One of my passions is miniatures. I love how delicate they are, how engineered and practical they can be. I specially love miniature books. For almost two decades, I have had the privilege of working with the miniature books from the General Collections at the Library of Congress. In my capacity as Collections Officer, I have been able to propose and implement measures to improve security, preservation, and access of the miniature books for future generations. Learn more about the history of miniature books and see some example from the Library's impressive collection.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work for the Library of Congress? Each year the Library selects a group of promising early-career library professionals to gain meaningful experience in diverse library service areas such as Archives and Special Collections, Collection Preservation, and Reference and Instruction to name a few! Last year …
This is a guest post written by Peter Alyea. Peter is a Preservation Science Specialist in the Research and Testing Division of the Library of Congress and has been working with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory on imaging recorded sound collections for preservation and access since the inception of the IRENE project. Although making audio recordings …
This is a guest post by Clifton (Cliff) Fulwood, Head, Processing and Preparation Section in the Preservation Services Division. When library books are re-bound, a durable cover material called buckram is often used. Libraries have been using this material for well over 75 years, but due to a variety of changes in both libraries and commercial bindery supply lines this material is now in short supply.
Conservator Betsy Haude describes the complex treatment carried out on eight tightly rolled 19th-century Chinese scroll maps. The project was to treat the maps so that they could be easily handled and consulted by Geography and Map (G&M) staff and researchers.
It’s Fall! Time to break out those comfy sweaters. Time to hold a mug of warm cocoa in two hands and watch yellow tinted leaves slowly topple to the ground. Perhaps some of us are looking at the rich textures and thinking “I wonder if I could get a great color out of that leaf?” …
This is a guest post by Amanda Felicijan, a Digital Library Technician in the Reformatting Projects Section of the Preservation Services Division. She writes about pinning and linking, a small, but vital, part of the process by which books in the collections are tracked.
This is a guest post authored by Conservation Technician, Anna Zastrow. The Bwana Devil movie poster is part of the Archibald Oboler Collection in the Motion, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. The poster was severely damaged, but due to the presence of early fluorescent colorant and the significance of the Bwana Devil, it was decided the …
Nothing says Halloween quite like Apocalypses and giant Hellmouths. The Preservation Research and Testing Division (PRTD) wanted to know what this Hellmouth was made of. So, we dove right in. This blog was written jointly by Tana Villafana, Meghan Wilson, Amanda Satorius, and Stephanie Stillo. Meghan Wilson and Amanda Satorius are Preservation Science Specialists in …
