Notice: All Library of Congress research centers are closed to the public (including researchers and others with reader identification cards) until further notice to reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19 coronavirus. All Library-sponsored public programs are also postponed or cancelled until further notice. Online resources and reference services, such as Ask a Librarian, will continue to be available during this time. For more information, see: www.loc.gov/coronavirus. |
About the Collections
Research, Reference & Policies
Digital Collections & Online Resources
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Screen shot from "Women in the News" (All American News, Inc., 1950). Available for online viewing in the National Screening Room
What's New: The National Screening Room
Now See Hear! The National Audio-Visual Conservation Center Blog
The National Film Registry
What's New: American Archive of Public Broadcasting
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Location:
101 Independence Ave. SE
James Madison Building, LM 336
Washington, D.C. 20540-4690
Map showing
location
Reference assistance
Hours:
Weekdays, 8:30am to 5:00pm
Closed Weekends &
Federal Holidays
Ask
a Librarian
Want
to ask the reference staff a question about motion picture and
television collections?
Viewers are advised to contact the Moving Image Research Center two weeks prior to visiting the Library.
- The majority of our moving images are stored offsite and researchers must schedule a viewing appointment at least two weeks in advance
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The Library of Congress began collecting motion pictures in 1893
when Thomas Edison and his brilliant assistant W.K.L. Dickson deposited
the Edison Kinetoscopic Records for copyright. However, because
of the difficulty of safely storing the flammable nitrate film
used at the time, the Library retained only the descriptive material
relating to motion pictures. In 1942, recognizing the importance
of motion pictures and the need to preserve them as a historical
record, the Library began the collection of the films themselves; from 1949 on these included films made for television. Today the
Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division (MBRS)
is responsibile for the acquisition, cataloging and preservation
of the Library's motion picture and television collections. The Moving Image Research Center to provides
access and information services to an international community of
film and television professionals, archivists, scholars and researchers. Our holdings complement the audio recordings served in the Recorded Sound Research Center.
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