-There is no catalog of public domain works, heck the digital catalog only goes back to 1976.

-LOC charges to do copyright searches through their records. They *do not* record the outcome of these searches as a matter of policy. I have some researcher friends that were told that the staff do keep unofficial records so that they can charge for work that they don't do.

-Look at the LOC website, their digital library is truly pitiful. It appears to have been built around '96 and hasn't grown since then.

-The LOC is so culturally against sharing information it amazes me. Contrast them with the National Archives, they are user friendly for those that want to get information.

Funding for digitization is a real issue. Take a look at saveoursounds.org, LOC and Smithsonian are basically begging for crumbs, $750,000 to digitize sound recordings that are about to crumble with age. I think that nicely shows the state of government's role in digitizing our public domain.