Publishing Content from Special Collections and Archives

Baker Library wants to know about your research! Special Collections and Archives is interested in learning more about the impact of our collections. Please complete this Use and Publication Form to tell us about your publication/use plans. Staff utilize this information to connect users to relevant resources, enhance our knowledge of collections, and review publications that draw upon our resources for potential addition to Special Collections and Archives’ holdings.

Users are not required to request permission from Baker Library to cite, quote, or use information from the majority of our collections. The main exception to this rule is the R.G. Dun & Co. credit report volumes. Please refer to our Dun Collections page for details.

There is no fee to use quotations or to cite information from the collections; however, there may be costs associated with reproducing collection content in for-profit publications or the distribution of audiovisual content.

Citing the Collections

The standard convention for citing collections is:

Manuscript Collections

Collection Name, Baker Library, Harvard Business School.

HBS Archives Collections

Collection Name, HBS Archives, Baker Library, Harvard Business School.

When citing specific documents from manuscript or HBS Archives collections, keep the questions what (letter, agreement, invoice, etc.), when (dates), and who (written by, sent to, etc.) in mind, instead of just box/carton and folder numbers. Collections may be reprocessed over time, making it more difficult for future researchers to locate content based solely on box/carton information.

  • Examples:
  • Telegram from Albert F. Heard, August 10, 1872. Heard Family Business Records, Baker Library, Harvard Business School.

    Fieldwork – Notes, circa 1960. Harvard-Radcliffe Program in Business Administration Records, HBS Archives, Baker Library, Harvard Business School.

 

Print Collections

Our main print collections are the:

  • Baker Old Class Collection
  • Kress Collection of Business and Economics
  • Trade Catalogs Collection
  • Corporate Reports Collection

Users should include the appropriate print collection name when citing these collections. You can search the Harvard online catalog, HOLLIS, to confirm the collection name for specific Baker Old Class, Kress, and Trade Catalog items (example titles: Baker Old Class; Kress; Trade Catalog).

Please contact reference staff at specialcollectionsref@hbs.edu if you have any questions about citing the collections. We are happy to assist you with confirming collection names and can offer suggestions for identifying specific items.