Behind-the-Scene Tours
Join us for one of this year's Behind-the-Scene tours, all taking place in greater DC. Tours are included in the Technical Registration fees. The 202 tours will be posted on this page as they are confirmed. Tour registration forms will be sent to all registrants following the early registration deadline. Sign up is first come, first served.
All tours take place on Thursday 11 April. Exact times and locations will be indicated on the tour registration form, but will generally begin around 15:30.
Confirmed Tours
Library of Congress
Preservation Research and Testing Division (PRTD)
The Preservation Research and Testing Division (PRTD) at the Library of Congress advances the mission of the Preservation Directorate by heritage science research that allows access to collections in either their original or reformatted form. Special programs within the division include: Multispectral imaging – reflected, raking and transmitted – to assist researchers, scholars and conservation by adding new layers of knowledge unseen by the unaided eye. The “go-team” is a collection of non-invasive portable instruments that can be taken to collections to characterize materials in technical studies and for researcher requests. Image Reconstruct Erase Noise Etc. (IRENE) is a non-contact way to capture sound from broken and damaged sound recordings. The materials testing program assesses the quality of storage, exhibit and building materials identifying the “bad actors” and includes air sampling of collection spaces to identify any offgassing that might impact collections.
Time/Participants: 2 hours / limited to 20 participants
Library of Congress
Digitization Operations Center
The Digitization Operations Center at the Library of Congress digitizes rare books and manuscripts, photographs, film negatives and transparencies, dimensional objects, microfilm, microfiche and just about anything else in a state of the art purpose built facility in the Madison building. You will see our own innovations and new concepts for FADGI compliant digitization.
Time/Participants: 2 hours / limited to 20 participants
National Gallery of Art
Department of Imaging and Conservation
We will tour the painting , sculpture and 2D imaging studios, 3D imaging areas, as well as the photo, textiles, and painting conservation labs.
Time/Participants: 1.5 hours / limited to 25 participants
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Family History Center
Join NMAAHC’s Family History Center staff for a tour and genealogy session! The tour begins in the Explore Your Family History Center, a space where visitors participate in group genealogy sessions to discover digital resources related to family history and receive guidance on conducting genealogical research. Sessions focus on locating public records for an ancestor of your choice and creating a foundation for future research. You will also view objects from the Museum's collection relating to family history and learn how to preserve family films, videos, and photographs in the Media Conservation Lab.
Time/Participants: 1.5 hours / limited to 15 participants
Smithsonian Libraries and Archives
Digitization and Access, Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History, National Museum of Natural History Library
Learn about the different workflows for imaging rare and general collections materials at one of the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives’s three imaging locations. The tour walks participants through two imaging spaces, one of SLA’s rare book libraries, and one of SLA’s general collections libraries. Digitization Specialists and Librarians presents the ways they work together to streamline imaging workflows and how those workflows are altered to meet the needs of the varying collections.
Time/Participants: 1.5 hours / limited to 10 participants
CANCELLED US National Archives and Records Administration
Conservation Lab Archives 1
The Preservation Programs Division at the National Archives uses preservation strategies to make sure that records and information are preserved. Our Preservation Strategy outlines how we support sustainable access to NARA’s holdings for current and future users through preservation, conservation, and research programs. The Conservation Branch laboratories facilitate access to NARA records by performing a wide range of treatments on paper, parchment, and a variety of photographic materials. Conservators and technicians support NARA digitization projects, research rooms, and exhibitions including the regular condition monitoring of the Founding Documents and the Magna Carta; schedule Conservation Laboratory work on a two-year planning cycle that focuses on overall agency priorities and the records of highest significance that are most in need of treatment or custom housing; and serve as Conservation Liaisons for treatment to archival units across NARA.
Attendees will tour the Conservation Lab at Archives I in downtown Washington DC, in the same location as the Archiving conference.
Time/Participants: 1 hour / limited to 10 participants