Authors interested in contributing a post to the Houghton Library Blog should refer to the guidelines below. If you have any questions or would like to propose a topic for a post, please email the blog editor.
General Guidelines
- Posts are typically between 500–1,000 words, but your subject matter and approach should dictate the length.
- Establish your point quickly:
- Your title should capture interest and provide descriptive details (for example, “‘When the bird and the book disagree, believe the bird’: Variations of the Raven in Three Editions of Audubon’s Birds of America” has a catchy quote and gives some indication of what the post will explore).
- The introductory paragraph should lay out the stakes of the post, providing not just what you are writing about but why it is important.
- Write your post for an intellectually curious but wide-ranging audience:
- Introduce and explain your subject—it’s best not to assume reader familiarity.
- Avoid abbreviations and jargon whenever possible; if you want to use an abbreviation, write the name out in full and then put the abbreviation in parentheses: “According to the Society of American Archivists (SAA)”.
- Explain technical or discipline-specific terminology (e.g., “These works aided young readers with scansion, the act of determining the meter in a line of verse”).
- Make sure you have obtained copyright permissions for images when required.
- Don’t embed images directly into your draft; rather, indicate where in the text they should go (i.e., Insert picture1.jpg here)
- Provide image captions following the example below, including call number and HOLLIS record permalink:
- “Ukranian anti-communist propaganda, ca. 1940-1945. José María Castañé collection of 20th century war-related manuscripts, photographs, and objects, circa 1898-1990 (MS Span 185, box 41, folder 12). Houghton Library, Harvard University.”
Submitting Your Post
Once you are satisfied with your draft, send an email to the editor with the following attachments:
- The text of your post in a .docx file;
- Your images, ideally in .tiff, .jpg, or .jpeg format. Be sure that the resolution of your images is 72 pixels/inch.
- Conversely, you may email a link to your content in OneDrive, Google Drive, etc. (make sure you have provided access!).
Your editor will be in touch should any questions arise, or to request additional editing.
Style and Formatting
The Houghton Library Blog uses the style and formatting conventions specified by Harvard Library Communications.
Harvard staff and students may also wish to consult the Harvard University Style Guidelines (requires login with HarvardKey).
Please pay particular attention to the following:
- Blog posts require shorter sentences and paragraphs than standard academic writing; try to keep paragraphs between 3-6 sentences.
- Use direct, active phrasing and avoid passive voice.
- Use first person (“I”, not “the author”).
- If you need to cite something, cite parenthetically (no footnotes or endnotes, please).