In addition to the obvious impact of 9/11 on the Library of Congress and its staff, the tragedy also had an almost immediate effect on the institution's collections. Soon after the attacks, the Library began to think about how it would collect materials that would document the events for the future. In the Prints and Photographs Division, curators began to assemble photographs made within minutes of the attacks. Also gathered for the collections were illustrations and other pictorial accounts. |
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The Serial and Government Publications Division gathered thousands of newspapers, both the regular editions as well as extra and special editions published on Sept. 11. The American Folklife Center asked folklorists nationwide to document the reactions of citizens. The result was that the center received hundreds of hours of taped interviews conducted by professional ethnographers, teachers, students and others. You can listen to a selection of these interviews in the exhibition "Witness and Response: September 11 Acquisitions at the Library of Congress." You can also see personal renderings such as "God Bless America," a third-grader's pictorial reaction to the attacks. The Geography and Map Division collected cartographic materials that document the role maps played in managing the recovery effort. Traditional surveying and mapping techniques as well as modern electronic and remote sensing technologies were employed to aid the rescue and recovery operations, including remote sensing and aerial imagery. |
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