Complaint Review: Library of Congress and NARA

D as in Discriminating 

The next time you visit, if you are abused, compare it in terms of being at a plantation....

The library of congress and national archive operate like a huge plantations. There are the white collar workers (the educated or degreed) who are like the nobles, working as highly paid reference researchers, writers and such ilk for congressional staff. There are the overseers, a mixture of retired veterans and transfers from other fed agencies who, such as at the archives, supposedly direct visitor researchers to resources. Then there a a vast pool of serfs, interns and lower paid entry level worker who shelve, transport, and sort materials. Over this operate the guards, sort of like a standing army, but not a very good one, often loud and lazy, who make sure all the visitors are clean.

I have often fantasized at some point in joining this group, but of course, they have always cut me short on this dream. The guards are rude to the point of antagonistic; the same goes with the serfs and the overseers. You may say, well, maybe it was my appearance or behavior, however, in fact, I was as polite as any other guest. But you see, they can read appearances like an open book, and if they decide you don't need their help, they will abuse you. One aristocratic overseer (that's a joke), a nervous man who made the biggest deal out of teaching me how to look something up in one of the reading rooms, was kind enough to hint that since most everything is in the process of being digitized, it's easier to look it up online. At the library, all you will find are older records and materials, so it's become more like a museum than anything else. And it takes a few days for things to arrive if it's located off site.

At the archives, if you are lucky, eventually you may sit in the reviewing room and get to peruse records in a cart by your desk; but bear in mind the interns are looking over your shoulder almost the whole time, or just staring at you in the most hostile way plus periodically walking over to make sure you put a slip in the box where you took something out. (Doesn't help to tell these types that they are singling you out as young and dumb.)

Bottom Line:

Joe and Joanne Public, they love for you to visit, knowing you might spend money at the shops or cafetaria, and rave about it on Yelp, but when it comes down to actual research, they can and are highly selective about who they want to help. In other words, they discriminate among their customers.

This isn't to say that there aren't exceptions or that you can't locate what you need; in fact, you can if you are willing to navigate, not be discouraged by the antibodies, and are politely persistent. (Visitors who bump into these exceptional people are so grateful they make the mistake of complimenting them. Don't! They are just doing their job!)

Advice? Go home and do your research there in more privacy and comfort, or use a good search engine at your local library.