Skip to Main Content
It looks like you're using Internet Explorer 11 or older. This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. If you continue with this browser, you may see unexpected results.

HathiTrust

What are collections?

Collections are a useful way of pulling together material. Anyone can search collections users have created and made public. With our institutional membership, NMSU users can also create their own collections and choose to keep them private or publish them for public use.

Collections can serve a variety of purposes. For instance, you can gather together all the works of your chosen author for easy access as you do your research or analyze word usage within a body of literature by searching just the works in a collection. Faculty can create and share collections with their students for use in the classroom, or for other projects.

To get started with collections, first make sure you are logged into the HathiTrust website then click on the Collections tab at the top of the homepage.

Searching Public Collections

Clicking on the Collections tab at the top of the homepage brings up a list of all the collections created and made public by HathiTrust users. 

There are a variety of ways to sort these public collections, including by number of items, title, and owner.  You may also search public collections by keyword. To search collections, use the search bar inside of the white box just above the featured collections results. Do not use the search bar at the very top of the page as this will take you to search all of HathiTrust resources, not collections. There is no advanced search option for collections.

Creating a New Collection in Hathitrust

Creating a new collection is simple:

  1. Log in to HathiTrust.
  2. From the Collections page, click on 'Create New Collection' in the right-hand corner under the Collections list. 
  3. Name your collection and provide a short description.
  4. Choose whether to make it a private collection (only you can see it) or a public collection (all HathiTrust users can see it).
  5. Click 'Add.'  

Note: a private collection can be made public at a later date.

Once you've created a collection, you can add items from the HathiTrust Digital Library.

To add items to a collection when using the Full Text Search option:

  1. On the search results page check the box next to any item you want to add to a collection.
  2. Select the appropriate collection from the drop-down menu at the top of the search results.
  3. Click 'Add Selected.' 
  4. A message will appear stating the items have been added to your collection.

To add items to a collection when using the Catalog Search option:

  1. On the search results page click on the catalog record you want.
  2. In the catalog record click on the link(s) under Viewability.  You may add items available to you in full view or limited view.
  3. On the document page select your collection from the drop-down menu on the left.
  4. Click 'Add.'
  5. Repeat for each document you want to add to your collection.