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Congressional Quarterly & Roll Call Photograph Collections in the Library of Congress

Rights & Reproductions

For researchers hoping to copy and publish images from the Congressional Quarterly and Roll Call Collections, information about how to assess rights to images in the collection and how to obtain both reference and quality copies is provided below.

Rights Information

Obtaining Copies

Reference Copies of Contact Sheets and Prints in LOTs

In addition to the visual information inherent in the contact sheets, contact sheet copies can be used for selecting and communicating about individual images for which quality digital scans are desired. Researchers can copy contact sheets and photographic prints in the reading room by:

  • photographing with a hand-held camera (see the Basic Camera Copying policy below), or
  • after showing materials to reading room staff to see if the items can be placed on a copier, researchers can use the reading room copying machine to make scans that can be emailed.

Quality Scans of Photographic Prints, Individual Negative Frames, and Slides

Researchers can purchase through Library of Congress Duplication Services (see link below):

  • quality scans of photographic prints in LOTs --cite the LOT number.
  • scans of individual negative frames and slides--cite the Congressional Quarterly or Roll Call job and frame number number (e.g., LC-RC15-1993-878, frame 30), preferably with a copy of the contact sheet with the desired frame highlighted, to ensure accurate fulfillment of the request.

Digitized Images

Researchers can download digital files.

  • Images that have a Rights Advisory of "No known restrictions on publication" display and make available for downloading larger jpeg and tiff files no matter where you are searching from. You can include "No known restrictions" in your search to try to focus on rights-free images.
  • Images that have a Rights Advisory of "Publication may be restricted" will display only thumbnail images outside Library of Congress buildings. Researchers can download larger files for such images when on site in any of the Library of Congress buildings while using Library public workstations or wireless connection. In downloading such images, researchers acknowledge that they are responsible for clearing any necessary permissions for use of potentially rights restricted images. Alternatively, researchers can purchase downloads of larger files through Library of Congress Duplication Services, acknowledging in placing the order that they are responsible for clearing any necessary permissions.

Further Information