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Category: Preservation

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

The Library Heads SXSW

Posted by: Matt Raymond

Butch Lazorchak of the Library’s National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program brings us this guest post on the Library’s involvement in one of the most important conferences for the creative and technology communities: The South By Southwest Conference, being held in Austin, Texas, March 11-20, 2011,  has rapidly become one of the most influential …

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

Library, Preservation Share ‘Spotlight’ with Glitterati

Posted by: Matt Raymond

Tim Daly gingerly wound his way up a narrow spiral staircase to a low-ceilinged, vaulted alcove overlooking the ornate Ceremonial Office of the Librarian of Congress.  Surveying the VIPs on the crowded floor below–members of Congress, Hollywood A-listers, Library leadership–he pulled out a digital camera to capture the celebratory moment.  Then he paused. “I wonder …

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

The Library and Twitter: An FAQ

Posted by: Matt Raymond

(UPDATE: Here’s a December 2017 status report on our work with the Twitter archives.) (UPDATE: Here’s a January 2013 status report on our work with the Twitter archives.) Twitter’s gift (link is PDF) to the Library of Congress of its entire archive of public tweets, announced two weeks ago today, sure has stoked the public’s interest.  …

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

Preserving ‘Herblock’ a Rewarding Job for Conservators

Posted by: Matt Raymond

Ever wonder what goes on before an exhibition is mounted and displayed?  My colleague Donna Urschel takes an in-depth look at the preservation steps that were required for the Library’s “Herblock!” exhibition, on display through May 1: Preserving ‘Herblock’ a Rewarding Job for Conservators by Donna Urschel Shortly after the famous Washing­ton Post political cartoonist …

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

New Optical Lab Brings LOC into 21st Century

Posted by: Matt Raymond

(The following is a guest article about new preservation capabilities at the LOC by my colleague Donna Urschel, which was recently published in the the Library’s staff newsletter, the Gazette.) For many decades, details of the 1791 Pierre L’Enfant Plan of Washington, D.C.—one of the many treasures at the Library of Congress—had been obscured. A …

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

How We 'May' Protect Our Cultural Treasures

Posted by: Matt Raymond

“May Day!” is a well-known distress call.  But “MayDay” is also a project to help prevent distress of another kind: Archives, libraries, museums and historic preservation organizations have set aside May 1 to participate in MayDay, an initiative to protect cultural heritage from disasters. For our part, the Library last year contributed a “mutual assistance” …