Publisher: House, Office of the Clerk, Office of History and Preservation

Description: The most comprehensive history available on the 121 African Americans who have served in Congress. Written for a general audience, this book contains a profile of each African-American Member. Former Member profiles are introduced by contextual essays that explain major events in congressional and U.S. history Includes pictures-including rarely seen historical images-of each African American who has served in Congress; bibliographies and references to manuscript collections for each Member; statistical graphs and charts and a comprehensive index.

Hardcover books have a stiff binding. Paperback books have cheaper, flexible covers which tend to be less durable. An alternative to paperback is the glossy cover, otherwise known as a dust cover, found on magazines, and comic books. Spiral bound books are bound by spirals often made of metal. Examples of spiral bound books include: teachers manuals, and puzzle books (crosswords, sudoku).

Publishing is a process for producing books, magazines, newspapers, etc. pre-printed for the reader/user to buy, usually in large numbers by a publishing company. Such books can be categorized as fiction (made-up stories) or non-fiction (information written as fact). A book-length fiction story is called a novel.

Publishers may produce low-cost, pre-publication copies known as galleys or 'bound proofs' for promotional purposes, such as generating reviews in advance of publication. Galleys are usually made as cheaply as possible, since they are not intended for sale.

The Library of Congress (LOC) recently joined the Science.gov Alliance. The nation's oldest federal cultural institution and largest library in the world, the LOC serves as the research arm of Congress with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections. The addition brings the Science.gov Alliance membership to 17 organizations . Currently in its fourth generation, Science.gov provides search of more than 50 million pages of science information with just one query, and is a gateway to over 1,800 scientific Web sites and 30 deep Web databases.

The Digital Karnak Project announces the launch of its web site. The Project, based at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) aims to make the ancient Egyptian site of Karnak more accessible to students and instructors in the English-speaking world. Web site features have been designed to provide easily accessible, up-to-date, expert material relating to the famous temple of Amun-Ra at Karnak, located in modern day Luxor, Egypt. (10/24/08)

There are affiliated centers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. On May 1, 2007, state center representatives participated in an idea sharing session at the Library. It was marked by lively discussion on an array of topics including state center participation in the Pavilion of States at the National Book Festival, state book festival and awards programs, One Book community reading projects, and the center's two national signature projects, Letters About Literature and River of Words.

Each state center works with the Library of Congress to promote books, reading, and libraries as well as the state's own literary and intellectual heritage. Each also develops and funds its own operations and projects, making use of Library of Congress reading promotion themes and assistance when appropriate and available. When its application is approved, a state center is granted affiliate status for three years. Renewals are for three year periods. In 2007, renewal applications were approved from Alabama, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Nevada, Ohio, Vermont, and West Virginia.

The FBI: A Centennial History, 1908-2008 This handsome coffee-table history of the FBI celebrates the agency's 100th anniversary in July 2008.

The book traces the FBI's journey from fledgling startup to one of the most respected and recognized names in national security. It takes you on a walk through the seven key chapters in FBI history-the early formative period; the gangster-driven crime wave of the '20s and '30s; the anxious age of World War II and the Cold War; the turbulent '60s and its burgeoning civil rights movement; the systemic corruption of the Watergate years; the rise of global terror and crime; and the post 9/11 era. The book includes extensive photographs, including never-before-seen pictures from the FBI files. The FBI: A Centennial History, 1908-2008 is available in both paperback and hardback editions.

Comic books began as a popular, relatively inexpensive American art form in the 1930s and have continued to flourish today. In addition to their value as collectibles, comic books are potentially rich sources for research in the arts, advertising, sociology, popular culture, and history. Perhaps no other medium provides such a popular representation of stereotypes, archetypes, national interests, and fads as do comic books. Comic books have evoked fervent reactions by detractors and enthusiasts who have interpreted their illustrations and story lines for their own ends. Women characters in comic books run the gamut from superhero, child, sidekick, romantic interest, model, outlaw, and ultimate erotic fantasy to serious career woman.

The first woman superhero, Wonder Woman, appeared in All Star Comics, no. 8, in December 1941 (Comics box 13a, and Comics micro-fiche) in a nine-page story of the Amazon princess Diana who nursed American Captain Steve Trevor back to health following an airplane crash. She debuted as the lead character in the inaugural issue of Sensation Comics (Comics box 329a-29b), arriving in the United States with Captain Trevor. Her creator, Dr. William Moulton Marston, a psychologist, who took the pen name of Charles Moulton, wanted Wonder Woman to be a role model for young girls of the 1940s and created a strong, self-reliant, and confident female superhero. In contrast, Marge's Little Lulu (Comics box 206a-6c), a comic book based on the Saturday Evening Post cartoon character, captured children's ingenuity and adult absurdity. Since Wonder Woman's appearance, women in comic books have been represented in various ways, reflecting women's actual, imaginary, and stereotypical roles over time. Strong villains and heroines, such as those in Planet Comics (Comics box 282), appeared during World War II and represented women's contributions to the war effort. Such comic books existed side by side with Canteen Kate (Comics box 56b) and Wartime Romances (Comics box 426a).

Comic books can be found on all subjects. They present beauty pageants, as does Miss America (Comics box 239b), or real and imagined movie stars, such as Dale Evans (Comics box 82a) and Katy Keene (Comics box 181a). Some, like Nyoka, the Jungle Girl (Comics box 264), show exotic locales. More recent acquisitions reflect the comic book industry's affiliation with horror, fantasy, and computer games-from Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (aka Cassandra Peterson) (Comics box 606), and Elfquest, created by husband and wife team Wendy and Richard Pini (Comics box 95c and 501a), to Anne Rice's Vampire Lestat (Comics box 17b). Underground comic books such as Love and Rockets (Comics box 559) and Wimmen's Comics (Comics box 521) represent the extreme in the industry. There are even comic books that satirize other comic books-just as Not Brand Echh (Comics box 263a), illustrated by Marie Severin, plays off other Marvel comics.

Carrie Chapman Catt, "Wonder Women of History,". 1947. Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room. LC-DIG-ppmsca-02931 DLC (scan from color copy photo in Publishing Office).Wonder Woman is a trademark of DC Comics 2001. All rights reserved. Used with permission. full caption bibliographic record

The largest collection of comics books in the United States is housed in the Serial and Government Publications Division. The collection includes U.S. and foreign comic books-over 5,000 titles in all, totaling more than 100,000 issues. Primarily composed of the original print books, the collection includes color microfiche of a handful of the early comic books (such as Wonder Woman, Superman, and Action Comics) and special reprints. Although the collection is most comprehensive from 1950, scattered issues from numerous titles date back to the 1930s. A small number of comic books make up the Underground Comic Book collection of titles "recommended for mature readers."

The Library acquires comic books published and distributed in the United States almost exclusively through copyright deposit. Titles are added to the collection on the basis of quality of text and graphic depiction; significance of the artist, writer, or publisher; originality of story or main character; the title's popularity as reflected in circulation statistics or media attention; representation of new ideas or social trends; or availability through copyright.

The library is open to the general public for academic research, and runs tours for visitors. Only those who are issued a "Reader Identification Card" may enter the reading rooms and access the collection. The Reader Identification Card is available in the Madison building to persons who are at least 16 years of age upon presentation of a government issued picture identification (e.g., driver's license, state ID card or passport). However, only members of Congress, Supreme Court Justices, their staff, Library of Congress staff and certain other government officials can actually remove items from the library buildings.

Members of the general public with Reader Identification Cards must use items from the library collection inside the reading rooms only; they cannot remove library items from the reading rooms or the library buildings. During the 110th Congress, in the Fall, United States House of Representatives Pages were given Library of Congress Reader Cards for the first time in the Page Program's history, giving them access to the large reading rooms available in the Library of Congress. Pages can be as young as 16 years of age.

Since 1902, libraries in the United States have been able to request books and other items through interlibrary loan from the Library of Congress if these items are not readily available elsewhere. Through this, the Library of Congress has served as a "library of last resort", according to former Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam.