The Library of Congress (LOC) offers a variety of data and statistical programs, primarily focused on providing access to its vast collection of historical and contemporary materials.
Collections and Datasets
The LOC provides a range of digital collections and datasets, with a focus on historical and cultural artifacts:
• | Selected Datasets: The LOC selects, preserves, and provides access to datasets across various subjects. These datasets can be on topics such as: |
o | Web Archives: The LOC makes web archive datasets available for researchers to explore, visualize, and re-use. |
o | Government Documents: Collections of government-related data, such as a dataset of 1,000 .gov PDF files. |
o | Historical Records: The LOC provides data and transcriptions from historical collections, such as the Rosa Parks Papers. |
• | Free to Use and Reuse Sets: The Library offers digital collections of photos, prints, manuscripts, and other materials that are in the public domain or have no known copyright. These can be used for a wide range of purposes, including data analysis and visualization. |
APIs and Research Services
The LOC provides several tools to facilitate computational access to its collections:
• | LOC.gov APIs: The Library offers an API that provides structured data in JSON format, which is more machine-readable than its website and is ideal for developers and researchers to automate data retrieval and analysis. |
• | Linked Data Service: This service provides machine access to the Library's authority and bibliographic metadata. It helps researchers and other institutions connect and share data more efficiently. |
• | Congressional Research Service (CRS): As part of the LOC, CRS provides nonpartisan research and analysis to Congress. While its primary audience is Congress, some of its reports are made publicly available and often contain in-depth data and statistics on a variety of public policy topics. |
• | Law Library of Congress: This division produces legal reports on foreign, comparative, and international law that can be accessed by the public for reference. |