Library of Congress's Blog, page 158

Let’s Get Pinning!

Today the Library of Congress launched its own Pinterest account, continuing efforts to make educational, historical and cultural resources available to web users across many platforms.

With Pinterest, the Library can share visual content with a wide audience, allowing them to also curate their own collections featuring the same content by creating and managing “boards” and “pinning” items. Each pin links back to the original Library source material.

The Library is the repository to more than 158 million items of cultural and historical value, including more than 13.7 million photographs, 5.5 million maps, 6.7 million pieces of sheet music and 69 million manuscripts.

The Pinterest account joins other social-media platforms, including YouTube, Flickr, Twitter and Facebook.

Pic of the Week: Octavia Spencer

 

Photo by Amanda ReynolAward-winning actress Octavia Spencer visited the Young Readers Center earlier this week to discuss her children’s book, “Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective: The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit,” with students from Roots Public Charter and Orr Elementary in the District of Columbia, and Oak View Elementary School in Fairfax, Va.

Schools were from at-risk communities, and Spencer shared her own personal story growing up with dyslexia in a very small town in Alabama. The actress won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Minny in the 2011 film “The Help.”

“Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective: The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit” is the first in a series, with the second forthcoming next summer.

See It Now: Happy Bloomsday

James Joyce. 1941. Prints and Photographs Division.

Several years ago I took a whirlwind tour of Ireland, which included a few days in Dublin. One of my most memorable experiences was taking a literary pub crawl through the city. Throughout the evening, the actor tour guides led us in the footsteps of James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and Oscar Wilde, among others.

While I can’t quite remember all the spouted prose, I’m sure our guides likely entertained us with selections from Joyce’s most seminal work, “Ulysses.” Today, June 16, marks Bloomsday, a celebration of the early 20th century Irish author and a nod to the novel, which recounts a day in the life of protagonist Leopold Bloom on June 16, 1904.

St. Olaf College student Johnna Purchase interned at the Library last year, where she worked in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. She used her time to examine the material and cultural history of Joyce and his works, among other things. (You can read more about her internship here. Purchase delivered a lecture at the Library discussing her research, which you can see below.

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Joyce also published several books of poetry. His book, “Chamber Music,” is a collection of 36 of his poems. Noted composer Samuel Barber was much influenced and inspired by Joyce’s writing. In 1936, he composed a series of songs set to poetry from “Chamber Music”: “Rain has fallen,” “I hear an army,” and “Solitary hotel.”  Available as part of “The Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America” presentation are audio and video recordings of these songs featuring baritone Thomas Hampson, who will perform at the Library July 3.

For more Joycean resources, search for “James Joyce” in the Library’s online catalog for a list of several electronic book resources.

Rare Map on Display at Library Scored Some “Firsts”

(The following is a guest post by Wendi A. Maloney, writer-editor in the U.S. Copyright Office.)

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Abel Buell, “A New and Correct Map of the United States of North America,” 1784. On deposit to the Library of Congress from David M. Rubenstein.

Engraver Abel Buell “came out of nowhere,” at least in terms of cartography, when he printed a United States map in 1784. “He’d never done a map before,” says Edward Redmond of the Library’s Geography and Map Division. Nonetheless, Buell set records.

He was the first U.S. citizen to print a map of the United States in the United States after the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783. The treaty formally concluded the American Revolution and recognized the United States as an independent nation. Buell was also the first person to copyright a map in the United States.

Buell’s “New and Correct Map of the United States of North America” is the centerpiece of “Mapping a New Nation,” an ongoing exhibition in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. Philanthropist David M. Rubenstein purchased Buell’s map at auction in 2010 and made it available for public display at the Library.

The wall map contains no original cartographic material, Redmond says; instead, Buell combined elements of maps published earlier in Europe.

“Buell, who lived in New Haven, Connecticut, may have accessed other maps at nearby Yale University,” Redmond suggests. “That’s a supposition, however; we can’t prove it.”

Redmond worked with other Library colleagues to identify maps in the Library’s collections that Buell may have used as sources and include them in the exhibition. “As the largest map library in the world, we have in our collections the maps Buell likely would have had available to him,” Redmond says.

Buell’s map documents a unique time in U.S. history. “Before adoption of the Constitution in 1787, the federal government couldn’t establish boundaries between states or force surrender of the western lands some states claimed,” Redmond notes. “As a result, the boundaries of many states in Buell’s map extend west from the Atlantic Coast all the way to the Mississippi River.”

Buell petitioned the General Assembly of Connecticut for a copyright for his soon-to-be-printed map on October 28, 1783, nine months after Connecticut became the first U.S. state to enact a copyright law. By October 28, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey had also passed copyright laws, but none expressly protected maps, as Connecticut’s law did. Thus Buell became the first person to copyright a map in the new nation.

Lawrence Wroth, Buell’s biographer, described Buell as creative and versatile but also restless and impulsive, which perhaps explains his conviction in 1764 for counterfeiting. Buell served jail time, had the tip of his ear cut off, and had his forehead branded with the letter C, a standard penalty of the time.

His colorful life notwithstanding, Buell had the skill and wherewithal to create his own “cartographic conception of the United States,” rich in symbolism of the emerging nation, Redmond concludes.

A Book Festival for the Bird(er)s

“Shirley,” the celebrated Cooper’s Hawk liberated from the cupola of the Library’s Main Reading Room early in 2011. She was identified by a Library staffer using a Sibley app.

David Allen Sibley – yes, the author of the recently updated “Sibley Guide to Birds,” that indispensable handbook on all things feathered – will appear at this year’s National Book Festival, Saturday, August 30 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

In addition to this most highly respected ornithologist, we will also welcome Sally Satel, co-author (with Scott Lilienfeld) of “Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience,” Ian Morris, author of “War! What Is It Good For? Conflict and the Progress of Civilization from Primates to Robots” and former National Basketball Association star Derek Anderson.

Tweet it, squawk it, send it via carrier pigeon, release it from the Main Reading Room: the Library of Congress National Book Festival will bring more than 100 authors for all ages to the Washington Convention Center August 30, for a full day followed by all-new evening activities including a graphic novels “super-session,” a poetry slam and a screening titled “Great Books to Great Movies.”

It’s all free and open to the public. Don’t miss it!

InRetrospect: May 2014 Blogging Edition

Inside Adams: Science, Technology and Business

Oh, Oology!

Caliology and oology are the study of bird nests and eggs, respectively.

In the Muse: Performing Arts Blog

Best Buddies, or Just Goethe Friends?

Tchaikovsky and Brahms share a birthday, among other things.

In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress

I Could Not Accept Your Challenge to Duel. It’s Not You, It’s Me

In Kentucky, lawyers are not allowed to duel.

The Signal: Digital Preservation

Save the Date: Exploring Calendar and Scheduling Formats

Kate Murray takes a look at software such as iCalendar.

Teaching with the Library of Congress

Visiting Washington D.C.? Enrich Your Trip With Primary Sources

Primary sources can help you explore the history and the architecture behind D.C.’s historic buildings.

Picture This: Library of Congress Prints and Photos

The Library needs your help in identifying historic structures.

From the Catbird Seat: Poetry and Literature at the Library of Congress

Is Your State Laureate-less? You Can Help Change That

Peter Armenti offers tips on how to establish a poet laureate for your state.

Folklife Today

From Cornwall to the Ozarks: More May Celebrations

Stephen Winick looks at May celebrations across the globe.

Now See Hear!

Awopbopaloomop Alopbamboom!

Little Richard talks about his early days.

NLS Music Notes

Quincy Jones and Who?

Professional musician Justin Kauflin is also an NLS patron.

Library in the News: May 2014 Edition

As May came to an end, so did the second and final term of Natasha Trethewey as U.S. Poet Laureate. She gave her final lecture at the Library of Congress on May 14.

“At the Library of Congress on Wednesday night, Trethewey began, as she often does, with her personal history and then moved into a rich exploration of America’s racial heritage,” wrote Washington Post reporter Ron Charles.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Rosalind Bentley also wrote about Trethewey’s final lecture and term. “As she brings her two terms as the nation’s top poet to a close this Wednesday, Natasha Trethewey chose the words of a homeless Seattle teen she met last year, to, in a fashion, sum up what has been her mission as the nation’s poet laureate.

“She said that being able to write about the ugly things that she’d experienced in life, through poetry, she was able to turn them around and make them beautiful.”

While one term was ending, another was beginning. In May it was announced that David M. Rubenstein, co-founder and co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, will serve as chairman of the private-sector advisory group to the Library, the James Madison Council, beginning October 2014.

Making the announcement were outlets including the Associated Press, The Washington Post and CBS local news.

The Library plays host to many esteemed individuals, who also study and give lectures at the institution. John Bew, Henry A. Kissinger Chair in Foreign Policy and International Relations, has been at the Library since last October researching the notion of realpolitik, where policies are formulated based more on practical geostrategic and national interests rather than lofty ideals.

Bew spoke with Washington Diplomat reporter Larry Luxnor.

“While at the Kluge Center, Bew is tapping the extensive collection of presidential papers and other research material at the Library of Congress to write his history of realpolitik,” Luxnor wrote. “He [Bew] describes the library’s manuscripts as among ‘the best resources in the world’ and says he’s used the Kluge Center just about every day since his arrival in the United States.”

On a more reflective note, the spring issue of the Wilson Quarterly featured stories from U.S. veterans on life and war in Afghanistan pulled from the collections of the Veterans History Project. Highlighted are poignant stories from husbands, fathers, journalists and more.

The Library continues to make news as a must-see spot while visiting Washington, D.C. New York Times reporter Jennifer Steinhauer spent 36 hours on Capitol Hill, where she visited the Library.

“One of the city’s greatest troves of stories, artwork, history and architecture, the Library of Congress, which began as Thomas Jefferson’s personal library, is often skipped over, although there is much to see here,” she wrote.

Speaking of Thomas Jefferson, NPR reported on the Library’s ongoing efforts to track down and acquire books that once belonged to Jefferson. The goal is to finish filling in the gaps to Jefferson’s library, which he donated to the institution after the British burned the Capitol in 1814. In 1851, another fire destroyed a large part of the collection.

“16 years ago, the Library of Congress sought to restore Jefferson’s original collection and find exact copies of all the books that burned in the 1851 fire,” said reporter Laura Sullivan. “Staffers kept the project a secret so as not to drive up prices. They were looking for about 4,000 books. And they started where anyone else would go to look to for really old, rare books – their own bookshelves. The Library of Congress’s catalog turned up 2,000 of them. [Mark] Dimunation picked up almost 2,000 more at auction houses, public libraries and book dealers, but the last 250 he can’t find anywhere. Either no one’s got a copy, or it’s a book nobody alive now has ever heard of.

“The collection is now displayed with markers. A green ribbon means the book belonged to Jefferson – it was his book. A yellow ribbon means it’s an exact copy – same edition, same printing press. A black box with a title means that the book is still missing. Jefferson believed books were not to be collected – they were to be used, read, absorbed by as many people as possible. It’s a philosophy this library has adhered to for 200 years.”

Stay Up With a Good Book, Too –

The 2014 National Book Festival poster by Bob Staake

The author lineup for the 2014 Library of Congress National Book Festival is growing all the time, building excitement for the free event being held Saturday, August 30 from 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

Yes, that’s right, a 12-hour day in a new venue, with all the features you know and love by day and a bunch of fascinating new offerings by night – a first in the festival’s 14-year run.

Recent additions to the speakers’ list include science writer Michio Kaku; novelists Mona Simpson, Elizabeth McCracken, Anne Hillerman and Sara Sue Hoklotubbe; graphic novelist Raina Telgemeier; poet Albert Rios; kids’ authors Jack Gantos, Francesco Marciulano, and Judith Viorst; and chef/authors Cathal Armstrong, Sheilah Kaufman, Amy Riolo and Laura and Peter Zeranski.

Following the day’s talks, with Q&A, by more than 100 authors for readers of all ages – and book-signings by those authors—the festival will offer special events between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. including a poetry slam, a panel discussion/screening titled  “Great Books to Great Movies,” and a “super-session” for fans of the graphic-novel genre.

The festival’s new location also facilitates an expanded selection of genre pavilions.  In addition to the longtime pavilions History & Biography, Fiction & Mystery, Poetry & Prose, Children’s, Contemporary Life, Teens and Special Programs, this year’s festival also will offer new pavilions focused on Science, the Culinary Arts, and for young readers, Picture Books.

For more information, go to the festival website. While you’re there, you can download this year’s festival poster by artist Bob Staake. (Turn up the sound if you click Bob’s link!)

 

 

 

The Library in History: Library Analyst Helped Launch NASA

(The following is  a story written by Cory V. Langley, a communications specialist in the Congressional Research Service, that is featured in the May – June 2014 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM, now available for download here. You can also view the archives of the Library’s former publication from 1993 to 2011.

Amid fear and anxiety following the launch of Sputnik 1, a Library analyst assisted Congress in creating the agency that landed Americans on the moon.

The American public was shocked, and its leaders were concerned for national security when, on Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1—the first artificial Earth satellite.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, center, meets with NASA’s first administrator and deputy administrator, Thomas Keith Glennan, right, and Hugh Dryden, left, 1958. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Lyndon B. Johnson, then a U.S. senator and chairman of the Senate Preparedness Investigating Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called on a national defense analyst in the Legislative Reference Service (forerunner of the Congressional Research Service) to assist Congress in determining how to respond.

Library analyst Eilene Galloway had recently authored a report for Congress titled “Guided Missiles in Foreign Countries” and had focused on the issue of military manpower and the organization of the Department of Defense. Johnson asked Galloway to serve as the subcommittee’s staff consultant for a series of hearings on satellite and missile programs, at which Members of Congress heard the testimony of preparedness experts, scientists and engineers. Galloway drafted questions and analyzed testimony.

“While our first reaction was that we faced a military problem of technology inferiority, the testimony from scientists and engineers convinced us that outer space had been opened as a new environment and that it could be used worldwide for peaceful uses of benefit to all humankind, for communications, navigation, meteorology and other purposes,” Galloway wrote in 2007.

“Use of space was not confined to military activities,” she wrote. “It was remarkable that this possibility became evident so soon after Sputnik, and its significance cannot be understated. The problem became one of maintaining peace, rather than preparing the United States to meet the threat of using outer space for war. Fear of war changed to hope for peace.”

With those ideas in mind, Galloway advised Sen. Johnson and House Speaker John McCormack in crafting the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Thus, Galloway entered the frontier of space policy. Her seminal contributions to the act included her recommendations that NASA be formed as an administration, so that it could coordinate with government agencies under centralized guidance, and that NASA be encouraged to act internationally.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the act into law on July 29, 1958—just nine months after the launch of Sputnik. Eleven years later, Apollo 11 delivered Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon.

EILENE GALLOWAY

Eilene Galloway. Manuscript Division.

Born in Kansas City, Mo., in 1906, Eilene Marie Slack graduated from Swarthmore College with a degree in political science. She married George Galloway, a prominent expert on the workings of Congress, who also worked for the Congressional Research Service. Galloway retired from the Library in 1975, but as one of the world’s experts on the subject, she continued to work on space law and policy issues the rest of her life.

She served on NASA advisory committees, participated in international colloquia and published many articles. She was a founding member of the International Institute of Space Law. She received the NASA Public Service Award and Gold Medal (1984) and was the first recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from Women in Aerospace (1987). She was a fellow of the American Astronautical Society (1996) and the first woman elected Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (2006). The annual international Galloway Symposium on Critical Issues in Space Law is named for her.

Galloway died in Washington, D.C., in 2009—just days shy of her 103rd birthday.

CRS at 100: Informing the Legislative Debate Since 1914

(The following is an article compiled by Cory V. Langley, a communications specialist in the Congressional Research Service, that is featured in the May – June 2014 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM, now available for download here. You can also view the archives of the Library’s former publication from 1993 to 2011.

An all-staff meeting is held in the Senate Reading Room (now the Jefferson Congressional Reading Room). 1948. Prints and Photographs Division.

The centennial of the Congressional Research Service is a time to look back on its history and ahead to serving a 21st-century Congress.

When the Legislative Reference Service (LRS) was established in the Library of Congress in 1914, the small staff provided what its name conveyed—reference information to assist Members of Congress in their legislative work. Over 100 years, LRS evolved into today’s Congressional Research Service (CRS), a staff of 600 that exclusively provides Congress with nonpartisan policy analysis.

CRS is known for its reports, but what makes CRS is its people—analysts, attorneys, information professionals, and management and infrastructure support staff. These staff members carry out services in support of the modern mission: to provide objective, authoritative and confidential legislative research and analysis, thereby contributing to an informed national legislature.

“The success of CRS in fulfilling its statutory mission is a direct result of diligent professional staff, entrusted with the critical task of researching issues and analyzing information and data for elected officials,” said CRS Director Mary B. Mazanec.

Tailored, Personalized Service To Congress 

CRS staff members respond to specific congressional questions in a variety of ways: in person, by telephone and in confidential memoranda. CRS staff members also assist Members of Congress and their staffs in preparing for hearings and provide expert testimony.

For example, the House Armed Services Committee last year invited Catherine Dale, a specialist in international security, to testify about the transition in Afghanistan—the formal handover of security responsibility from coalition to Afghan forces. “My role was to frame key oversight issues before other witnesses presented their proposed prescriptions,” said Dale. “Afterward, members and staff from both sides of the aisle sought me out for assistance.”

Library staff members Judy Graves and Pamela Craig conduct a webinar on Congress.gov. 2013. Photo by Abby Brack Lewis.

Reports on Major Policy Issues 

CRS analysts, legislative attorneys and information professionals prepare reports on legislative issues. CRS’s analyses are available to all of Congress on an exclusive CRS website, where nearly 10,000 reports are searchable and organized by issue area.

“I issued a report within 24 hours of a tragic wildfire incident,” said Kelsi Bracmort, a specialist in agricultural conservation and natural-resources policy. “The short report succinctly described one facet of wildfire management, directed the reader to other related reports, and, most importantly, immediately let Congress know that there was a CRS policy specialist available to discuss this matter in depth.”

Assistance Throughoutthe Legislative Process 

Throughout all stages of the legislative process, CRS works with committees, members and congressional staff to identify and clarify policy problems, assess the implications of proposed policy alternatives and provide timely responses to meet immediate and long-term needs.

“Congress relies on CRS’s legal expertise in many stages of the legislative process,” said Julia Taylor, who heads the American Law Consulting Section. “Before a bill is introduced, we’re often asked to research legal definitions for terms or conduct a survey of state laws to see how an issue has been handled across the country. As the bill moves through Congress, we research issues relating to the potential impact of the new law. Congressional staff may ask about the nature of recent litigation. They may also ask for research related to floor statements the member would like to make when the bill comes up for debate.”

Francis R. Valeo, chief of the Foreign Affairs Section, consults with Mary Shepard, analyst in international organization. 1951. Prints and Photographs Division.

Process and Procedures 

CRS assists lawmakers and their staffs in understanding the formal and informal rules, practices and precedents of the House and Senate and how they might be employed in the legislative process.

“I’m part of a group that supports Congress on legislative rules and procedures,” said Valerie Heitshusen, analyst on Congress and the legislative process. “We consult on legislative strategy, analyze current and historical procedural practices, and explain implications of potential procedural options. Examples include helping senators assess proposed changes in the practice of filibusters, serving as a procedural resource in committee markups, and identifying the range of opportunities Members of Congress may have to offer amendments to pending legislation.”

The Future 

In its first century, CRS has acquired a store of knowledge and experience that Congress can rely on. At the present time, when there is an overwhelming amount of information readily available, it is even more essential that Members of Congress have access to issue experts in CRS who can assist them by gathering, analyzing and summarizing the most pertinent information.

“We work in an environment in which many entities are competing for members’ time and attention,” said Director Mazanec, who is involving the entire staff in developing formats and delivery methods for CRS products and services that are most helpful to the 21st-century Congress.

“CRS will stay true to its values and align with Congress’s needs. We want Congress to turn to CRS first when it is in need of research and analysis to support its deliberations and legislative decisions.”

“CRS will continue to provide Congress with the independent scholarship required as it embarks upon its second century of distinguished service,” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington.

Current CRS Director Mary Mazanec (back row, center) leads the Research Policy Council. 2013. Photo by Karl Weaver, Congressional Research Service.

CRS at 100: A Timeline

July 1914 

On July 16, President Woodrow Wilson approves the fiscal 1915 appropriations bill, which includes $25,000 for legislative reference. Two days later, Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam establishes the Legislative Reference Service (LRS) by administrative order.

1930s 

LRS responds to a congressional directive to publish a digest of public bills and takes over the production of the “Constitution Annotated,” a compilation of constitutional case law, which the Library began publishing in 1913.

Early 1940s 

World War II leads to rapid growth in LRS, with every senator and a majority of U.S representatives turning to LRS for reference assistance.

1946 

The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 calls for an immediate increase in the size and scope of LRS to meet the information needs of Congress in the post-war era.

1950s 

LRS assists Congress on issues such as the Cold War, civil rights, social security, and science and technology. The press calls LRS “Congress’s right arm.”

1970s

The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 transforms and renames LRS. The newly restructured Congressional Research Service (CRS) becomes Congress’s own think tank for objective, nonpartisan policy analysis.

1980 

CRS establishes the La Follette Reading Room in the Library’s new James Madison Memorial Building to honor Senators Robert M. La Follette Sr. and his son, Robert, for their support for a congressional research department in the Library of Congress.

1981 

CRS holds its first Federal Law Update briefings on current legal topics of interest to Congress, which continue to the present day with new programs and workshops on policy issues.

1995 

CRS launches CRS.gov, a website for Congress. At Congress’s request, the Library develops an online public legislative information-tracking system known as THOMAS. CRS develops the Legislative Information System (LIS) to serve the legislative branch.

2012 

The Library of Congress, in collaboration with the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives and the Government Printing Office, launches Congress.gov, an improved website that will replace the legacy legislative tracking systems for Congress and the public.

2013 

The Library of Congress, the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the Government Printing Office launch the “Constitution Annotated,” a new app and web publication that make the printed version of constitutional case law accessible for free on a computer or mobile device.

2014 

CRS celebrates its centennial. CRS continues to enhance its staff capabilities, diversify its research products and streamline its website.