To meet the challenges of preserving traditional and new media, the Library of Congress has hired four preservation research scientists as part of a multi-faceted preservation research initiative.
Housed in the Preservation Research and Testing Division of the Library’s Preservation Directorate, the initiative will include the opening later this year of two “green” energy-efficient laboratories—a chemical and mechanical properties laboratory and an optical properties laboratory. The initiative will also include a new center to safeguard and make accessible the Library’s rare and valuable preservation science reference collection.
“We are fortunate to have these new scientists on the Library’s team,” said Dianne van der Reyden, the Library’s director for preservation. “Their wide range of knowledge and skills complement those of our talented staff. This aggregate expertise, along with the reopening of the Preservation Research and Testing Division’s refurbished laboratories by the end of the year, will allow the Library to develop preservation strategies for traditional, audiovisual and digital collections in the 21st century.”
• Christopher S. Coughlin received a Bachelor of Science in engineering from Case Western Reserve University and a Ph.D. in polymer science from the University of Southern Mississippi. He has held a variety of governmental positions, including six years at the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).
• Lynn Brostoff received a master’s degree in polymer materials science from the University of Cincinnati and master’s in art history (and certificate in conservation) from New York University. She also holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. She has worked at the Smithsonian Institutions Museum Conservation Institute and the National Gallery of Art.
• Fenella France received a Ph.D. in textile science from the University of Otago in New Zealand. She has worked as the Smithsonian Institution preservation scientist on the Star-Spangled Banner project, as scientific analyst and project manager for the World Trade Center 9/11 Project and as conservation scientist and environmental consultant with the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
• Jennifer Wade received a Ph.D. in earth sciences from Boston University. She has held a temporary position as a physical scientist in the Preservation Research and Testing Division of the Library of Congress.
There are two main areas of the preservation research and testing initiative: the materials science of traditional, audiovisual, and digital collections, determining their chemical composition, stability, durability, longevity and preservation needs; and environmental studies, quality assurance and analytical services. A new Web site will provide continual updates on these program elements.
The other actions in the Library’s preservation research and testing initiative, managed by the Preservation Research and Testing Division include:
Reopening of PRTD’s optical properties lab, which will have new capabilities to track changes in optical properties of materials, using a new environmental scanning electron microscope and other imaging systems; reopening PRTD’s chemical and mechanical properties laboratory, with new capabilities to track changes in chemical and physical properties, including the reinstallation of a new TAPPI Standards room to test durability and strength, state-of-the-art equipment for elemental analysis, and the mass deacidification center for treatment; and opening a new center to safeguard and make accessible the Library’s rare and valuable preservation science reference collection, including the Library’s TAPPI Standard Paper Materials Collection, the Forbes Pigment Collection and the original Barrow Books Collection.