Craig Smith's suggestion seems a good one, in terms of facilitating
access to the information available in the catalogs.  But, as a
librarian, I'd like to be sure of the preservation of the originals.
I suspect that these catalogs may not have been deposited with the
Library of Congress when they were initially distributed, so it would
be good to know that LofC had copies before they are disposed of
elsewhere.

I seem to remember some comments in the past about such items
disappearing into a LofC black hole because of time constraints on
processing them, but ultimately the purpose of a deposit library such
as LofC is to preserve and maintain the published records of the past
for future generations, and if they don't have copies, they should.
If the information is broadly (if not freely) available on the Internet
in the way Craig suggests, then the problem of access is resolved.

(If the LofC is not being funded such that it can fulfil its charter,
then that's a separate issue for active political lobbying and
government consideration.)

Jill Bear
Melbourne, Australia - Where April's here, the year has turned
and we're starting to get ready for winter.