The Library of Congress: It’s Not Just for Copyright Anymore!

by Scott Channel

The Library of Congress is an important resource for writers in the United States. Authors can register the copyright for their books to protect their intellectual property. They can also apply for a Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN), which provides their books’ cataloguing information for use by libraries.

But Wait, There’s More!

In addition to copyright and library cataloguing, the Library of Congress has extensive resources to support historical accuracy in fiction. That said, the sheer volume of resources and information on the Library of Congress website can be pretty daunting, if not overwhelming.  

A good place to start is with “Discover the Library of Congress,” which can be accessed from the menu on the Library of Congress home page. https://www.loc.gov/discover/ Since most of us aren’t able to travel to Washington, DC to access Library of Congress holdings in person, you will probably find “Digital Collections” the most useful. https://www.loc.gov/collections/  (It is important to note that Library of Congress holdings include ebooks and archived web pages for countries outside of the US.)

Fact-Finding & The 20-Minute Rule

When you’re on a fact-finding mission to answer specific research questions you’ve developed, if you can’t find what you’re looking for after twenty minutes or so, go straight to Ask a Librarian! https://ask.loc.gov/  (The research librarians’ 20-minute Rule prevents banging one’s head against a wall for extended periods of time. It’s a librarian thing. Really.)