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Category: Internships

A woman places a pigment chart under a camera for imaging.

Reading the Rainbow: How Chemistry Helps Identify Pigments

Posted by: Meghan Hill

The following is a guest post by Anna Darden, intern in the Preservation Research & Testing Division (PRTD). Not so long ago, LeVar Burton graced TV screens on Reading Rainbow with his emphasis on building reading comprehension and instilling a life-long love of reading for me and others in my generation. Reading is usually reserved …

A teenager wearing a long, teal lab coat and safety glasses pouring a solution into a glass funnel.

Surface Texture and the Complexities of Paper

Posted by: Megan Zins

Summer intern Oliver Ding discusses working with the Preservation Research & Testing Division in the heart of Washington D.C. Through the American Chemical Society’s Project SEED, Oliver gained access to a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), dabbled with lignin spot tests, and explored the complexity of colorants on paper.

A girl with dark hair and glasses smiles at the camera.

Purrservation: On Cats, Audiences, and Whys

Posted by: Bobbi Hinton

By teaching Joe, my cat, about archives and preservation, I teach myself the best ways to communicate for each project or outreach event I participate in. Joe serves as my test audience, and while he might not directly tell me if I need to expand upon or parse out a section, presenting to him helps me analyze it for myself.

A boy wears goggles and gloves standing at a workbench in a laboratory.

Is this going to work at all? My summer exploring the non-invasive analysis of organic colors.

Posted by: Bobbi Hinton

American Chemical Society SEED intern David Kim waded into unknown terrain during his summer internship in the Preservation Research and Testing Division with the research question - would it be possible to identify traditional Meso-American organic yellow colors, using only non-invasive analytical methods?

A girl in a black turtleneck with glasses stands smiling in front of several shelves full of small boxes with different colored labels.

Microfilm—Macro-impact: A Junior Fellow’s Report from the Preservation Services Division

Posted by: Bobbi Hinton

The following is a guest post from Lillian Williams, 2024 Junior Fellow in the Preservation Services Division.   Before I came to the Library of Congress, I excitedly told many people about my upcoming internship and the Unfurling the Reel Deal: A Journey Through Microfilm History project. I got the same two questions each time: …