RELIC is a repository of thousands of monographs, hundreds of microfilm reels, and a wealth of other physical items – but we also have access to many specialized databases which allow us access to documents and data you might not otherwise be able to access. You might be surprised at the information we can access for you!

An unavoidable aspect of life in Northern Virginia is commuting, but 21st century drivers may be surprised to learn how much of their current commute follows routes which would have been familiar to residents 200 years ago. In this prerecorded program, RELIC librarian Kirk Johnson will describe how the road network in the region evolved from the early colonial period to the Civil War.

RELIC has a wide variety of physical media in its collection, including hundreds of reels of microfilm. Although these reels contain important local documents and are among the most heavily used items in our collection, many people have little experience using microfilm. In this prerecorded program, RELIC librarian Kirk Johnson will review what records RELIC owns in this format, strategies for researching records in this format, and demonstrates the microfilm readers we have in RELIC. You may find that this “old fashioned” technology is much easier to use than you thought.