Enhancing Access through Archival Finding Aids at the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division (P&P)

From the Library of Congress “Picture This” Blog:

From the Library of Congress “Picture This” Blog:

Over the past year, archivists in the Prints & Photographs Division (P&P) converted 45 documents available only at the Library into online finding aids that represent more than 2 million photographs, architectural drawings, and graphic artworks. These documents, created in the 1980s through the 2010s, were available on paper in the P&P Reading Room. P&P staff have also published finding aids for recently processed collections in order to describe the scope of collections, to outline the major sections, and to list the folders or items for keyword searching. As a result, access has increased for a total of over 3.5 million visual materials. Finding aids have become a major access tool for P&P collections and are well worth learning more about.

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To become better acquainted with the world of archival finding aids, please take a look at some favorites among P&P staff members:

• Balthazar Korab Collection
• Diana Denny caricature and illustration drawings collection
• Frances Benjamin Johnston Photograph Collection
• Heaton Architectural Drawing Archive (Library of Congress)
• New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection: Subject/Geographical, Biographical A-L, Biographical M-Z
• Peter Sekaer photograph collection : architecture, housing and urban conditions in the United States
• Prints and bookplates by Sidney Lawton Smith
• U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection

Learn More, Read the Complete Post (approx. 870 words)

Direct to All Online Finding Aids From LC’s Prints & Photographs Division

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