Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Introducing loc.gov: Orientation & Research Strategies

The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with over 134.5 million books, recordings, photographs, maps, and manuscripts in its collections. It collects in over 460 languages, with materials ranging from rare cuniform tablets to born digital materials. Through its Web site, it provides access to resources, services, and over eleven million of its multimedia primary sources.How can you access this wealth of information? What resources and services can assist you? This orientation will provide an overview of what's available, provide strategies for accessing the materials, and introduce you to the resources created by staff to further your research into the Library's collections. The Digital Reference Section conducts a one-hour orientation monthly via Web conference. Throughout the program, there are opportunities to ask questions, try various search tools, sample the multimedia primary source materials online, and become familiar with the digital formats on the site.
Program Format

This is an interactive program. Participants will be moved around the web site, with stops along the way for exploration and questions. In addition, participant interests and requests will guide the choice of demonstration examples.

Objectives

The participant will:- be able to navigate to and through content areas of the web site.- be familiar with displaying the online multimedia files and how to download and print them.- practice strategies for finding and locating items of interest.




Judith Graves


101 Independence Ave, SE

Washington, DC 20540-4604

(202) 707-2562