Top of page

Notice
Special holiday hours in effect, December 2025 through January 2026. More information.

Film, Video Doing Science in the Optics Lab at the Library

Transcript: TEXT

About this Item

Title

  • Doing Science in the Optics Lab at the Library

Summary

  • Kelsey Beeghly (2023-2024 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow) and Meghan Hill (preservation science specialist in the Preservation and Research Testing Division) demonstrate how using multi-spectral imaging can reveal information that helps the Library protect important work from damage and degradation. Modern media can be a challenge to preserve, as compared to more stable pigments, due to their rapidly changing ingredients and varying standards of quality for mass production. Being able to characterize political cartoonist Herbert Block’s (Herblock) materials enabled PRTD to see trends in time periods when Herblock introduced new types or brands of materials into his repertoire. It was incredibly helpful to be able to suggest more specifically which cartoons, out of thousands that spanned the course of decades, may need special consideration before being exhibited, due to the way these pigments degrade due to light exposure. Students can explore light and color at home, by examining light using a prism or black light, or by looking at photos in a photo editor and exploring the different settings related to color.

Event Date

  • Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Running Time

  • 3 minutes, 6 seconds

Online Format

  • image
  • online text
  • video

Rights & Access

While the Library of Congress created most of the videos in this collection, they include copyrighted materials that the Library has permission from rightsholders to present.  Rights assessment is your responsibility.  The written permission of the copyright owners in materials not in the public domain is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use or other statutory exemptions. There may also be content that is protected under the copyright or neighboring-rights laws of other nations.  Permissions may additionally be required from holders of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights). Whenever possible, we provide information that we have about copyright owners and related matters in the catalog records, finding aids and other texts that accompany collections. However, the information we have may not be accurate or complete.

More about Copyright and other Restrictions

For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources.

Credit Line: Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Doing Science in the Optics Lab at the Library. 2024. Video. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/video-10030/.

APA citation style:

(2024) Doing Science in the Optics Lab at the Library. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/video-10030/.

MLA citation style:

Doing Science in the Optics Lab at the Library. 2024. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/video-10030/>.