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.
For transcript and more information, visit www.loc.gov/item/webcast-11369