Library of Congress

[Richard T Eger]

A question was asked on 12 O'Clock High! about Luftwaffe Orders of Battle for 1936. Three books and a suggestion to contact the Library of Congress were offered by Larry deZeng:

"Larry deZeng
Luftwaffen Kriegsgliederung 1936
Tue Feb 4 21:54:45 2024
152.163.195.211

There are two books in German and one in English that would provide all or most of what you need.

- Völker, Karl-Heinz, Die deutsche Luftwaffe 1933-1939: Aufbau, Führung und Rüstung der Luftwaffe sowie Entwicklung der deutschen Luftkriegstheorie. (Stuttgart, 1967).
- Tessin, Georg, Deutsche Verbände und Truppen 1918-1939: Altes Heer, Freiwilligenverbände, Reichswehr, Heer, Luftwaffe, Landespolizei. (Osnabrück, 1974).
- Ries, Karl, Luftwaffen Story 1935-1939. (Mainz, 1974).

The last one (Ries) is dual German-English.

Next time, try going to the Library of Congress website and doing a subject search. It's much faster.

L."

I wrote to Larry about the 3 books and his comments regarding the Library of Congress, to wit he wrote back:

" Richard -

The DLC website is www.loc.gov . When the Home Page opens, go to the "Find It" menu on the left side of the page.

....

Select "Search Our Catalogs". From that point on, you are on your own. There are four ways to search: (1) by author; (2) by title; (3) by subject; and, (4) by ISBN or shelf number. That's all you have to do. Play around with it for awhile and you'll soon see how easy it is.

Regarding the second part of your question, all 3 of the books you listed are full of 1936 OB listings for the Luftwaffe. I don't know what anyone would want beyond what's in those books.

The U.S. Library of Congress is the "lender of last resort", as defined by the ALA. If a book is not held by any other library in the United States, or, for some reason, other holders refuse to lend it, then DLC is obligated to make it available. Over the years, I've had to borrow from DLC perhaps a half-dozen times. All 3 of the books listed above are available from other libraries in the U.S., so no one would need to borrow them from DLC.

Best,

Larry"

Being taken a bit by surprise that I could actually get something from the Library of Congress, I wrote Larry further as regards any restrictions, to wit he added:

"Richard -

DLC only lends to another library via the interlibrary loan system. Period. You can not go to the LofC and borrow a book, as you correctly surmised. When the book arrives at the borrowing library, the patron is free to take it home for the length of the lending period - usually 3 to 4 weeks - unless it is marked otherwise. In that case, the patron must use it in his/her library. In my experience, I was always able to take the book home. All of these comments apply to books. DLC does not lend manuscripts and other non-published resources.

Best,

Larry

BT"

Thanks for all the information, Larry.

Regards,
Richard