I can’t, off the top of my head, think of a more peaceful and awesome space than the Main Reading Room at the Library of Congress. Since I picked up my Ultimate Library Card, I’ve only been there just a handful of times, but each time I go, I am absolutely astounded by the amazing resource that it is. Now, though, the Librarians of Congress are taking their game public via their new weblog called “Light and Liberty Go Together.”
The reason for blogging? Well, it’s the best of any that I’ve ever read:
If you are reading this, then chances are you have some sense of how the legacies of Morse and those who came before him and since have transformed our daily lives. It is an inescapable fact that the Internet is redefining at an accelerating rate how we get information and interact.
And if you’re reading this, then you probably know how blogs are an intrinsic part of that larger medium. The Library of Congress knows it too.
The Library has in its care more than 134 million items, with 22 million items online. That’s a lot of content, by any measure. More and more people online are looking to blogs to help them navigate and make sense of the content that’s “out there,” to say nothing of the world around them. With some 71 million blogs at last count (or so says Technorati), it’s a conversation an institution like the Library should be a part of.
The Library of Congress was producing electronic content long before the Web even existed, so it’s fitting today that we become one of a (surprisingly) small handful of federal agencies with a bona fide blog.
Welcome, Library of Congress, and congratulations on your first 207 years.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
