of the facets immediately filters the current search results set to include only the items that match that facet. For instance, selecting the "Book" facet under Resource Type will limit the results to books. Multiple facets of different types may be combined to fine-tune the results list further, for instance limiting results to books in English that are held at Widener. Currently selected facets appear at the top of the search results list, where each one can be cleared by clicking the X.

Once a facet has been selected, you can "lock" it in for your entire session by clicking on the padlock icon. This will make it persist even if you conduct new searches. 

To select multiple facets at once (having the effect of an "OR" search), use the checkboxes that appear when you have over the facet, then choose Apply Filters. 

To exclude a facet, use the red crossed-out checkbox icon that appears on the right of a facet when you hover over it.  

Subject subdivisions in facets

HOLLIS uses the topical heading in the subject facet list, and after clicking on it, offers topical headings with subdivisions. For example, if a search results in a subject facet of "Manuscripts, Medieval", after clicking on it the user will be offered the option of narrowing by "Manuscripts, Medieval - England" (if that heading with subdivision is included in a record in the search results). 

HOLLIS uses the dash between subdivision as a way of navigating hierarchy .

(On the technical end, multiple subfields are chained together as appropriate, such as a,b,c, which are then separated by hyphens with further subfields.)

New records facet

Added as a beta test in Dec. 2016. This facet includes records added to HOLLIS in the last week, month, and 3 months. It includes both local content and PCI records. It does not include records that have been updated. 

Peer-reviewed and Open access

These are applicable to data from PCI and get applied to articles from journals indicated as peer-reivewed or open access, based on Ulrich's data. 

Number of results used to construct facets

Per the Ex Libris documentation, a specified number of top-ranked results will be used to create the list of facet values that are displayed. At Harvard this setting is 10,000 records. Therefore, the first 10,000 records are used to evaluate which facet values should appear in the facet list. After the facet values have been determined, the full result set is used to populate the facet counts. For example, if a search yields 20,000 results, and the first 15,000 results include subject headings for 'History' and 'Art,' and the last 100 records have a subject heading for 'Astronomy," only facets for 'History' and 'Art' will display. 

Course Reserves

  • The Course Reserves dropdown option ("scope") includes Reading List items that are associated with an Alma bibliographic record. It does not include other citations from a course's Reading List (e.g. article citations). Only items for active courses are included. 

  • Alma records associated with courses will have a Course Information line in the Details page, which includes course ID, number, name, and instructor(s)

  • The Reserves scope includes 4 new facets: Course name, instructor, department and ID. These 4 values are also searchable in Advanced Search. 

Map It

  • This feature is supported through a third-party vendor, StackMap

  • Map It buttons appear for Widener, Lamont, and Law (some location codes are excluded, such as offsite storage)

  • If a record has holdings for multiple eligible locations, multiple buttons will appear in the search results

  • If an item’s circulation status is “Unavailable,” the Map It button will NOT appear. If there are multiple eligible locations, and only one is available, all Map It links will appear. If none of them are available, no Map It links will appear. 

  • For errors in maps, please contact HL Access Services

Record clusters for journals (for records from Alma)

See Online links in HOLLIS search results (Library Catalog scope)

Requesting

Request pick-up

These are items that are either offsite, and must be requested, or onsite and can be retrieved by going into the library, or requested so that you can pick them up at the circulation desk. 

The link may appear at the "title-level," i.e. above the list of libraries. Alternatively, they may appear next to each individual item record. The placement will depend on whether any of the item records contain a description, such as "v.23 (2004)" or "Includes CD." If none contain a description, the request link is at the title-level and Access Services staff will choose the most appropriate copy (i.e. not checked out, longest loan period, etc.). Otherwise, the link will appear next to the individual item.

Scan & Deliver / Interlibrary Loan

These links are presented based on a set of criteria which can be found at DRAFT About ILL / Scan & Deliver in links in HOLLIS, and when they appear

Special Collections (Aeon) requests

Aeon request links ("Request to Copy or Visit") appear in the Get It section when a library and location are configured for Aeon requestability per this list: https://harvardwiki.atlassian.net/wiki/x/RISUAg. 

Once a user clicks on View in Library, they are taken to a separate page. For an item to be presented in this page, it must meet both these criteria:

  • Be part of an Aeon eligible library+location

  • Have item policy 91

Borrow Direct

Use the ILL link to request an item from Borrow Direct. The library will direct the request to the appropriate partner. .

 

Signing-in

Signing in allows you to see all request links for Harvard affiliates, and also expands the number of search results. You will see all results from Library Catalog without signing in, but in the Everything scope, some article content from certain sources do not appear in your search results until after signing in (due to license restrictions). Users will not know what they are missing.  

How long is a session? 

7 hours / 420 minutes of continuous inactivity will terminate your session, as will signing out.  Closing your browser (not just the tab) also ends your session. 

Saved search alerts

Alerts are sent every 7 days. Alerts may contain records for material that is still On Order at the library. 

Graduating Students

When you graduate, your role in HOLLIS "expires." This means that you can no longer request materials or access restricted materials such as many journal articles. You can continue to log in to HOLLIS to see your Favorites. 

Contextual Relationships

  • This feature allows users to explore certain types of relationships between records:

    • Chapters of a book (for either Central Index or local data) 

      • this varies from Tables of Contents links which appear for local records

    • Other chapters in a book (for Book Chapter records from Central Index)

    • Reviews of a book (for either Central Index or local data)

  • These links display in Full View only (not in search results)

  • These relationships are built in a "graph database" that is continually being updated with new data

 

More Topics

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