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Category: Internships

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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: …

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Reflections of a Librarian-in-Residence in Preservation

Posted by: Bobbi Hinton

The following is a guest post by Lauren Quackenbush, Librarian-in-Residence, Preservation Division. The Librarian-in-Residence (LIR) program was created in 2018 for newly graduated librarian students to gain invaluable experience at the Library of Congress. LIRs are assigned throughout the Library, this year’s 2023 cohort consisted of 5 recent graduates. As the LIR in Preservation, I …

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The Art of Color Analysis: Using Analytical Chemistry in Pigment Research

Posted by: Bobbi Hinton

Preservation Science Intern Jessica McKenzie breaks down some applications of analytical chemistry in the Library of Congress, where she uses Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to expand the Preservation Research and Testing Division’s database for pigment analysis. She then demonstrates how she has assisted in applying her work to collection items.

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A Blast to the Past: Testing Decades Old Predictions

Posted by: Bobbi Hinton

Scientific research meets the allure of the past as Tineta Nkoronye, an intern at the PRTD at the LOC, delves into the world of preservation chemistry as she explores predictions made by William J. Barrow. Learn about the analytical methods used to carry out this experiment and discover whether Barrow's predictions were accurate or not.

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Tracking Colors: Building a Pigment Reference Database

Posted by: Bobbi Hinton

My summer at the Library was spent capturing data from colored pigments in order to build a reference database. Using a high-tech portable FTIR instrument, I prepared samples and collected infrared readings from 50 pigments in the Library’s collection using three of the portable instrument’s attachments. I compiled 150 measurements in order to create the database’s foundation.