Jeff Gamet:

The U.S. Library of Congress audio archives are becoming even more accessible now that the recordings are being added to Apple’s iTunes Store. The move is part of an effort to bring some 15.3 million digital recordings to the public in an easy to access manner.

Matt Raymond, the Library of Congress director of communications, said “Our broad strategy is to ‘fish where the fish are,’ and to use the sites that give our content added value — in the case of iTunes, ubiquity, portability, etc.”

So far, there are about 39 podcasts available, and more files are on the way, according to Macworld. The Library of Congress is also adding its video library to YouTube.

“These services are a place to start learning, but our agreements are not exclusive, so other services are certainly possible in the future,” said Michelle Springer, Library Web Service Division digital initiatives project manager.