Lessons From the Library of Congress for Researchers

Three buildings, two librarians, and six hours into my first “real” Library of Congress visit, I’m no closer to getting the research done that I wanted to do.

When you’re doing science writing it’s only common sense to look at the literature that’s out there. Most of the time I can access the academic journals I need through Google Scholar (bless you Google) or through the public libraries here (rarely) or my alma mater’s library system (even more rarely, but sometimes they do come through).

Last week I came upon a journal article that I couldn’t find through any of these sources. Worldcat (another great resource) told me that I could either go to Bethesda or the Library of Congress. The LoC seemed like it made more sense—after all, I already had a borrower’s card from a different, abbreviated adventure a few months ago.

Well….refer back to the lede if you’re wondering how that went.

Based on my “adventure” I’d like to share what I’ve learned with anyone else out there considering doing research at the monster of a library that is the LoC.

See, the Library of Congress is confusing, and not just because of their filing system (though that’s confusing enough—will someone please explain to me why it’s superior to Dewey?). It’s spread out over three buildings. They have strange and unfamiliar policies (mandatory coat check). And most of their material is a) not accessible to the general public and b) not where their catalog says it is.

• First of all, you need a borrower’s card. I mentioned I already had one; this was a pretty painless process where you go to the registration room, get your picture taken, and promise not to steal any books (please don’t steal rare books from the LoC!) and your card is printed posthaste. If you plan on heading into the stacks right away, hit up the coat check next to the registration room and leave everything there. You’re allowed one small plastic bag (they will provide it) to hold your wallet, phone, pencil, whatever. You’re allowed a laptop. You’re not allowed a laptop bag. This is probably to prevent people from walking out with priceless items, or to prevent klutzes like me from turning around and knocking stacks of books off their shelves with an errant backpack. Or both.
• Go to the main reading room. I don’t care what the card catalog said. I even checked with a librarian online before heading over and asked “What building should I use? Which room?” He (or she?) told me to go to the periodical reading room, which turned out to be wrong. No slight against any of the LoC librarians. It’s a very complicated place. So just go to the main reading room and let a librarian help you figure out where you need to be. They have about eight million separate catalogs depending on what you’re looking for (and what search privileges you have) so you shouldn’t even try to make sense of this unless you have a degree in information theory.
• Bring a book…or two. Once you’ve determined the material you need, you fill out a slip and a librarian goes dashing into the stacks to retrieve it. Since the collection is spread out over three buildings this could take a long time. I was told 30 minutes for my first request, and that turned out to be accurate. I was told 45 minutes for my second request and I waited more than two hours. The reading rooms (more like waiting rooms since you do more of that) are equipped with blazingly fast free wifi, but no power outlets that I could find.
• If you only need one or two articles, this process probably isn’t worth your time. Once you get there, go through the coat check, walk to the reading room you need, fill out the request form, etc etc etc you’ve eaten the better part of an hour, and that’s before you got any work done. I think I’ll use the Library of Congress only when I need at least 5-10 articles.
• Sometimes…the stuff just isn’t there. Two separate requests came back “not in stacks” which means….who knows? It could be that somebody else requested the journal, or that the issue was taken to be bound, or that it was bound but never returned to the stacks, or that it’s lost….the only thing you can do then is ask for a “special search” which takes, I was told, up to a week. (Ouch!) Turns out you can alleviate some of this madness by searching the catalog online and placing holds on the material. You can only place a hold on the material if you’ve set up an online account with the Library of Congress. You can only set up an account if you’ve been given a temporary password by showing up in person, so consider doing this on the same day you get your ID card. I suppose it would be possible to call and ask very nicely for the temporary password but probably you have to be there in person. So if you have your card but didn’t get the account set up on the same day, which is what happened to me, you’re SOL.
• Oh yeah…and the building has an employee cafeteria that is open to the public in the underground tunnel linking the main building with the Adams building. It’s not very good, but it is cheap. There is apparently a better cafeteria on the 6th floor, which I will use next time I am there.
• Last…turns out librarians are fascinated by ketchup. At least three people commented on my shirt, an unusually high ratio even for a shirt that is known as a conversation starter.
• Last for real: Are there any academic libraries in DC that provide access to their online databases to non-students? I would pay a small fee for guaranteed access to JStor, ScienceDirect, etc. I would pay a larger fee for remote access (my alma mater’s library has remote access for some journals for alumni, but not all, and figuring out which ones are covered is a pain). Maybe I can enroll in a night class and then just never go. Seriously. All suggestions entertained.