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Archive: 2010 (74 Posts)

Silver stylized owl with radiant circles around its head, surrounded by a gold frame

Pic of the Week: At Your Service

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

As you walk through the main center door of the Science and Business Reading Room, you see the Book Service Desk straight ahead. Because the Library’s books stacks are closed to the public, this is where researchers turn in paper call slips to retrieve items from the General Collections and pick up delivered items.  Thousands …

Silver stylized owl with radiant circles around its head, surrounded by a gold frame

Pic of the Week

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

We decided to follow the lead of our Law Library colleagues at In Custodia Legis with a Picture of the Week series.   In this series we will show you interesting things we  see in and around the Library of Congress John Adams Building. With that said, our first photo features one of the John Adams Building owls that  greets vistors …

Silver stylized owl with radiant circles around its head, surrounded by a gold frame

One in a Septillion

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

While winter has not yet officially arrived, some of us have been given a taste of the season to come with cold temperatures, frigid winds, frost, ice, and even powdery snow. When I think of winter, I think of twinkling ice crystals falling from the sky and colliding to become intricate snowflakes. Each winter there …

Silver stylized owl with radiant circles around its head, surrounded by a gold frame

Planes, Trains but not Automobiles

Posted by: Ellen Terrell

In the 1987 movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Steve Martin’s character is desperately trying to get home for Thanksgiving. While working at the Library of Congress, I have answered many questions which might have interested Steve Martin’s character, from how people traveled, to how much a trip cost, to how long a certain trip was …

Silver stylized owl with radiant circles around its head, surrounded by a gold frame

World War II ‘Scientific Manpower’

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

K-rations, better night vision binoculars, and synthetic rubber are just a few examples of innovations resulted from scientific research during World War II.  The story of science during World War II is one of partnerships and prolific research. On June 28, 1941, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8807which established the Office of Scientific Research and …