Library of Congress MCP Connector for Claude

Connect your AI agent to the Library of Congress (LOC) and explore the vast digital archives of the United States' oldest federal cultural institution. Access millions of records, from historical newspapers to rare maps and sound recordings.

What you can do

• Global Search — Search across the entire LOC catalog including items, legislation, and blogs using the search tool.
• Digital Collections — Browse and list all available digital collections or drill down into specific ones like the 'Abraham Lincoln Papers' using list_collections and get_collection_items.
• Format-Specific Discovery — Filter your research by specific media types such as maps, audio, or photos with search_format.
• Deep Bibliographic Research — Retrieve detailed metadata and digital resource links for specific items using get_item.
• OCR & Text Analysis — Access full-text OCR, word coordinates, and context snippets for digitized documents via get_text_service.
• Technical Image Metadata — Fetch IIIF technical data for high-resolution images using get_image_info.

How it works

1. Subscribe to this server
2. Enter your Library of Congress API Key (optional but recommended for higher rate limits)
3. Start researching historical data directly from your MCP-compatible client

Who is this for?

• Researchers & Historians — Instantly find primary sources and bibliographic data without manual catalog navigation.
• Educators & Students — Access digitized manuscripts and historical records for curriculum development.
• Data Scientists — Utilize OCR services and metadata for large-scale historical text analysis.