Overview and procedures

The Printed and Published Materials Department (colloquially known as "Books") handles the accessioning, processing, cataloging, and stewarding of the Library's books, periodicals, pamphlets, and other printed/published collections. This page is meant to provide information about things you might need to do that involve our department, but it is not exhaustive or encyclopedic! If you have questions that are not answered on this page, please just reach out to us.

Staff list

Some examples of things we can help with

• I want to see this book/serial/pamphlet but I can't figure out where it is
• I see that we have a particular serial but I can't tell if we have a specific issue of that title
• I'd like to borrow materials that haven't been fully cataloged yet for a class/a researcher/my own reference
• I want more information about when and how a piece of published material was acquired by the Schlesinger
• I noticed that the record for this book/serial/pamphlet looks weird or wrong or incomplete in some way, and I think it should be changed
• I can't tell whether we have a specific item because the edition information/printing information/publication history is complicated and the records are confusing
• I could use some help figuring out the best ways to find a certain kind of resource in Schlesinger's published materials collection/I can't figure out the right search terms for my question
• I want to use published materials in an upcoming exhibition that I'm working on and need help figuring out where to start
• I have a book/serial/pamphlet that needs new housing or a conservation/preservation review
• There's a note in the HOLLIS record for this book/serial/pamphlet that I don't understand

How to borrow a book that is in process/in cataloging

Note: This procedure was updated in April 2024.

1. Staff should submit requests for in-cataloging published materials through HOLLIS Special Request just as they would for HD or Vault published materials.
   
2. Once you have submitted the Aeon requests for items with this status, print out the call slips and bring them to the Library Assistant for Published Materials (LA) OR send an email to the LA with the call slip(s) or request number(s).
   
   
   • As always, please do not take items from the waiting shelves on the 4th floor without speaking to a staff member. 
     
     
3. The LA will locate the items, remove any cataloging paperwork, add the callslip to each item, and route the Aeon requests from “Awaiting Request Processing” to “Checked Out for Reference – Staff" before delivering them to the requester.
   
   
4. The LA will also add a Paging Note to each request that says “4th floor in cataloging – RETURN TO [LA'S NAME]” (this is a reminder not to send in-cataloging materials to HD).
   
   
   
   
5. When you’re finished, return the materials to the LA—they will reshelve the item with its proper paperwork and change the request status(es) to “Request Finished.” All materials borrowed from the 4th floor need to be returned to the 4th floor. 

Where to find books and serials in the Library

The vast majority of Schlesinger's published materials are stored off-site at the Harvard Depository and will display in HOLLIS with the location Offsite Storage (HD), but certain collections are kept in the library in Vault 1 and the Pool Vault. 

Vault 1: Currently received periodicals and selected ceased subscriptions

The library has current subscriptions to around 100 serials. New incoming issues of these are kept in Vault 1, along with some or all of the back issues for these titles. Selected high-use or special interest titles that we are no longer subscribed to or which have ceased publication are also kept in Vault 1.

Please see the Currently received serials and Vault 1 shelf list for more detailed title information; check holdings in Alma/HOLLIS for to confirm which back issues issues are on-site and which have been sent to HD.

Vault 1 periodicals will display in HOLLIS with the location Periodicals Collection (onsite).

Pool Vault: Vault books, pamphlet collections, Radcliffe publications, and reference collection

A map of published materials collections and locations in the Pool Vault is posted in the vault and can also be viewed on Sharepoint in the Vault maps folder. This map will be periodically updated and re-posted by department staff.

Books: A collection of books is kept in the Pool Vault shelved by Dewey Decimal #. This includes several small thematic collections as well as a more general selection of older titles. Some high-use books are also here, including the Boston Women's Health Book Collective. Note: The library has over 100,000 additional books kept off-site at HD.

Pool Vault collections include:

• Woman's Rights Collection Aisle 87
• College Equal Suffrage Collection Aisle 87
• Etiquette Collection Aisle 87
• Vault Books (Women's History & Culture and Culinary) Aisle 87-90
• Oversize Books Aisle 91
• Radcliffe Publications (including reunion reports) Aisle 91
• Radcliffe Reference Aisle 91

Vault books will display in HOLLIS with one of the following locations: Vault, Etiquette Collection, Pamphlets, Woman's Rights Collection, Ref.

Pamphlets: The library's curated pamphlet collections are also shelved in the Pool Vault. These are housed by topic in numbered Hollinger boxes; each individual pamphlet has its own bibliographic record. Note: The library has thousands of additional pamphlets kept off-site.

Topical pamphlet collections include:

• Health & Hygiene Pamphlets Aisle 118
• Culinary Pamphlets Aisle 118
• Suffrage/Women's Rights Pamphlets Aisle 119
• Women in World War II Pamphlets Aisle 119
• Zines Aisle 119

Pamphlets will display in HOLLIS with the location Pamphlets and a call number that includes the specific collection name.

Newly accessioned/waiting-to-be-cataloged materials

New/recent acquisitions of all kinds (purchases, gifts, published materials removed from manuscript collections) that have not yet gone through cataloging are stored on the 4th floor in the department. To access these items, follow the procedure outlined above in "How to borrow a book that is in process/in cataloging."

Waiting Shelves Overflow: Some materials that are waiting to be cataloged (mostly serials but also some books) are kept in designated aisles in the Pool Vault (currently aisles 94-96). The Serials Cataloger keeps a detailed list of the periodicals on these waiting shelves, which have largely not been accessioned. The books have all been accessioned but are waiting for cataloging. For more information about which materials are stored in this area at any particular time, contact the Library Assistant.

Books-related supplementary collections

There are a few constructed collections related to the printed and published materials department that might be helpful to know about.

Bibliographic File MMSID TK link TK
This extensive collection consists material received with books at the Schlesinger Library, including dealer descriptions, notes from donors, publisher's materials, newsclippings, and other ephemera found in books. The material in Cartons 1 and 2 is arranged by Dewey call number. The material in Box 3 is partially arranged by Dewey call number and partially by HOLLIS number. The material in Box 4 is arranged by HOLLIS number. Items in this collection will be cross-referenced in the holdings record of the books/serials they were removed from, e.g. "recipes, envelope, and napkin folding instructions laid in, removed to Bibliographic File." The curatorial file was in use between 2004 and 2016. It was superseded by the Inserted Materials Collection (see below).

Inserted Material Collection MMSID 990137131460203941 https://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990137131460203941/catalog
This collection consists of clippings, recipes, notes, etc., found inserted in books at the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute. The material in Boxes 1-4 is arranged by HOLLIS (Aleph) catalog number. Box 5 is arranged by HOLLIS (Alma MMS-ID) catalog number. Items in this collection will be cross-referenced in the holdings records of the books/serials they were removed from, e.g. "publisher's promotional material and article, Cunt positivity, laid in, removed to Inserted material collection." The Inserted Materials Collection began in 2016 and replaced the Bibliographic File; additional materials are still be added to this collection.

Curatorial File RGXVIII Ser. 2.8, Carton 1 (RA1428) https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/8/archival_objects/4056677
This is a file in former Curator of Published and Printed Materials Marylène Altieri's files where dealer's descriptions for certain materials were kept at her request. If a holdings record references the curatorial file (e.g. "Book dealer’s description removed to Curatorial file"), the material should be in this folder.