Library of Congress

The Library of Congress extends its service through an interlibrary loan system; photoduplication of books, manuscripts, maps, newspapers, and prints in its collections; a centralized cataloging program whereby the library acquires material published all over the world as well as material from other libraries and from U.S. publishers; and the development of general schemes of classification (the Library of Congress classification for law and the Dewey decimal system), subject headings, and cataloging, embracing the entire field of printed matter.

The library also provides for the preparation of bibliographic lists responsive to the needs of government and research; the maintenance and publication of the National Union catalogs and other cooperative publications; the publication of catalogs, bibliographic guides, and texts of original manuscripts and rare books; the circulation in traveling exhibitions of items from the library's collections; and the provision of books in Braille, talking book records, and books on tape. In addition, the library employs an optical disk system that supplies articles on public policy to Congress and provides research and analytical services on a fee-for-service basis to the executive and judicial branches.

Users outside the library can gain free access to its online catalog of files through the INTERNET. Major exhibitions of the library are available online, as are selected prints and photographs, historic films, and political speeches. Internet sites include the Library of Congress World Wide Web (<www.loc.gov>); THOMAS, an important legislative service containing a searchable full text of the Congressional Record, texts of recent bills, and congressional committee information (<thomas.loc.gov>); American Memory Historical Collections, which includes documents, images, and other information about U.S. history (<memory.loc.gov>); Global Gateway, which provides presentations regarding world culture and resources (<international.loc.gov/>); pointers to external Internet resources including extensive international, national, state, and local government information; and an international electronic library of resources arranged by Library of Congress subject headings. The Library of Congress also contributes to the National Digital Library more than 40 million bibliographic records, summaries of congressional bills, copyright registrations, bibliographies and research guides, summaries of foreign laws, an index of Southeast Asian POW-MIA documents, selections from the library's unique historical collections, and more.