Interested in learning more about what’s new in the Library of Congress’ digital collections? The Signal will now be sharing out semi-regularly about new additions to publicly-available digital collections and we can’t wait to show off all the hard work from our colleagues from across the Library. Read on for a sample of what’s been added recently and some of our favorite highlights.
What’s new on loc.gov?
Motion Picture Copyright Descriptions Collection
The Motion Picture Copyright Descriptions Collection consists of forms, abstracts, plot summaries, dialogue and continuity scripts, press kits, publicity and other material, submitted for the purpose of enabling descriptive cataloging for motion pictures registered with the United States Copyright Office. This online presentation contains select descriptions of works with copyright dates prior to January 1, 1926. The descriptions vary widely in form and quality, from one-sentence summaries, to fuller treatments, publicity materials, and full scripts.
Rare Illustrated Children’s Books in Hebrew and Yiddish
The Library of Congress is home to a superb collection of rare children’s books and periodicals in Hebrew and Yiddish, among them the very first ever printed for children in these languages. This online presentation includes the five titles that have been determined to be in the public domain, and the remainder of the collection (still, or presumed to be, under copyright according to international law) is available onsite.
United States Congressional Serial Set
The Law Library of Congress and the Government Publishing Office are collaborating to digitize Serial Set documents published between the 15th (1817) and 103rd (1994) Congresses, thus making accessible two centuries’ worth of American legislative history. This initial release makes available the 290 volumes of the Serial Set from the 69th Congress (1925-1927). Subsequent releases will include document-level access to the collection and additional Congresses.
The Pinelands Folklife Project collection represents the culmination of a three-year effort to identify and record the cultural traditions in and around the Pinelands National Reserve in the Pine Barrens region of southern New Jersey in the mid-1980s. The bulk of the collection consists of field documentation which examines the relationship between the local culture and the surrounding environment in a range of formats, including field notes and logs, sound recordings, graphic images, and moving images. This online presentation includes the majority of the sound recordings and photographs in this collection. Selected manuscripts include those materials created by the fieldworkers, such as audio and photo logs, field notes, and final reports. The remainder of the collection is available in the Folklife Reading Room at the Library of Congress.
This “one of a kind” collection consists of 1,400 copyist music manuscripts believed to have once been owned by the family of Alonso Tomás Álvarez de Toledo y Silva (1835-1895), X Marqués de Martorell and his wife Genoveva Samaniego y Pando, VII Marquesa de Casa Pontejos. The largest subset of the Martorell collection includes 253 uniformly bound volumes comprising well over 1,100 full scores of excerpts predominantly from 18th-century operas. Contributions from close to ninety individual composers are included with Domenico Cimarosa being the most represented (130 works); and, while the majority of selections are by Italian composers, excerpts by Spanish (e.g., Manuel Espinosa de los Monteros), Portuguese (e.g., Marcos Antonio Portugal), and German (e.g., Johann Adolph Hasse) composers are interspersed throughout.
Sheet Music of the Musical Theater
Sheet Music of the Musical Theater is a collection of more than 16,000 pieces of sheet music published between 1880 and 1922. These songs, specified as “M1508” items in the Library’s classification system, were taken from musicals, revues and operettas primarily of the American and British stage. Composers and lyricists from the famous to the obscure can be found in this collection, and the songs portray the culture and history of more than 100 years ago in unique and valuable ways.
The papers of the Blair family, a prominent nineteenth-century political family, consist of 471 folders, comprising 19,100 items, most of which were digitized from 49 reels of previously produced microfilm. Spanning the years 1744-1968, with the bulk dating from 1829 to 1892, the collection contains correspondence, memoranda, diaries, speeches, lectures, writings, legal files, financial records, military records, biographical and genealogical material, printed matter, photographs, and other papers of Blair family members. The collection principally documents the careers of patriarch Francis Preston Blair (1791-1876), journalist and presidential advisor, and his sons Francis Preston Blair (1821-1875), soldier and politician, generally identified as Frank P. Blair, and Montgomery Blair (1813-1883), lawyer and cabinet officer in the Lincoln administration.
Single Sheet Maps, Title Collection Folders
Finally, for something a little different, this online collection presents images of the Geography and Map Division’s Title Collection map descriptions, as written on each map object’s folder. The online collection is designed to help researchers identify potential materials of interest. Each folder is typically labelled with information such as the map’s location, date, scale, and creator or publisher–if known–and may also include descriptive notes or references to related materials. Currently, the material in this online collection is part of a pilot project and includes only a very small sample of descriptions for the overall Title Collection, focusing on holdings from the United States. Reference questions can be directed by patrons to the Division through the Ask-A-Librarian page or by visiting the Geography and Map reading room in order to determine what material meets their requirements.
New Datasets & Transcriptions
Around 30 new dataset items were added to the Selected Datasets collection recently! Some highlights include 3 versions of the MARC Distribution Services Dataset, new volunteer transcription datasets from the By the People crowdsourced transcription program, and 10 datasets acquired through the LC Web Archiving program.
And check out the most recent 28,400+ volunteer & staff transcriptions from the By the People crowdsourced transcription program that have been brought back into the Library’s digital collections: Alan Lomax Collection, George S. Patton Diaries, James A. Garfield Papers, and Walt Whitman!
New Open Access eBooks
Over 200 new open access titles added to the Library’s online collections. Some highlights include three issues of Two-Fisted Library Stories, “a zine anthology of fiction, comics, and art concerning libraries, library workers, and librarians,” as well as four issues of Two-Fisted Librarians - these works were donated to the Library by the authors. Books exploring music, theater, and poetry were also added to the collection this month, including The Values of Independent Hip-Hop in the Post-Golden Era : Hip-Hop’s Rebels, Songs of the Empty Place : The Memorial Poetry of the Foi of the Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea, and The Theatre of Shelley. And check out the titles about technology recently added to the collection, such as Intelligent Human Computer Interaction, Informatics in the Future, and Social Media in Higher Education : Case Studies, Reflections and Analysis.
Additions to the Library’s Web Archives
Indian Political and Social Issues Web Archive
The Indian Political and Social Issues Web Archive is comprised of sites that follow the constantly changing scene of political and social issues in India, South Asia, and diasporic communities. Content includes individual journalists, news sources, online magazines, blogs, zines, governmental and non-governmental organizations, and international organizations.
On April 22, 2020, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, with events and programs pivoting to the online environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus of this web archive is on digital actions and activities organized by environmental groups; college campuses; civic organizations; and city, state, and federal government.
Professional Organizations for Performing Arts Web Archive
The Professional Organizations for Performing Arts Web Archive contains websites and select social media to document professional networks in the performing arts over time. The collection items are those of professional, labor, and advocacy organizations at regional, national, and international levels. The websites in this collection represent the range of fields within the performing arts, including performance, publishing, scholarship, technology, education, advocacy, and labor organizing.