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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

Someone Who Outdrew You

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

The Librarian of Congress and the National Recording Preservation Board have released this year’s choices for the prestigious National Recording Registry — and as always, it’s a veritable sonic smorgasbord of terrific stuff, from many genres.  The selections are made to ensure the preservation for posterity of sound recordings with cultural, artistic or historical merit. …

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

InRetrospect: February 2014 Blogging Edition

Posted by: Erin Allen

Between winter and the winter olympics, the Library of Congress blogosphere offered up a variety of posts during February. Here is a sampling: In The Muse: Performing Arts Blog ASCAP on the Occasion of its 100th Birthday with Jimmy Webb and Paul Williams The Library celebrates ASCAP. From the Catbird Seat: Poetry & Literature at …

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

Ten Thousand Treasures

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

The World Digital Library – a website of world cultural treasures offered free of charge in seven languages to anyone on the planet with access to the Internet – has put up its 10,000th offering. It was part of a package, actually – a group of rare manuscripts from the collections of the Walters Art …

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

Conservation Corner: Rare Drawing by Martin Ramirez Conserved and Unveiled

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is a guest post by Holly Krueger, head of the Paper Conservation Section of the Library of Congress Preservation Directorate.) Last December, the Library of Congress unveiled a remarkable drawing by the “outsider artist,” Martin Ramirez. The drawing depicts a Madonna figure standing on a blue globe surrounded by canyons filled with anthropomorphic …

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

Preserving the Grammys, and More

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is a guest post written by Gene DeAnna, head of the Recorded Sound Section at the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation.) With this year’s Grammy Awards event coming this weekend, it seems a good time to talk about recorded sound preservation. While you may not be on the edge …

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

Calling Mr. Wolfe

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

Quick: what do the movies “Mary Poppins” and “Pulp Fiction” have in common? Well, yes, they’re both motion pictures.  But now, both are listed on the Library of Congress National Film Registry, a collection of films – 25 are added each year – deemed worthy of preservation due to their cultural, historic or aesthetic significance. …

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

Uncovering a Treasure

Posted by: Erin Allen

The file boxes of Charles and Ray Eames yielded all sorts of eclectic items to archivists processing the collection at the Library of Congress – a letter from Georgia O’Keefe in this one, a receipt for a Moroccan robe in that one, printed butterflies in another. Buried in one carton, senior archives technician Tracey Barton …

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

A Celebration of Mexico: A Revolutionary Film

Posted by: Erin Allen

This Thursday and Friday, the Library of Congress is hosting a special “Celebration of Mexico” to honor the culture and history of Hispanic Americans and highlight the Library’s collection of Hispanic materials, which is the largest in the world. During the event, the Library will present the world premiere of the oldest-known documentary footage of …