Dressed for a formal visit, Chinatown,
San Francisco. Arnold Genthe. Between 1896 and 1906. Prints
and Photographs Division. LC-G403-BN-0387
bibliographic
record |
The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world.
Its size, closed stacks, many reading rooms, and extensive multiformat
collections can confuse even the most experienced researcher. To
make the best use of your time at the Library and with its marvelous
collections, you should take several steps before arriving.
You can begin planning your research strategy ahead of time by
visiting the Library of Congress Web
site, where you will find links on the home page to the American
Memory Web site, the Library of Congress Online Catalog, information
about individual reading rooms or reference centers, and other valuable
Library sites.
- Read Especially for Researchers: All new visitors are
urged to consult Especially
for Researchers. On this page you will find links to guidelines
and essential information for anyone preparing to do research
at the Library of Congress—full details on hours of operation,
collection overviews, location of reading rooms, security procedures,
orientation classes, reader registration, and much more.
- Review Content on Home Pages of Individual Reading Rooms: From
the home pages of individual reading
rooms and research centers, you can find further information
about hours and services; online finding aids; illustrated guides
for some special collections; links to specialized reference tools,
databases, and catalogs; and links to other relevant Web resources.
Not all Library collections are stored onsite. It is recommended
that before arriving you call or write the appropriate division
to inform them about your project and, where applicable, to schedule
the retrieval of any materials needed from offsite storage. See
individual reading
room pages for further details. These advance preparations
will help you to make the most efficient use of your time at the
Library.
- Consult Online Catalogs and Finding Aids: You can search for
specific items or items in various subject areas through the Library's
online catalogs, which are accessible from any computer with Internet
access. The three principal online catalogs are:
- Library of Congress Online
Catalog - Contains records for most books and periodicals
as well as for many other formats such as manuscripts, graphics,
sound recordings, microform materials, and maps
- Prints
and Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) - Contains records
for photographs, prints and other pictorial material, a significant
proportion of which are not found through the Library of Congress
Online Catalog; digital images accompany many records
- Sound
Online Inventory Catalog (SONIC) - Contains records for
more than 375,000 sound recordings; little overlap with the
Library of Congress Online Catalog
For a fuller explanation of the scope of these online catalogs
and tips on the most effective ways to search them (e.g., subject
headings, call numbers), see Searching LC Catalogs.
Finding aids to some collections can be found on the home pages
of individual reading rooms as well as through links in some catalog
records. The online catalogs and aids, however, do not contain
records for all materials held by the Library, nor do they always
offer item-level information. Further exploration after you arrive
at the Library will always be necessary.
- Explore American Memory: The Library is in the process of digitizing selected items in its collections, many relating to American women. You can view these items on the Library's American Memory site where you will find dozens of multimedia collections—with new ones being added regularly—containing digitized documents, photographs, sound recordings, motion pictures, and text from the Library's Americana collections. You may find that items important for your research are reproduced online. For a discussion of how to search American Memory effectively for material by and about women, see Searching American Memory.
- Look at Other Parts of the Library's Web Site: Links on the
Library's home page lead to the following important parts of the
Library's Web site:
For a quick list of links to the Library's Web sites and to browse
the Web site index: <http://search.loc.gov:8765/>
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Public library, Brooklyn, N.Y.,
Bedford Branch, delivery room. ca. 1900. Prints and Photographs
Division. LC-USZ62-15717
bibliographic
record |
Resources at your local public or university libraries can help
you plan your visit. Be sure to consult the following sources:
- Bibliographies and Periodical Indexes: Although your local library
will not hold as extensive a collection of books and periodicals
as the Library of Congress, it will have the tools, such as bibliographies
and periodical indexes, to
help you compile an initial list of works you want to examine
when you come to the Library of Congress.
- Specialized Guides: Also available at libraries around the country
are three guides issued by the Library of Congress that describe
its holdings for the study of African Americans, Native Americans,
and American women. These will help you to select in advance materials
to examine when you visit the Library. They should be used in
conjunction with this Web site, which is an online version of
the American women's history guide.
- The African-American Mosaic: A Library of Congress
Resource Guide for the Study of Black History and Culture
(Washington: Library of Congress, 1993; Z1361.N39 L47
1993)
- Many Nations: A Library of Congress Resource Guide
for the Study of Indian and Alaska Native Peoples of the United
States (Washington: Library of Congress, 1996; Z1209.2.U5
L53 1996)
- American Women: A Library of Congress Guide for the
Study of Women's History and Culture in the United States
(Washington: Library of Congress, 2001; Z7164.U5 A47 2001)
- Secondary Sources: You can also prepare for your visit by examining
notes and illustration credits in secondary sources and collecting
names of relevant individuals, organizations, places, and dates.
This preliminary gathering of background information is especially
important for formats (such as photographs, motion pictures, sound
recordings, or maps) that may have limited subject access.
It is important to remember that the Library of Congress is not always
the best place for certain kinds of inquiry. Some searches are faster
and easier at a local
public or university library. For example, to read a 1993
issue of Working Woman at a public library, you usually
walk straight to the shelf and locate the magazine in a few minutes.
At the Library of Congress, you must determine the call number, submit
a call slip, and wait forty-five to ninety minutes for the issue to
be brought from the stacks to a reading room in either the Thomas
Jefferson or the John Adams Buildings. If you also want to see the
most recent issue of the same magazine, you must go to the Newspaper
and Current Periodical Reading Room in the James Madison Memorial
Building.
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Small wagon, pulled by dog team,
with advertisement poster: "We pull for the Yukon Girl" with
Library of Congress Jefferson Building in background.
Between 1850 and 1900. Prints and Photographs Division. LC-USZ62-94993
bibliographic
record |
When coming to the Library for the first time to do research, your
first step is to obtain a Library-issued reader
identification card. Once you have the card, you can begin following
your research strategy. If you wish to research published books
and periodical sources in American women's history, the Thomas Jefferson
Building is the best place to begin. If you know in advance that
the specific items you need must be consulted in the Library's specialized
reading rooms, you can go straight to the reading room that houses
those materials. You may also wish to attend a research
orientation class that is designed as a basic introduction for
researchers using Library of Congress collections and resources.
In the Jefferson Building you will find the staffed Computer Catalog
Center, the Main Card Catalog, the large Main Reading Room reference
collection, and reference librarians. These librarians will help
you access the General Collections—which include most books
and bound periodicals published after 1800. They can also guide
you to the reference staff of other reading rooms for further assistance.
The Main Reading Room librarians include specialists in women's
studies, American history, African American studies, literature,
religion, fine arts, and more.
Other reading rooms also have specialists who can assist with
questions you may have on specific topics. For example, the Law
Library has legal specialists and the Prints and Photographs Division
has specialists for formats such as posters and cartoons and also
for certain subjects, such as Native Americans and the West. It
is often advisable to discuss your research project with the appropriate
expert in a specific reading room. Appointments can be made for
in-depth advice.
For many research questions the Library of Congress and its phenomenal
collections are invaluable. To make the fullest use of the multiformat
collections, you may need to visit several reading rooms, often
in different buildings. Even collections that arrive at the Library
as a unit may be split among several reading rooms. For example,
Clare Boothe Luce's personal papers are in the Manuscript Division;
most of her photographs went to the Prints and Photographs Division;
and her motion picture films and sound recordings are held by the
Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. It is
good to ask reference librarians if other reading rooms may hold
materials from the collection you are using.
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