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By: Jennifer Gavin
As we all prepare to take off for a midweek Fourth of July celebration that will feature hundreds, if not thousands, of bands around the nation playing John Philip Sousa marches including “Stars and Stripes Forever,” I’d like to thank my Dear Old Dad for his patience. What’s that got to do with the price …
Posted in: Timeless
By: Butch Lazorchak
They’re the red-headed stepchildren of the digital age. They’re neither retro chic (all things being relative, of course) like the server arrays that support “big data,” nor are they as cute as the thumb drives made to look like your favorite Star Wars character (or more oddly, chicken feet). Of what do I speak? The …
Posted in: The Signal
By: Trevor Owens
How can the nature and practice of humanities research change in the face of the scale of digital cultural heritage collections and the possibilities offered by computational analysis? This was the core question in the recent Joint Council on Digital Libraries round table discussion of the Digging into Data challenge. The session description does a …
Posted in: The Signal
By: Butch Lazorchak
Back in the early days of the NDIIPP program we had a series of cross-cutting initiatives that we called “affinity groups.” These groups addressed areas of interest such as “collection and selection,” “technical architecture” and “rights and restrictions” that cut across all the different projects. I was interested in the work of the “economic sustainability” …
Posted in: The Signal
By: Leslie Johnston
Some weeks ago I gave a presentation that I jokingly titled “The Challenges of Preserving Every Digital Format on the Face of the Planet.” Except it’s not really a joke. We often have little or no control over what comes into the Library of Congress Digital Collections, and we manage and preserve a wide variety …
Posted in: The Signal
Summer is here (in the northern hemisphere) and that means that many of us will be heading to an amusement park for some good ole’ fashioned fun. I am a traditionalist when it comes to the thrill rides in amusement parks. I prefer the roller coasters that allow me to sit facing forward. Riding backwards …
Posted in: Inside Adams
By: Susan Manus
I was hoping to have more to contribute to an after-the-fact blog post on the 2012 Joint Conference on Digital Libraries , which took place last week here in Washington, DC. But because I was on the conference organizing team, I spent most of the time either behind the registration desk answering questions, or running around …
Posted in: The Signal
By: Jennifer Gavin
On Monday (June 25) at the Library of Congress – in a conference anybody can attend, free of charge – the contributions of a congressman you’ve probably never heard of, but really should know about, will be explored. Justin Morrill of Vermont may never be as well-known as his executive-branch supporter in these endeavors, Abraham …
Posted in: Timeless
By: Mike Ashenfelder
Listen to podcast. Karen Cariani’s background is very different than most of her colleagues in the NDSA Infrastructure working group, and that difference helps stretch both the group and her beyond their comfort zones, to everyone’s benefit. Cariani, director of Boston’s WGBH Media Library and Archives, has worked at WGBH since 1984 where she manages …
Posted in: The Signal
By: Butch Lazorchak
The following is a guest post by Emily Reynolds, 2012 Junior Fellow. Last week, the Library of Congress Archives Forum hosted a talk by Kate Theimer of the popular blog ArchivesNext. Theimer is a prominent voice in the archival community, frequently writing and speaking about archival advocacy issues as well as the challenges and opportunities …
Posted in: The Signal