If you need help learning to search the DC History Center’s collections via the online catalog, are seeking general guidance on how to start your research, or have a specific DC history related questions or queries, library staff and volunteers can assist via email. Please address your query to library@dchistory.org.
Our ability to offer assistance by telephone is limited at at this time.
Have a quick question? Need to know a date or a street address? Need to reference specific materials in our collection?
Our staff and volunteers will search maps, broadsides, city directories, real estate atlases and other ready reference materials. If applicable, we may provide up to 5 smartphone photographs of resources, for reference use only. We may also suggest other repositories or avenues you can take to learn more about your topic.
To send a quick reference query, email library@dchistory.org with the following information:
a brief description of your topic or interest
as many details as possible: include people or business names, addresses, dates ranges or time periods, and information about what you have already found through your own research
the call number / object ID of any applicable DC History Center collections that may contain the information you're interested in
For queries that require more in-depth consultation of materials in our collection, you will be referred to our paid research services option.
Your request will be added to our queue of reference requests and will be addressed in the order of receipt. We are usually able to respond within 5-10 business days, but during periods of high-demand, it may take longer for your query to get addressed.
Have an in-depth query referencing materials in our collection?
For research questions that require more extensive consultation of materials in our collection, we are temporarily offering a paid research service option. For a flat fee of $50, a staff member will research on your behalf for up to one hour in the manuscript, photograph, printed materials, ephemera, and vertical files collections. Included in this service are up to 10 smartphone photographs of resources, for reference use only.
To request our Paid Research Services option, email library@dchistory.org with the following information:
a brief description of your topic or interest
a list of DC History Center collections you'd like for us to search - use our online catalog to identify collections relevant to your question
Your ideal timeline for the completion of this request
After receipt, a librarian will respond to discuss your request, confirm details, and a time-frame for delivery. Your question will only be processed after payment is received.
Our Paid Research Service option is constrained by the time available for us to undertake your request - we will let you know if we have capacity to do this work within the desired timeframe when you make your request. Paid Research Service is for research in the Kiplinger Research Library’s archival collections only, and we cannot guarantee that an answer to your research question will be found in the time allotted. Access to these collections will be free of charge for in-person research at the Kiplinger Research Library.
