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By: Erin Engle
The January 2013 Library of Congress Digital Preservation Newsletter is now available. http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/news/newsletter/201301.pdf In this issue: Why does digital preservation matter? Learn about some key dates in the history of digitizing texts. A call to action to preserve science discourse on the Web. Find out what resolution to scan at when using your personal scanner. …
Posted in: The Signal
By: Bill LeFurgy
With 2012 safely behind us, let us praise some of the best things that happened last year in digital preservation. This is something of a tradition for us, as we have previously run down a list for 2011 and 2010. I cast a wide net and mustered my objectivity in in picking activities with the …
Posted in: The Signal
By: Jennifer Gavin
On Thursday evening, a very nice gift was given, and received, in an ornate room at the U.S. Department of State. Afghan President Hamid Karzai was the recipient – on behalf of several libraries and research institutions in his nation – of a trove of digitized treasures from the Library of Congress and its associated …
Posted in: Timeless
By: Susan Manus
The following is a guest post by Barry Wheeler, Digital Projects Coordinator, Office of Strategic Initiatives In part 1 of this blog series, we saw that manufacturers claimed “resolution” is based on the number of steps per inch a small motor moves the scanner assembly (the rows) and the number of tiny sensors per inch …
Posted in: The Signal
By: Bill LeFurgy
Amber Case coined the term persistent paleontologyin reference to electronic systems that continuously layer on new information. “The e-mail inbox is a rapidly expanding site of excavation which one must continually query,” she writes. “The newness of everything buries one’s ability to reach it without digging.” I like this association because it lets us look …
Posted in: The Signal
By: Jeff Bridgers
The following is a guest post by Katherine Blood, Curator of Fine Prints. Picking a favorite Rembrandt might sound about as reasonable as choosing a favorite star or a single book to take to a desert island. But I do have a favorite–Rembrandt’s 1648 etching St. Jerome beside a Pollard Willow. St. Jerome (ca. 342-420) has …
Posted in: Picture This
By: Erin Allen
Library curators and staff decked the blogs in December with a variety of posts. Here are some highlights. In the Muse: Performing Arts Blog A Miro on Which to Dwell The Miro Quartet pays homage to Schubert and Stradivarius The Signal: Digital Preservation Why Does Digital Preservation Matter Bill LeFurgy talks about the importance of …
Posted in: Timeless
By: Erin Engle
You’re a graduate student in a geography education program learning about the concepts underlying a geographic information system, including creating, analyzing and editing geospatial data sets. Part of your coursework also includes learning about the preservation of GIS data. As an academic librarian, your position oversees the gathering and management of geospatial data as well …
Posted in: The Signal
By: Mike Ashenfelder
Digital preservation and Internet access are not only transforming the way we record and convey history, they are also restoring the importance of humankind’s oldest means of storytelling: the oral tradition. One of the most influential leaders in this modern oral-history movement is Doug Boyd, director of the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History …
Posted in: The Signal
By: Butch Lazorchak
In 1982 Interstate I-66 opened, providing a direct high-speed connection (except at rush hour) between downtown Washington D.C. and its western suburbs in Virginia. I was barely out of high school at the time so its opening didn’t really register with me, but now I live mere blocks away from the highway so it’s an …
Posted in: The Signal