In which I use "awesome" far too much
I started at Dumbarton Oaks on Monday. For my first day I filled out the paperwork, got another tour, and met lots of people who's names I don't remember. My boss (Gerri) had a project for me with some negatives, but when we got them out, she couldn't figure out the system that had been used to organize them, so she had to ask some people some questions. (Gerri is also new; she only started there a month ago.)
So she had me do some background reading on photographic preservation (ironically, the book itself could use some book preservation...) while she waited to hear back from people. The reading was mostly rather dry and boring, but it mentioned older types of photographs, like daguerreotypes, which I know of from The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman, so it was neat to see what those actually looked like. I also checked the index for stereoscopes, and got to see some examples of those too. It's so awesome when unexpected things relate back to books I've read. :)
Then when Gerri finally got all her questions answered, she came back and said, "Okay, now you can get started!" Except it was 15 minutes before I had to go, so we just put them away.
So today I actually got to work with the negatives. Yay! It's kind of boring/repetitive work, so Gerri told me to bring my iPod. (See? Awesomest job ever. Must remember to charge iPod tomorrow.) I have to relabel all the envelopes the negatives are in (and then, further down the road, I'll have to do it all over again, because we need to get NEW envelopes because these ones are acidic and that is BAD). So I get to peer at the negatives, which are from the Byzantine collection, so that's kind of cool. But then there's a million different angles of the same object...
And I found a few problems among the negatives I went through today. As I mentioned above, all the envelopes are rather acidic. Then there were a few envelopes with more than one negative in them without anything between. And then there were a bunch of negatives that are beginning to deteriorate. In fact, I got to see a textbook example of what happens to acetate-treated negatives (seriously, it looked exactly like the picture in the book I was reading on photographic preservation). (To be fair, not ALL of the problems are the fault of whoever was the previous curator; the preservation practices have changed lots over the years ... for instance, discovering that acid is bad....)
OH!!! I forgot the best part about Monday (duh!). I got a photo ID badge to wear around my neck. It's so awesome (I didn't want to take it off when I got home on Monday XD). I'm one of those people who work in D.C. and wander around with ID badges on while commuting to/from work. I feel so official now. :D It's magnetized so it unlocks doors for me (though not very many, since I'm only a part-timer). We also have to swipe in and out of the building, so they can keep track of who's in every building. And they search our bags whenever we leave the building (even lunch bags!) to make sure no one steals anything.
AND I get perks! I get to eat lunch in the gardens (which are absolutely gorgeous; I can't wait to see them in spring! ♥). I get to go in the gardens when they're closed to the public. I can use the swimming pool (and it's a beautiful garden swimming pool with stone all around and a fountain and ivy-draped stone changing rooms). And I get to bring guests! (*hinthint*)
Okay, enough gushing about the job for now. I have to go read - for fun! I've got to finish reading Tithe by Holly Black before Saturday, which is the National Book Festival (YAY books! ♥) and which Holly Black will be attending. I'd wanted to read her books before, but never got around to it, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to read one before the festival. Naturally all of the authors I plan to see are Children's or YA authors. (I haven't even heard of anyone else who's going to be there...)
Ciao!
So she had me do some background reading on photographic preservation (ironically, the book itself could use some book preservation...) while she waited to hear back from people. The reading was mostly rather dry and boring, but it mentioned older types of photographs, like daguerreotypes, which I know of from The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman, so it was neat to see what those actually looked like. I also checked the index for stereoscopes, and got to see some examples of those too. It's so awesome when unexpected things relate back to books I've read. :)
Then when Gerri finally got all her questions answered, she came back and said, "Okay, now you can get started!" Except it was 15 minutes before I had to go, so we just put them away.
So today I actually got to work with the negatives. Yay! It's kind of boring/repetitive work, so Gerri told me to bring my iPod. (See? Awesomest job ever. Must remember to charge iPod tomorrow.) I have to relabel all the envelopes the negatives are in (and then, further down the road, I'll have to do it all over again, because we need to get NEW envelopes because these ones are acidic and that is BAD). So I get to peer at the negatives, which are from the Byzantine collection, so that's kind of cool. But then there's a million different angles of the same object...
And I found a few problems among the negatives I went through today. As I mentioned above, all the envelopes are rather acidic. Then there were a few envelopes with more than one negative in them without anything between. And then there were a bunch of negatives that are beginning to deteriorate. In fact, I got to see a textbook example of what happens to acetate-treated negatives (seriously, it looked exactly like the picture in the book I was reading on photographic preservation). (To be fair, not ALL of the problems are the fault of whoever was the previous curator; the preservation practices have changed lots over the years ... for instance, discovering that acid is bad....)
OH!!! I forgot the best part about Monday (duh!). I got a photo ID badge to wear around my neck. It's so awesome (I didn't want to take it off when I got home on Monday XD). I'm one of those people who work in D.C. and wander around with ID badges on while commuting to/from work. I feel so official now. :D It's magnetized so it unlocks doors for me (though not very many, since I'm only a part-timer). We also have to swipe in and out of the building, so they can keep track of who's in every building. And they search our bags whenever we leave the building (even lunch bags!) to make sure no one steals anything.
AND I get perks! I get to eat lunch in the gardens (which are absolutely gorgeous; I can't wait to see them in spring! ♥). I get to go in the gardens when they're closed to the public. I can use the swimming pool (and it's a beautiful garden swimming pool with stone all around and a fountain and ivy-draped stone changing rooms). And I get to bring guests! (*hinthint*)
Okay, enough gushing about the job for now. I have to go read - for fun! I've got to finish reading Tithe by Holly Black before Saturday, which is the National Book Festival (YAY books! ♥) and which Holly Black will be attending. I'd wanted to read her books before, but never got around to it, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to read one before the festival. Naturally all of the authors I plan to see are Children's or YA authors. (I haven't even heard of anyone else who's going to be there...)
Ciao!