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Another incredible year made possible by volunteers Happy New Year to all our Signal blog readers and to all our By the People crowdsourced transcription program volunteers! Every year, the By the People team publishes a “happy birthday to us” blog post right here on the Signal (you can check out previous years’ editions here […]
I recently saw a link to a post on LinkedIn, in which the author argues that we shouldn’t be citing chatbots, but should instead be disclosing their use. He argues that, “The proper thing to do when using a chatbot is to disclose it, for transparency, rather than cite it for attributing credit or signalling […]
Happy 2025 to all of our Signal subscribers! In this special edition of “What’s New Online at the Library of Congress,” we’re looking back on some of our new digital collections releases in 2024. Do you have a favorite digital collection or item at the Library? Leave us a comment below and stay tuned for […]
This guest post was authored by Abbie Grotke, Head of the Web Archiving Section. As described in our prior blog post, we have been in the process of modernizing and making improvements to the Library of Congress Web Archives to improve functionality for users. While this work has taken us a bit longer than anticipated, we are pleased to announce the […]
Photo: Dennis Scully/Visit Phoenix Welcome to the Valley of the Sun, the Big Saguaro, the Silicon Desert. Phoenix is known for its picturesque landscapes, hearty succulents, and scorching heat, but come January 24–27 the city will usher in a different kind of vibrancy and warmth: the community, creativity, and connections of the American Library Association’s […]
Illustration: © Visual Generation/Adobe Stock Sociologist, author, and New York University professor Eric Klinenberg believes that libraries are the greatest social infrastructure our country has. “I don’t know of another institution that has the capability to make such a diverse set of people feel dignified and welcome when they walk in the door,” Klinenberg told […]
Over the past decade, librarians and archivists have become increasingly concerned with outdated and offensive language in metadata and collections. In 2022, the Schaumburg Township (Ill.) District Library (STDL) adopted a harmful-content statement—also called a “harmful-language statement” or a “statement on harmful content”—to recognize and reckon with problematic language in the library catalog. This is […]
Brown County (Wis.) Library, East branch American Libraries is accepting submissions for the 2025 Library Design Showcase, our annual feature celebrating new and newly renovated libraries of all types and sizes. The showcase will appear in the September/October issue. We are looking for examples of innovative library architecture that address patrons’ needs in unique and […]
Doreen Horstin, manager of San Francisco Public Library’s Park branch, adds a book to the Read to Recovery shelves, which provide free addiction recovery materials to patrons. Photo: Jaime Wong/San Francisco Public Library Every day in public libraries across San Francisco, patrons find their way to a discreet shelf and pick up titles including Alcoholics Anonymous’ […]
Teens arrange food at charcuterie classes held by Carroll County (Md.) Public Library’s Exploration Commons. At these classes, teens laser-cut wood to create serving boards and learn how to present edible items.Photo: Exploration Commons, Carroll County (Md.) Public Library It’s not every day you find a group of teens gathered around a table at a […]
Color-corrective glasses, like those sold by EnChroma (pictured), are available for checkout at a growing number of libraries for patrons who experience color blindness.Photo: Adam Rogers Libraries are often gateways to new experiences, and a growing number are now offering patrons the chance to see the world in full color—literally. In recent years, libraries of […]
Photo: Emily Shur Growing up in remote, rural areas, singer-songwriter Neko Case found that her love of reading provided an escape. In her forthcoming memoir, The Harder I Fight the More I Love You (Hachette, January), she recalls repeatedly flipping through the same October 1972 issue of Mad magazine, poring over her stepdad’s collection of […]
Photo: Arizona State University Library, Special Collections American Library Association’s LibLearnX Conference in Phoenix will take place Jan. 24–27. 28,000Number of Indigenous artists represented in the Billie Jane Baguley Library and Archives (BJBLA), located within the Heard Museum in Phoenix. Like the museum, BJBLA’s holdings include traditional and contemporary American Indian artists’ art, written works, […]
Today’s blog post is an interview with Genevieve Havemeyer-King of the Digital Services Directorate here at the Library of Congress. You can read other interviews with digital collections staff here. Carlyn: Hi Gen, could you tell us a bit about what you do in the Digital Services Directorate? How would you explain your job to […]
In today’s post, Abby Shelton interviews a By the People volunteer, Justin Kern, who serves as the Division Communications Director for the American Red Cross. By the People is a crowdsourced transcription program launched in 2018 at the Library of Congress. Volunteer-created transcriptions are used to make digitized collections more accessible and discoverable on loc.gov. Abby: How did you hear about By […]
Interested in learning more about what’s new in the Library of Congress’s digital collections? The Signal shares updates on new additions to our digital collections and we love showing off all the hard work of our colleagues from across the Library. Read on for a sample of what’s been added recently and some of our favorite highlights. […]
This is an easy-to-read chapter: that reiterates many of the things we need to remember when working with and teaching about Generative AI tools. I didn’t learn anything new, per se, but liked that this is focussed specifically on our profession. What’s most useful though, IMHO, is the introduction to these 8 fleshed-out scenarios: . […]
This blog post was guest-authored by Rachel Trent, Senior Digital Collections Data Librarian. For nearly twenty-five years, the Library of Congress has been archiving campaign websites for Presidential, Congressional, and gubernatorial elections. Back in 2022, we released a dataset of index files for the United States Elections Web Archive, and we are happy to announce […]
Giving gifts feels great, but shopping for them can be stressful. We’re here to help you reduce the anxiety and bring some of the fun back this holiday season. Our roundup of bookish gifts focuses on presents to entertain, delight, and inspire the family, friends, and colleagues on your list. And to help reduce the […]
Over on Maps Mania, Keir posted a couple of quick maps he built leveraging Bluesky’s firehose jetstream, including US State Social, which: scans Bluesky posts for mentions of the 50 US states. When it detects a mention, it adds a marker to the map and displays the associated message in the map’s sidebar. Once the […]
