Upcoming lectures at Dumbarton Oaks

Check out the schedule of public lectures at Dumbarton Oaks this Spring.

The Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Museum has strong collections in Byzantine and Pre-Columbian art.  This season’s lectures cover everything from the rediscovery of mathmatical texts to Aztec goddesses.

The museum is in the heart of Georgetown (map and directions), so go on: combine a night on the town with a bit of educational fun.  (Dorktastic!)

The Well-Dressed Book

I just wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to see this exhibit before it closes:

The Well-Dressed Book: Cloth Book Binding in the United States, 1830-1920

At the R. Lee Hornbake Library, University of Maryland

Campus Map ; Directions to UMD Campus – Note that you can take a shuttle from the College Park metro stop (green line).
And if you can’t make it, be sure to check out the online tour of the exhibit!

The National Gallery of Art Research Library

Doing research for your art history class? Want to find out what that piece or art in the attic is worth? Consider using the National Gallery of Art Research Library, accessible on Metro via the Smithsonian (Orange and Blue lines) and Archives/Navy Memorial (Green and Yellow) stations. Once you get to the National Gallery of Art (NGA), take note that the library is on the first floor of the East Building (i.e., the more modern-looking building).

According to its website, “The Library contains a comprehensive collection of more than 300,000 books, periodicals, and documents on the history, theory, and criticism of art and architecture. The emphasis is on Western art from the Middle Ages to the present (particularly Italian, Dutch, Flemish, German, French, Spanish, and British schools) and American art from the colonial era to the present. Microform and videodisc collections, along with extensive vertical files, supplement the Library’s book holdings.“

Reference staff at the NGA Library will also respond to inquiries by telephone (202-842-6511), so feel free to call in and get some research help, or just find out in advance what the library can offer you.

Visiting (and using!) the National Library of Medicine

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is open to the public for research. Your federal tax dollars pay for the institution, so consider it your civic right to take advantage of their resources!

Located amidst the National Institutes of Health “campus” in Bethesda, MD, getting to the NLM requires planning, but it isn’t especially tricky. If you plan to park on campus, you’ll have to go through a mild security check at the gate. Address is 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20894. But the NLM is also metro accessible: get off at Medical Center on the Red Line, and follow the instructions here for walking or taking a bus to the gates.

At the NLM, you can gain access to one of the most extensive and diverse collections of books, journals and electronic resources on medicine and health in the world! Doing research for your nursing or psychology classes? You’ll want to exploit the knowledge and expertise of the reference staff at the NLM. More about reference services can be found here. You can even e-mail your research questions from home!

The “stacks” at the NLM are only accessible to staff, and you can request to have materials retrieved for you. However, you might find that the 4,500 textbooks, indexes and audiovisuals – or the five recent years of approximately 150 medical journals – or the computer terminals with access to a variety of medical and health databases available in the Main Reading Room for browsing will suit your research fine! Go on, and check out what the NLM has to offer.

Using the Library of Congress

You should!  Your tax dollars pay for it. 

Step One:  Check out the Library of Congress Online Catalog to see what they’ve got.

Step Two:  Take the MetroRail to Capitol South, and you’ll be across the street from the library – just go a little bit uphill.  You can also get off at Union Station and walk five blocks south, if you want to stay on the Red Line.

Step Three:  Enter the Madison Building (the very modern-looking one) and register for a Reader Card.  The reader registration room is just past the security gates – hang a quick left.  You’ll need to bring a valid driver’s license, state-issued identification card, or passport.

Step Four:  Walk across the street to the Jefferson Building (the very grand, historic looking one, with the fountain in front), and head to the Main Reading Room.  Here you can fill out a call slip for the book(s) you’d like to use (go to the center kiosk), and a staff member will retrieve your items for you.

Since the library is a quiet place, they won’t announce when your item(s) are available.  Just keep an eye out to see when they’ve been placed on the desk.

Note:  You can’t check books out directly from the Library of Congress.  If you’d like to look into obtaining materials for use at home, please use the Inter-Library Loan Request Form.

More information for researchers about using the Library of Congress.

It’s also worthwhile just to go sightseeing at the Library of Congress!  The main reading room is a gorgeous environment to read in.  Gifts and souvenirs are available in the Jefferson building, if you’re thinking of presents to send back home!