Religion Collections in Libraries and Archives: A Guide to Resources in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia Table of Contents - Preface/Acknowledgements - Abbreviations Lists of Entries: District of Columbia - Maryland - Virginia

Library of Congress
Recorded Sound Reference Center

Access Policies

The primary mission of the Library of Congress is to serve Members of Congress and thereafter, the needs of the government, other libraries, and members of the public, universities, and learned societies.

A Library of Congress Registration Card is required to use the reading room for the Recorded Sound Reference Center. To obtain a registration card, applicants must be 18 years of age or older, and present photo identification bearing a verifiable permanent address. The cards are issued without charge in Room G40 of the Jefferson Building. Enter on the Second Street side of the Jefferson Building to locate this room.

Listening facilities, which are available without charge, are provided for those doing research of a specific nature, leading toward a publicly available work such as a publication, thesis or dissertation, radio/film/television production, or public performance. The facilities may not be used for purely personal study or appreciation. Scholars wishing to hear recordings must register at the Recorded Sound Reference Center as users of rare materials and present identification showing a permanent address. Waiting time for listening appointments will vary according to the time required to search and retrieve an item from the closed stacks (materials are not stored in the reading room). For further information consult the reference librarian in the Recorded Sound Reference Center.

Recordings in the collections can be copied only with the written permission of the person or organization holding the rights to the recordings in question. These may include recording companies, radio networks, artists/performers, copyright holders, or others. Reference staff will assist researchers in determining what permissions are necessary for phonoduplication.

Fees for phonoduplication include $74.00 per hour (billed in quarter-hour increments) in laboratory costs for transfers to tape cassettes, reel tape (seven- or ten-inch, 3 3/4 or 7 ½ ips, single or dual track), or R-DAT cassette. There are additional charges for stock: $16.00 for a ten-inch open reel, $6.50 for a seven-inch open reel, $11.00 for one 120-minute R-DAT cassette, $2.50 for a C-90 cassette, and $2.00 for a C-60 cassette. For transfers to CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable) there is a fee of $194.50 per hour which includes R-DAT cassette and CD stock, with a one-hour minimum.

Reference staff at the Recorded Sound Reference Center will assist researchers in identifying recordings, determining required permissions, and estimating laboratory costs. Phonoduplication requests are then sent to the Public Services Coordinator of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. The Public Services Office sends the researcher an order form, and phonocopies are made when the permissions, signed order form, and prepaid fees are received by the Public Services Coordinator.

Reference Policy:

Written or e-mail enquiries from qualified researchers wishing to utilize the Division's resources should be directed to the addresses given above. Due to limited staff, the Center is not able to undertake extensive telephone reference.

Borrowing Privileges:

Not a lending institution.

Networks/Consortia:

OCLC, RLIN. Partial holdings are listed in OCLC and RLIN.

Background Note:

The Library of Congress' Recording Laboratory was established in 1940 by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation. The Library's collections of audio recordings in all formats (tape, LP, CD, and others) are now the largest in the United States and among the most comprehensive in the world. The collection now stands at about two million recordings, with about 100,000 items added every year.

The Recorded Sound Reference Center is part of the Library's Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. The Center has a large collection of discographies, periodicals, and general reference works as well as card catalogs, microfilm indexes, online catalogs, and other resources for accessing the collections.

Description of Collections

Videos and Sound Recordings:

Materials about religion may be found throughout the Library's massive recorded sound collections. A complete inventory of these materials is not possible; a sample of the collection is provided below. All materials must be retrieved from the closed stacks. The collection is particularly strong in commercially produced recordings submitted for copyright, archival collections related to American history, and materials acquired through Library of Congress field offices in Asia and Africa.

• Recorded lectures and talks on religion by prominent individuals, including Graham Greene, Clare Boothe Luce, Andrew Greeley (six recordings), Harvey Cox (one 1968 lecture), and others.
• A comprehensive collection of religious music from the standard European classical repertoire, including masses, motets (over 400 recordings), oratorios, sacred songs, and sacred instrumental music.
• Several hundred recordings of Christian hymns in English, Latin, German, Greek, Coptic, Norwegian, Croatian, Polish, Arabic, Russian, Hungarian, Italian, Swedish, Spanish, Welsh, and other languages.
• Over 170 recordings of African American spirituals and gospel music, and over 40 recordings of sermons and church services in African American churches of various denominations.
• Six discs (part of the Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum Collection) of radio broadcasts from the 1930s by Father Charles E. Couglin, discussing contemporary politics, economics, and the state of Christianity in America.
• A large number of recorded sermons, addresses, and lectures by prominent religious figures such as Billy Graham (six recordings), Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Peter Marshall (dozens of recordings), Norman Vincent Peale (about 15 recordings), the fourteenth Dalai Lama (six recordings), Aimee Semple McPherson (about 15 recordings), Mother Teresa (three recordings, 1975, 1987, and 1988), Elizabeth Clare Prophet (nine recordings), Pope John Paul II (six recordings of addresses and masses from visits to Poland, the U.S., Ireland, and elsewhere), Kenneth Copeland, and others.
• Over 2300 recordings of contemporary Christian popular music, and over 370 recordings of Christian rock music.
• A large number of documentaries and radio programs about religion, on such topics as creationism, abortion, the influence of religious conservatives in American politics, the social teachings of Pope John Paul II, and other topics.
• Biographical profiles of prominent religious figures, including Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Andrew Greeley, and others.
• Recorded proceedings of a 1965 conference on Pope John XXIII's encyclical Pacem in terris, with contributions from Paul Tillich and other prominent figures from the fields of religion, science, and politics.
• One disc of Mozarabic chant from Spain, 1990.
• One disc of the Maronite Catholic liturgy, sung in Aramaic and Arabic, 1982.
• Numerous spoken word recordings of the Bible, books of the Bible, commentaries, and dramatizations of Bible stories, in English, Bulgarian, Finnish, German (including Martin Buber reading excerpts from his translation of the Hebrew Bible, recorded in 1958), and other languages.
• Several recordings on various aspects of Christian Science, including a reproduction of a 1902 address by Mary Baker Eddy.
• About 20 recordings on various aspects of Mormonism, including spoken word recordings of Mormon texts and church conference proceedings.
• Several recordings of Jewish chant from France, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Israel, and the United States.
• Over 170 recordings of Gregorian chant, and several recordings of Anglican, Byzantine, Armenian, Ethiopian, and other types of Christian chant.
• An extensive set of recordings related to Scientology in the L. Ron Hubbard Collection, including lectures delivered by Hubbard and spoken-word recordings of his books.
• One cassette of lesbian Christian rap music, 1993.
• Several recordings from the 1980s and 1990s related to spiritual aspects of the New Age movement, including recorded "channeling" sessions and several recordings of music related to goddess religion.
• Islamic hymns and music from Sudan, Syria, Morocco, Kenya, Labanon, Algeria, Malaysia, Turkey, Indonesia, and India.
• Islamic sermons from Iran (delivered by Iranian education minister Baradar Parvarish, 1983) and Malaysia, acquired through Library of Congress field offices.
• Islamic poetry from Kashmir (in Pahari), Pakistan (in Urdu and Punjabi), and other countries.
• Several recordings of Sufi chant from Turkey, Syria, Egypt, and Kosovo province in the former Yugoslavia.
• Recordings from India of lectures and programs on Hindu religion and philosophy in Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, Tamil, and other Indian languages.
• Over 100 recordings of Hindu hymns, music, and ritual in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Gujarati, Sanskrit, and other languages, and including devotional hymns to Krishna, Rama, Durga, Siva, Radha, and other Hindu deities.
• Recordings of Buddhist rituals and songs from Japan, Tibet, and Sri Lanka, including a collection of 26 casettes of Sinhalese Buddhist songs recorded in the 1980s.
• About 40 recordings of lectures and talks on various aspects of Buddhist teaching, including meditation, bodhisattvas, and conduct of life.
• One casette of shamanic rituals from Vietnam, ca. 1990.

Sound recordings are listed in the online catalog (MUMS), and in card catalogs in the Recorded Sound Reference Center. There are also many special inventories and indexes on microfiche and computer. Many materials in the collections are uncataloged; consult with reference staff to locate needed materials.

Subject Headings

Bibliography

Obtaining Copies of Audio Materials [Online]. Available HTTP. URL http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/audiodup.html. April 2000.

Recorded Sound Collections in the Library of Congress [Online]. Available HTTP. URL http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/recrules.html. May 1997.