If you know me at all, you know what a nerd I am. Well, check this, for evidence. While perusing a blog I frequent called Boing Boing, I happened upon a fascinating piece illustrating the wondrous nerdi-ness of the Library of Congress.
"The Library of Congress has nearly 150 million items in its collection, including at least 21 million books, 5 million maps, 12.5 million photos and 100,000 posters. The largest library in the world, it pioneers both preservation of the oldest artifacts and digitization of the most recent--so that all of it remains available to future generations. "
One of the things the LoC preservationists do is to create "a high-resolution digital map of a record's surface without touching it. Recordings on warped and damaged vinyl can be recovered and restored, then played back by a computer program that emulates the movements of a stylus passing over the modeled grooves." Now, just think about what that information does to the mind of a music collector. Rare, damaged, and otherwise lost recordings can be recovered! They do similar things with books, and film.
I've always wished I could go there, because research is one of those nerdy things I like to do. But just taking a virtual tour of one small part of the LoC is to absolutely stretch one's imagination. If you're a nerd, go check it out. Give yourself some time to read, view and watch video, too. Great stuff.
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