The Look-It-Up Guide to Washington Libraries & Archives - Hardcover

Bergheim, Laura

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0933833350 ISBN 13: 9780933833357

Publisher: Beacham Pub, 1995

Synopsis

A guide to libraries, archives, information centers, research collections, and other research resources in the Washington, DC, area. Entries organized by federal collections, university and college resources, public libraries, and special collections contain information on accessibility, hours, and parking and transportation, and describe subject matter and holdings, equipment, and off-site and electronic resources. Includes profiles of institutions and collections, tips for genealogical research, and an on-line research guide, plus appendices on archival and oral history collections. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

About this title

From Booklist

Welcome to a fresh new look at Washington (D.C.) libraries and research collections. Bergheim includes separate sections on federal, university, public and/or municipal, and special libraries. The latter includes collections at trade associations, museums, historical societies, labor unions, churches, and embassies. She arranges federal libraries by branch: executive, departmental, agency, military, etc. There is a special section on the Smithsonian Institution libraries, the Library of Congress, and the National Archives. An introductory section called "Cyberstacks: An On-line Research Guide" introduces the reader to the Internet, commercial online services, and bulletin boards. OCLC, ARL, RLIN, VLIN, a local university consortium, and federal networks are included.

Sprinkled throughout the volume are 19 profiles that showcase selected libraries, archives, and collections. Some treat libraries such as the National Library of Medicine; others such special collections as Dumbarton Oaks, the Arthur Ashe Library, and the National Archives of American Jewish Military History. Each entry includes address, TDD or TTY numbers, hours, parking, Metro stops, disability access, subject areas and special collections, catalog type, copying facilities, usage fees, researcher access, and OCLC symbol. Adding value to the standard directory information is the inclusion of Internet and e-mail addresses, Web sites, and, where available, dial-up access with telephone numbers and settings. Places that did not respond are listed as "Additional Collections" at the end of sections. Collections closed to outside researchers are excluded.

There are three appendixes: "Archives and Archival Collections," "Photographic and Image Collections," and "Oral History Collections" (all arranged by subject) followed by an index of institutions and a subject index. There are some problems with access in this volume. In one of the entries, the reader is referred to the "Human Studies Film Archive" with no page number. It does not appear in the index. It turns out to be in the entry for the National Museum of Natural History under "Smithsonian Archives." In spite of this, there is a tremendous amount of useful information in this guide. It supplements directories such as the Washington Area Library Directory (District of Columbia Library Association). Individual subject volumes in the Scholar's Guide to Washington, D.C., series (Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars) are still required reading for serious researchers. Bergheim's guide, however, serves many different levels of inquiry and will be a valuable addition to many reference collections.

From Library Journal

The Washington, D.C. area is home to a large number of libraries and archives, ranging from very small religious and association libraries such as the Friends Meeting of Washington Library and the Orphan Foundation of America Resource Center to such major institutions as the Georgetown University Main Library and the Library of Congress. Bergheim's guide covers nearly 300 libraries and archives in or around the D.C. area, listing addresses, phone and FAX numbers, hours of operation, information about catalog systems, access to researchers, and availability of phone reference and Internet-based services. A section of extended profiles provides more detailed information on 19 institutions, services, and topics. Considering the bounty of the Capitol area for researchers, the creation of a single-volume reference work such as this is a worthy undertaking. However, The Look-It-Up Guide to Washington Libraries & Archives fails to meet essential criteria of comprehensiveness and reliability. Many organizations listed in the current American Library Directory are inexplicably omitted from Bergheim's work, including the National Rural Electric Cooperative, the Gray Panthers Project Fund, and the Environmental Law Institute (several listings in this work, although seemingly few, are not found in the American Library Directory). Also, the institution index is incomplete. These flaws seriously detract from the potential value of this reference work. Not recommended.?Patrick Ragains, Univ. of Nevada, Reno
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Beacham Pub
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0933833350
• ISBN 13: 9780933833357
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 377