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LibGuides Manual

Options for highlighting Digital Collections from the Library of Congress

Digital Collections

The Library of Congress has over 450 digital collections and you may wish to feature several of them in a research guide. While it is acceptable to use the Link tool to link to a digital collection, a new option offers a way to utilize the existing "signature image" for the collection to make your presentation more visually pleasing.

Using the Digital Collections Page

The Library's Digital Collections site is the best place to discover all collections available from the Library. Use the link below to open up the page, and then follow the instructions below to filter/narrow the results to find the collection(s) you would like to feature:

All digital collections are listed here, but please note all of the ways to filter: 

  • Use the search box to filter (enter words from your collection title here)
  • Use "Part Of" to filter by division
  • Use "Format" to filter by format

Note that each collection has a signature image.

Once your collection is displaying on the screen, you will want to get the URL for the signature image:

  1. Right-click the image; from the menu that appears, select "Open Image in New Tab"
  2. Go to that tab and delete this text from the end of the URL - #h=155&w=155
  3. Block and copy the URL for the image

Use Book from the Catalog for your Digital Collection

Add a new Book from the Catalog in your guide

  1. Select "Add/Reorder"
  2. Select "Book from the Catalog"
  3. Enter the URL for the image in "Cover Art"|
    - Select "Other"
    - Paste in the URL
    - In the Alt Text box, you will enter the name of the collection

Now, get the URL for the Collection and some descriptive starter text

  1. Go back to the tab that is displaying the Digital Collections
  2. Click on the link to go to the collections "About" page
  3. Block and copy that URL
  4. Return to your Edit screen and paste the URL in the URL box
  5. Return to the tab where your collection's "About" page is display:
    - Copy the title -- Return to the Edit screen and paste that into the "Title" box
  6. Again, return to the tab where your collection's "About" page is display:
    - Copy some of the descriptive text  -- Return to the Edit screen and paste that into the "Description" box

That's it!