Works on the parasitology and toxicology of plants and animals as they affect the food supply, the economy and the well being of humans also are collected. LC's primary focus in these areas is to acquire materials of high interest at a basic information level to support the research needs of Members of Congress and Congressional committees. LC also acquires materials at the basic information level to serve other government agencies and the general public. LC has a strong basic collection of U.S. copyrighted works on pets and pet care. In addition, English language works on wildlife in captivity and wildlife rehabilitation are collected to complement the Library's collection strength in biodiversity.
Older material is retained for historical research.
It is intended to include all important reference works and a wide selection of specialized monographs, as well as a very extensive collection of journals and major indexing and abstracting services in the field. Older material is retained for historical research. It includes a wide range of basic monographs, complete collections of the works of more important writers, selections from the works of secondary writers, a selection of representative journals and the reference tools and fundamental bibliographical apparatus pertaining to the subject. It may include dictionaries, encyclopedias, selected textbooks, surveys, histories, directories, bibliographies, handbooks and a few major periodicals, in the minimum number that will serve the purpose. A basic information collection is not sufficiently intensive to support any courses or independent study in the area involved.