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Close-up view of two hands carefully at work on an aged, yellowing manuscript with handwriting

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) – The Scent of Our Collections and the Things That Hold Them

Posted by: Tana Villafana

This is a guest post written by Dr. Eric Monroe, Head of the Scientific Laboratory Section of the Preservation Research and Testing Division. One of his research interests involves examining the impact and consequences of volatile compounds and odors in the Library.   The presence of odors throughout the Library of Congress is hardly a …

Close-up view of two hands carefully at work on an aged, yellowing manuscript with handwriting

Assessing the Impact of Sanitizing Products on Collection Items

Posted by: Tana Villafana

This is a guest post by Cindy Connelly Ryan, a Preservation Science Specialist in the Preservation Research and Testing Division. Her research interests include the light sensitivity of inks, dyes and organic colorants, deterioration and stabilization of verdigris and iron gall ink, and historic recipes and working methods for artists’ materials. Over the ever-lengthening months …

Close-up view of two hands carefully at work on an aged, yellowing manuscript with handwriting

Preservation Research and Testing Division: What We Do!

Posted by: Tana Villafana

This is a guest post authored by Fenella France. Fenella has been the Chief of the Preservation Research and Testing Division since 2011. She has a Ph.D and a master’s degree in textile science and a master’s degree in business administration, with over 30 years’ experience in heritage preservation science. In February 2020, the Preservation …

An overlay of a ditigal and processed image of Rivera's watercolor, Creation.

Preservation Projects: Diego Rivera’s Watercolors

Posted by: Tana Villafana

Diego Rivera, well known for his reintroduction of large frescoes into modern art, was commissioned to create a series of illustrations for a book that would have been the first English translation of the Popol Vuh, the Maya creation story. Although the book was never published, the Library has three of the original illustrations, Creation, …

Close-up view of two hands carefully at work on an aged, yellowing manuscript with handwriting

Preservation with Instrumentation: Raman Spectroscopy

Posted by: Tana Villafana

The Preservation Research and Testing Division (PRTD) is equipped with many wonderful analytical tools to investigate the Library’s vast collection. Material identification is key for preservation; knowing what materials make up a particular object will guide preservation policies and treatments. PRTD has several different laboratories, including a non-invasive optical properties lab, which is generally where …

Close-up view of two hands carefully at work on an aged, yellowing manuscript with handwriting

But, What Is It? How Research Science Informs Preservation

Posted by: Tana Villafana

I’m a research scientist and I’ve worked in a laser, microscopy, or spectroscopy laboratory (and sometimes a lovely combination of the three) for the past seventeen years. The last five of those years I’ve been lucky to call myself a Chemist at the Library of Congress, working in the optical properties lab of the Preservation …