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Polar Exploration: Primary Sources in the Manuscript Division

General Search Tips

This page provides general tips and strategies to keep in mind when searching for polar exploration materials in the Library of Congress Online Catalog and provides guidance on how to utilize finding aids, which describe the content and arrangement of collections in the Manuscript Division.

Accessing the Library of Congress Catalog

To search the online catalog, go to the Library of Congress home page at loc.gov and click on "Library Catalog" or go directly to catalog.loc.gov. See the screenshot below to see an example of how to access the Library of Congress catalog. 

Tips for Searching the catalog

When searching in the Library of Congress online catalog, you can confine your search results to materials held by the Manuscript Division using the "refine your search" button and then by selecting the "Manuscript" option in the "Location in the Library. For more search tips in the Manuscript Division please visit the Manuscript Catalog Records Search Strategies webpage.

Subject Headings

Additional and related works may be found by searching the Library of Congress online catalog under appropriate Library of Congress subject headings. Choose the topics you wish to search from the following list of Library of Congress subject headings to link directly to the catalog and automatically execute a search for the subject selected.