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Category: Audiovisual

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

All That Jazz … and Humor, Opera, Dance Music …

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

Today the Library of Congress, in conjunction with Sony Music Entertainment, launched a website – “the National Jukebox” – that streams 10,000 sound recordings from the historic Victor Records collection.  It’s a fun and fascinating ramble for anyone who loves American music and wants to dig down into the roots of jazz, opera, a vast …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Your Life Flashes Before Your … Ears?

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

This year’s selections for the National Recording Registry were announced today —   the ninth annual addition to a list now totaling 325 recordings deemed culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant and worthy of preservation for all time. According to the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, the Librarian of Congress – with input from the Library’s …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

“I Am Joaquin” Shall Endure

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

Today the Librarian of Congress named the 25 films that will comprise the National Film Registry’s entries for the year 2010.  These are films that have cultural, historical or aesthetic significance that warrants their preservation for posterity.  All in all, there are 550 films in the registry. Although there is great variety in this year’s …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Organ-izing Some Tuneful Shows in Culpeper

Posted by: Matt Raymond

The following is a guest post by Mike Mashon, head of the Moving Image Section in the Motion Picture, Broadcast and Recorded Sound Division: When I was a kid, I associated organ music with three things: church, baseball games, and roller skating rinks. As a teenager I became interested in silent films, and most of …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Fascinating Finds in Three Minutes

Posted by: Matt Raymond

About a year ago, the Library worked in conjunction with HISTORY (AKA History Channel) to produce a series of two dozen video vignettes called “This Week’s Hidden Treasure.” Each highlights in roughly two or three minutes a fascinating item from our collections, with its story told by a Library of Congress curator. The videos were …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Shiny, Appy People: Library Gets iPhone App

Posted by: Matt Raymond

Developers for the iPhone and iPad have been able to say “there’s an app for that” about a quarter-million times–the total number currently available in Apple’s App Store.  But not until now has there been an official app for the Library of Congress.  (So far it’s the first and only app–don’t be fooled by imitators!) …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

See You In The Funny Papers

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

There are many avenues of research at the Library of Congress. Some are a laugh riot! Take, for example, the vast collections of cartoons and caricature in the Library’s Prints and Photographs Division. For more than a century, the Library has collected pictorial humor  – collections that range from a lifetime’s worth of cartoons by …