A LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SYMPOSIUM

RESEARCH ORIENTATION

Thursday June 19, 2003
10:00 am - 11:30 am
LM G45
James Madison Memorial Building

Staff of the Humanities and Social Sciences Division offered a special orientation to participants of the "Resourceful Women" symposium. For those who were unable to take this class but who would like to attend a research orientation, reference librarians teach them regularly throughout the year. For a schedule and registration information, see http://www.loc.gov/rr/main/inforeas/orient.html. A brief description appears below.

The "Research Orientation to the Library of Congress" course is designed as an introduction for researchers using the Library of Congress collections and resources. The session includes a survey of the Library's reading rooms and collections; guidelines on how to locate and request materials in a closed-stack library; suggestions on how to conduct research efficiently in the Library of Congress; instruction on how to use Library of Congress Subject Headings and other sources for searching accurately by subject; information on how to find published bibliographies and topical indexes in print and automated formats; information on using the Library's catalogs in card and online forms; procedures for finding citations to journal articles; and an overview of automated resources, including OCLC FirstSearch and other Internet-based subscription services.