Doing Research at the Library of Congress

XI. Summary

There are many different ways to do subject searches in the Library of Congress. Each method of searching is capable of showing you material that lies in "blind spots" to the other methods. If you cannot find something through one approach, a simple change in your search method--from subject headings to keywords to citation searches to related records to published bibliographies, and so on--will often solve the problem. No one way of searching can find everything. No single database, or even combination of databases, can find everything. What is required for in-depth research is always a mixture of approaches and resources. In this, the largest library in the world, it will be very difficult for you to get an overview of the range of your options if you work entirely on your own. While you may easily find some things, you may also miss much more than you find without realizing that you've missed anything. The best way to find the best approach to your topic is to talk to the reference librarians.