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Category: Series: Behind the Scenes

A box of matted engravings viewed from above. Two prints are visible: a portrait of a woman and a group of sailors.

Open a Box: Behind the Scenes with a Prints & Photographs Staff Challenge

Posted by: Kate Phillips

Every other month, staff in the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division come together for a “Learning Hour,” a time dedicated to knowledge sharing, training, and discussion. This month’s session took the form of a challenge: each participant opened an unfamiliar box from the collections and reported back on what they discovered. How is the collection arranged and described? What might a researcher encounter when using it? How could access be improved? This week’s post highlights some of the insights that emerged from that exercise.

Side view, from above, of tan colored boxes that include small thumbnail images of 19th century photos on top of boxes. Handwritten call numbers for the images are also visible on the boxes.

Behind the Scenes: Exploring the Historic and Aesthetic Value of Photographs

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

The following is an interview with Ramon Jr. Salado Romo, Stanford in Government Liljenquist Fellow in the Prints & Photographs Division. Melissa: Thanks for talking with us. Can you describe your background and how you came to this internship? Ramon: I grew up in Southern California in the Coachella Valley region. After high school I …

Building Access to the Paul Marvin Rudolph Archive

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

Paul Rudolph was one of the most significant American architects of the 20th century, best known for his modern, brutalist designs. This interview describes the experiences of two Library of Congress Junior Fellows, Rob Johnson and Carter Jackson, both currently working in the Prints & Photographs Division to contribute to the future processing of the Paul Marvin Rudolph archive.

Untitled photo, possibly related to: Washington, D.C. Jewal Mazique [i.e. Jewel], worker at the Library of Congress, getting a late snack. Photo by John Collier, Jr., 1942. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8d20264

Behind the Scenes: Reflecting on a Career While Continuing to Explore the Collections

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

The following is an interview with Barbara Orbach Natanson, former Head of the Prints & Photographs Reading Room. Melissa: Can you tell us about your background, and what roles you played at the Library of Congress before you retired this past December? Barbara: I first came to the Library of Congress in 1980 to do …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Behind the Scenes: an Archivist Draws on Myriad Experiences

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

Below is an interview with Kristen Sosinski, Archivist in the Prints & Photographs Division at the Library of Congress. Melissa: Can you tell us about your background, and how you came to work as an archivist in the Prints & Photographs Division? Kristen: Yes, I got my start in college where I had a work-study …