JSP, CHD are awesome

Just a brief note about how awesome the Joseph Smith Papers (https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/) and the Church History Department are. 

Readers here know how much I rely upon the expertise of Church historians, their staff, and everyone involved with accumulating, indexing, organizing, and presenting historical documents. They are careful and professional. 

Every time I do a presentation, fireside, etc. about Church history, I encourage audience members to become familiar with the Joseph Smith Papers.

There are other invaluable collections of historical material that I often rely upon as well, such as the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale (http://edwards.yale.edu/), archive.org, the Founding Fathers resources (https://founders.archives.gov/), etc. 

But the Joseph Smith Papers is probably the best organized and most accessible, with outstanding images of original documents accompanied by transcripts and notes.

The Church History Library Catalog is also outstanding, and it is improving all the time. 

https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/

The staff is helpful, responsive, and prompt. 

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I sometimes make recommendations for improvement. Many of these suggestions seem obvious, and it surprises me that it takes so long for changes to be made, but there is always institutional inertia to overcome. Plus, everyone is busy and apparently there is no one assigned at the Joseph Smith Papers or the Church History Department to make corrections/improvements, such as an ombudsman. 

But eventually the right thing happens....