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Category: Tools of the Trade

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: …

Although the front row was near empty, the room was packed

For Library Preservation Staff, Everything is Awesome

Posted by: Amelia Parks

On Friday, March 8th, staff from each division of the Preservation Directorate were invited onstage at Washington, D.C.’s comic convention, Awesome Con, to speak about their work at the Library as part of the convention’s Science Fair. This is their story.

A faded page of text with a dark dirty spot at left, with a bright color image of the same page at right.

Register Now: Inks & Skins

Posted by: Bobbi Hinton

Register to join us at the Library of Congress on September 13th from 10 am - 4 pm. Speakers will address the history of the Irish manuscripts, complementary research projects in which they are involved, and the results of the analytical techniques involved in the research. As Inks&Skins is a collaboration between heritage science and humanities, the importance of a visualization platform to share the results with humanities scholars will also be discussed.

Girl with dark hair and dark eyes smiles broadly, wearing a white t-shirt and black sweater with a small golden necklace.

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.

Katie Mullen and Katie Senn take a selfie in the Main Reading Room, Library of Congress

Collecting the world’s languages: A Junior Fellow’s Report from the Preservation Services Division

Posted by: K.F. Shovlin

How exactly does the coolest stuff in the world make its way from hundreds of countries all over the world into the hands of patrons of the largest library in the world? 2023 Junior Fellow Kathleen Senn describes her experience working in the Preservation Services Division on Inventory Review Protocols for International Collection Materials.