Libofcongress Mcp Server
Search Library of Congress digital collections, newspaper OCR, and subject headings from your agent for deep topical and historical research.
Overview
io.github.cyanheads/libofcongress-mcp-server is an Idea-phase MCP server that searches LOC collections, Chronicling America OCR newspapers, and LC Subject Headings.
What is this MCP server?
- Search LOC digital collections from the agent
- Chronicling America newspapers with full OCR text
- LC Subject Headings lookup for controlled vocabulary
- Polite access defaults: LOC_USER_AGENT and LOC_REQUEST_DELAY_MS (default 3100 ms, 20 req/min limit)
- Version 0.2.8 with stdio and streamable-http packages
- LOC API rate guidance: 20 requests per minute
- Default LOC_REQUEST_DELAY_MS 3100
- Package version 0.2.8
Community signal: 1 GitHub stars.
What problem does it solve?
You need Library of Congress primary sources and subject authority data in agent workflows while respecting LOC rate limits.
Who is it for?
Builders creating research-heavy content, education products, or SEO topic maps grounded in LOC corpora.
Skip if: Builders who need fast bulk crawling of modern commercial news sites—LOC APIs are archival and rate-limited.
What do I get? / Deliverables
Your agent can query digital collections, newspaper OCR, and subject headings with configurable polite delays between requests.
- LOC digital collection search results
- Chronicling America OCR excerpts and LC Subject Heading references
Recommended MCP Servers
Journey fit
Authoritative LOC corpora support niche discovery, editorial depth, and citation-backed content strategy before you ship. Research subphase covers digital collections search, Chronicling America full OCR, and LC Subject Headings for structured topic maps.
How it compares
Library of Congress research MCP, not a live RSS aggregator or generic Google Books skill.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is libofcongress-mcp-server for?
Solo builders and researchers using MCP agents who cite Library of Congress materials, newspapers, or controlled subject headings.
When should I use libofcongress-mcp-server?
Use it during idea and content research when you need OCR newspaper text, collection search, or LCSH terms for outlines and authority-building pages.
How do I add libofcongress-mcp-server to my agent?
Register @cyanheads/libofcongress-mcp-server with stdio (start:stdio) and set LOC_USER_AGENT plus LOC_REQUEST_DELAY_MS; or use streamable-http per package config.