Plumbing the depths of the Library of Congress for genealogy

NOTE: Shortly after I wrote this post, I received a comment that the Library of Congress' Local History and Genealogy Reading Room had been closed and the resources moved. You might want to check this out  before planning a visit. See the change I made to the first posting of this post below. 

It is often acknowledged that the Library of Congress has the largest collection of books and other documents in the world. Unfortunately, the Library of Congress is not in forefront of those large institutions who are digitizing their holdings and making them available online. It is still necessary to be physically present in the Library to access most of the genealogically significant material. In this, the Library of Congress' digitization effort is similar to the United States National Archives and Records Administration. What is being digitized is available from third parties and the total number of digitized records is tiny compared to the total holdings of both institutions.

Notwithstanding these limitations both the Library of Congress and the National Archives have significant records digitized and online and many of those records are valuable for genealogical research.

From a genealogical standpoint, probably the most valuable digitized records from the Library of Congress are in its Chronicling America, Historic American Newspapers project.

There are presently over 10 million, fully searchable pages from American Newspapers. Like everything on the Library of Congress website, they are freely available to all users. There are larger online online collections, most of which are fee-based, but this one is entirely free. The collection also includes the U.S. Newspaper Directory, 1690 - Present. This extensive database of newspapers does not have the copies of the original pages, but it does tell where copies may be available.

Notwithstanding my comment about the percentage of the Library of Congress' that have been digitized, they do have some significantly large online document collections. Here is the Digital Collections and Services page:

Some of these collections may be of general interest, but there are only a few, other than the Newspaper collections, with any special significance to genealogists. The real collection of genealogical resources is found in the Local History and Genealogy Reading Room. Here is the description of the resources available from the Humanities and Social Sciences Division, Local History and Genealogy Reference Services:

As one of the leading genealogical collections in the country, the Library has more than 50,000 genealogies and 100,000 local histories. The collections are especially strong in North American, British Isles, and German sources. These international strengths are further supported and enriched by the Library's incomparable royalty, nobility, and heraldry collection, making it one of a few libraries in America that offer such collections. 

While the Library is rich in collections of manuscripts, microfilms, newspapers, photographs, maps, and published material, it is not an archive or repository for unpublished or primary source county, state, or church records. Researchers seeking county records will need to visit the courthouse or a library in the county of interest, the state archives, or the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, or one of its Family History Centers, all of which might have either the original county records or microform copies.

Note the suggestion that researchers visit the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Some of the significant resources at the Library of Congress are the Vertical Files located in the Local History and Genealogy Reading Room. Here is a description:

The vertical files in the Local History and Genealogy Reading Room contain miscellaneous materials relating to specific family names, to the states, towns, and cities of the U.S., and to genealogical research in general. Included are drafts of letters written by LH&G reference librarians, pamphlets and other materials donated to the Library, magazine and newspaper clippings, genealogical charts and newsletters, and brochures of genealogical interest relating to organizations, societies and libraries throughout the United States. Currently, additions or corrections to genealogical information appearing in books in LC's collections are kept in the Vertical File.

The vertical file materials may be requested at the reference desk in the Local History and Genealogy Reading Room.

In 2013, the The Local History & Genealogy Reading Room moved into the Main Reading Room. Unfortunately, the website is not clear on this change. Here is the announcement:

The Library of Congress has undertaken plans to consolidate the services of several reading rooms, including the Local History & Genealogy Reading Room into the Main Reading Room. The Library’s movement to consolidate reference services reflects and supports changes that have and continue to occur in how content is accessed, the expanding communication options, and the more effective use of space. The Local History & Genealogy Reading Room has closed. Hours of service have not changed. All services continue, which include:

• Full service to one of the leading genealogical collections in the country, a carefully selected reference collection, and access to the Library’s electronic resources
• Reference specialists on duty to help you with your research
• One-on-one consultations with a specialist by appointment
• Research orientations and tours
• Ask-a-Librarian reference service

Most of the historically important and genealogically significant records online are included in the American Memory project. From the categories of records online, it is fairly difficult to pre-determine what might be useful for genealogical research. The only way to tell what is in the American Memory is to list all the collections. Here is the current list of collections:

• African Americans ~ Daniel A. P. Murray ~ Pamphlets ~ 1818-1907
• African Americans ~ Pamphlets ~ 1824-1909
• African-American Odyssey ~ Exhibit ~ Multiformat
• Arendt, Hannah ~ Papers ~ 1898-1977
• Berliner, Emile ~ Early Recording Industry ~ Multiformat ~ 1870-1956
• Broadsides and Printed Ephemera ~ ca. 1600-2000
• California, First-Person Narratives ~ Books ~ 1849-1900
• Coca-Cola Advertising ~ Films ~ 1951-1999
• Conservation Movement ~ Multiformat ~ 1850-1920
• Coolidge Era ~ Multiformat ~ 1921-1929
• Dance Manuals ~ Books ~ 1490-1920
• Federal Theatre Project ~ Multiformat ~ 1935-1939
• Folk Culture, Florida ~ Multiformat ~ 1937-1942
• Folk Music, California ~ Sidney Robertson Cowell ~ Multiformat ~ 1930s
• Folk Music, Ohio and Erie Canal ~ Captain Pearl R. Nye ~ Songs ~ 1937-1944
• Lincoln, Abraham ~ Multiformat ~ 1850-1909
• Lincoln, Abraham ~ Papers ~ ca. 1850-1865
• Manuscript Division ~ Selected Highlights
• Moldenhauer Archives ~ Musical Documents ~ 1000-1987
• Ohio River Valley ~ Multiformat ~ 1750-1820
• Pearl Harbor and Public Reactions ~ Audio Interviews ~ 1941-1942
• Prairie Settlement, Nebraska ~ Photographs and Letters ~ 1862-1912
• Presidential Inaugurations ~ Multiformat ~ 1789-2001
• Religious Petitions, Virginia ~ 1764-1802
• Slave Narratives ~ Audio Interviews ~ 1932-1975
• Slave Narratives, Federal Writers' Project ~ Multiformat ~ 1936-1938
• Slavery and Law ~ Documents ~ 1740-1860
• Traveling in America ~ Books ~ ca. 1750-1920
• U.S. Congress ~ Documents ~ 1774-1875
• Upper Midwest ~ Books ~ ca. 1820-1910
• Variety Stage ~ Multiformat ~ 1870-1920
• Washington, George ~ Papers ~ 1741-1799
• Woman Suffrage ~ Books and Pamphlets ~ 1848-1921
• Woman Suffrage ~ Scrapbooks ~ 1897-1911
• Women's History ~ U.S. ~ Multiformat
• World War I and 1920 Election ~ Recordings
• World War I ~ Military Newspapers ~ 1918-1919
• World War I ~ Rotogravures ~ 1914-1919

Interestingly, many of the items in the Library of Congress can be obtained by Interlibrary Loan, however any items obtained must the used on the borrowing library's premises. Although there is no charge for the service, it can take up to weeks to receive a requested item. Most of the books and some of the microfilms can be borrowed for up to two months.

To discover the contents of the vast Library of Congress collections, you must search the Library of Congress Online Catalog. There are also several additional catalogs and Research Tools. For many years while I was attending the University of Utah and working in the main library, I consistently used the National Union Catalog, a huge series of paper books. Here is a description of Union Catalogs held by the Library of Congress.

Union catalogs are used to determine which libraries hold particular items.

The National Union Catalog (NUC) is a record of publications held in more than eleven hundred libraries in the United States and Canada, including the Library of Congress. Major portions of the NUC are published in two principal series: one covering post-1955 publications and the other pre-1956 imprints. Since 1983, the NUC has been issued on microfiche. The NUC, an author catalog, contains some entries for works in the Library's collections that are not listed in its own general catalogs; consequently, it should be consulted in any thorough examination of the Library's resources.

The printed NUC is housed adjacent to the Main Reading Room in the Jefferson Building and around the perimeter of the center room near the Science Reading Room in the Adams Building, fifth floor. The microfiche NUC is available in theMicroform Reading Room and at the Business Reference Services desk.

The Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Union Catalogs, and the South Asian and Southeast Asian Union Catalogs are held by the Asian Division. The Near East, Hebrew, and Yiddish Union Catalogs are held by the African and Middle Eastern Division. The Slavic and Cyrillic Union Catalogs are held by the European Division.

The National Union Catalog of Pre-1956 Imprints (NUC) is published in 754 volumes, containing over 528,000 pages. The set takes up approximately 130 feet (40 m) of shelf space. It weighs 3 tons. See Wikipedia: National Union Catalog. Many university libraries have copies of the NUC. 

"NUC Christmas Tree S Calhoun" by Shawncalhoun - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NUC_Christmas_Tree_S_Calhoun.jpg#/media/File:NUC_Christmas_Tree_S_Calhoun.jpg

One last comment about the Library of Congress, they have an excellent section on the website about Document Preservation. I will likely highlight this particular section of the Library of Congress Website in the future. The more you explore the entire website by clicking around on links, the more you will discover.