I was saddened yesterday by the news that one of the last two known living U.S. veterans of World War I, Harry Landis, had died at age 108. That leaves 107-year-old Frank Buckles of Charles Town, W. Va., as the sole surviving American veteran of the “Great War” that began more than 90 years ago. […]
It’s sometimes hard to know ahead of time what is going to catch someone’s fancy. Take parking garages (please!). In December we announced a lecture to be held Jan. 15 by architect Shannon Sanders McDonald about parking garages and their effects on urban planning, sponsored by the Library’s Science, Technology and Business Division. The topic […]
I couldn’t let the day slip by without linking to Al Kamen’s column in today’s Washington Post. It’s about the varied approaches taken among the increasingly crowded field of federal bloggers, and how sometimes good intentions go awry. For instance, there is the blog at the Transportation Security Administration that Kamen implies is at risk […]
The Library’s Lifelong Literacy campaign in conjunction with the Ad Council is taking a new step forward as we roll out a series of radio public-service announcements. To give a listen, click here, then scroll down for MP3s. The spots all follow a basic premise: A narrator reads a pivotal or climactic passage from a […]
In a timely event just days before the beginning of African American History Month, the Library of Congress on Monday added to its rich holdings on the Civil Rights Movement with the acquisition of the James Forman papers. Forman (1928-2005), who served as executive secretary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from 1961 to […]
As the president prepares to take his annual look ahead in the State of the Union, I thought I might do the same for this blog and get feedback from readers. Our friends at DipNote (the State Department’s official blog) did just that a few weeks ago: Since launch, we have made a strong attempt […]
Most of us know intuitively, if not empirically, about the importance of reading for pleasure, lifelong literacy, or whatever term you choose. Studies have shown connections between a person’s love of reading and other qualities such as civic engagement and philanthropy. But what can we actually do to help stoke young people’s interest in reading […]
It was an entirely happy coincidence this week that we announced both the Flickr pilot project and an amazing photographic discovery on exactly the same day. A trio of images, previously thought to have been picturing different events, have been confirmed to be photographs from Abraham Linclon’s second inauguration as president on March 4, 1865. […]
I need to start out this post with a single word: thanks. If it?s true that a picture is worth a thousand words, then thank goodness for those 3,100 pictures, because words are failing me right now. The response to the Library?s pilot project with Flickr has been nothing short of astounding. You always hope […]
If you’re reading this, then chances are you already know about Web 2.0. Even if you don’t know the term itself, you’re one of millions worldwide who are actively creating, sharing or benefiting from user-generated content that characterizes Web 2.0 phenomena. As a communicator, I want to expand the reach of the Library and access […]