Top of page
Posted by: Beatriz Haspo
As the Library prepares to open another module inside its Collections Storage Facility in Maryland, I can’t help but reflect on how we got here, almost 20 years after the very first book was placed on a shelf of the first of many storage modules to come. The initial question that comes to mind is …
Posted in: Collections Management, Preservation
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 …
Posted in: Care and Handling, Collections Care, Heritage Science, Preservation
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 …
Posted in: Preservation
Posted by: Samantha Schireson
This is a guest post authored by Jim Thurn. Jim is a book and paper conservator in the Collections Conservation Section of the Conservation Division at the Library of Congress. He studied conservation at the former Kilgarlin Center for Preservation of the Cultural Record at the University of Texas at Austin. On December 7, 1941 …
Posted in: Preservation
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, …
Posted in: Preservation
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 …
Posted in: Preservation
Posted by: Aaron D. Chaletzky
What does the Library do when certain collection items are so worn they cannot be served for fear of further damage? What actions can be taken to prevent the loss of content from the eventual failure of certain technology? How about migrating content from one preservation technology to another, more usable and accessible one? In …
Posted in: Preservation
Posted by: Beatriz Haspo
Finding the original book through pieces and fragments that got disassociated from it.
Posted in: Preservation
Posted by: Samantha Schireson
This post was authored by Katherine Kelly. Katherine is a Senior Conservator at the Library of Congress where she works primarily on repairing and rebinding books from the Geography and Map Division and the Music Division. In December of 2016, a group of conservators and conservation scientists from the Library of Congress (LC) and the …
Posted in: Preservation