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Archive: June 2015 (10 Posts)

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Five Questions with Cheryl Adams, Reference Specialist for Religion in the Library of Congress Humanities and Social Sciences Division

Posted by: Danna Bell

Because our division covers the humanities and social sciences I would definitely get questions relating to religion, but I might be at the desk when someone was researching the history of catsup, ideas about beauty in the 1860s or wanting a list of consulting firms who helped incumbents win senate races , 1980-2012 (real questions!). I love the variety of both questions and researchers. And researchers in the Main Reading Room need only be 16 or older (and curious) in order to use our collections, which makes for a wide world of topics and interests.

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Five Questions with Kristi Finefield, Reference Librarian, Prints and Photographs Division

Posted by: Danna Bell

For me, one of the greatest joys of working at the Library is that I continually have the opportunity to choose a new favorite item, and I'll never need to pick the same one twice, thanks to the vastness of the collections. Every day, I see an image I've never seen before or view a photo with new eyes because of a researcher's enthusiasm for their research topic. Even with all the tools at my disposal to locate specific items, my day is still full of serendipity and discovery - and brand new favorites!

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

New Library of Congress Ebooks: Japanese American Internment, Women’s Suffrage, and Political Cartoons

Posted by: Stephen Wesson

These Student Discovery Sets gather unique documents and artifacts related to landmark moments in the nation's history and, through interactive tools, let students zoom in on, illustrate, and makes notes about what they discover. The newest sets cover Political Cartoons and Public Debates, Japanese American Internment, and Women's Suffrage.

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Five Questions with Abby Yochelson, Reference Specialist for English and American Literature, Main Reading Room

Posted by: Danna Bell

My all-time favorite teacher was Mrs. Campbell in sixth grade. One of her activities was to have us memorize and recite poetry a couple of times a year. While I was painfully shy back then, I thought the activity was terrific (once my turn was finished)! In our online collections, I really love the copy of Walt Whitman's poem "Oh Captain, My Captain." It's a printed copy but it includes corrections in Whitman's handwriting with a note to the publisher about "bad perversions."