Government Technology - October 2008 - (Page 36)

education S TAT E | LO C A L | F E D E R A L PHOTO BY CHRIS CARLSON j j Synopsis: Federal library deploys interactive technology to engage both on-site and online visitors. Agency: U.S. Library of Congress. Technology: Kiosk and online interactives. The U.S. Library of Congress uses technology to give online and on-site visitors a more engaging experience. f you had the chance to see Thomas Jefferson’s hand-edited draft of the Declaration of Independence up close and personal, how much do you think you could take away from the experience? Simply viewing the dimly lit rough draft on display at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., could amount to little more than words scrawled on a very old page. To really learn about the document, visitors would have to speak onsite with a guide or independently research the document. The library is working to create a completely different experience, however, by deploying new technologies that enrich the exhibits for both on-site and online visitors, allowing anyone in the world to learn more about many of the treasures displayed at the library. In April, the library unveiled the “Library of Congress Experience,” computer kiosks in selected locations that let users virtually flip through and examine artifacts that are too delicate for handling, such as Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence draft, George Washington’s copy of the U.S. Constitution, John Beckley’s Bill of Rights, the Gutenberg Bible, the Giant Bible of Mainz, Martin Waldseemüller’s 16th-century world maps, and more. B Y E M I LY M O N T A N D O N | A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R Contact: Matt Raymond, communications director, mray@loc.gov. I Heightening Experience “We’ve been known as a scholarly institution, and that will always remain at the center of our mission, but we are the nation’s library as well as Congress’ library,” Raymond said. “This is about opening ourselves up and creating some lifelong users along the way.” Using the kiosks, visitors can also get a detailed view of architectural elements of the Great Hall within the library’s Jefferson Building. The library commissioned photographer Carol Highsmith to take numerous highresolution photos of the spectacular Great Hall, which were used to create the digital displays available to visitors. “We were able to scan them and merge them with the technology to create an immersive experience,” said John Sampson, director of federal government affairs for Microsoft, which provided the kiosks. Kiosk users also can decipher hard-toread handwritten documents by overlaying typewritten text, and they can zoom in on the areas that interest them. “This is not the final, finished, pretty version that you see over at the archives. This the Reaching Out to the Nation The move online and onto computers was part of the library’s strategy to be more accessible to the American public, according to Matt Raymond, the Library of Congress communications director. He said reaching more people in a meaningful way is a goal of Librarian of Congress James Billington, who sets policy and directs the library’s programs. OCT_08 36 http://www.govtech.com

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Government Technology - October 2008 Contents Point of View On the Scene Big Picture Four Questions for... Letters Cover Stories: Border Crossing The Australian E-Connection Easy Rider Northern Exposure Technology on the Cheap Ditching the Desktop Heightening the Experience Pipe Dream Falling Between the Cracks Come Together, Right Now... It's a ... Car? Digital State of the Art Spectrum Products Two Cents signal:noise

Government Technology - October 2008

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