I was instantly engrossed with the episode. Instead of investigating food processing or other technology, this particular episode was about the Library of Congress, "The Real National Treasure." The description of the episode says it all:
Where in Washington D.C. is the nation's most incredible treasure chest? It's a library unlike any other in the world--the U.S. Library of Congress. Explode the myth that this 200-year-old institution is simply "where members of Congress borrow books." Viewers are taken beyond the magnificent Jefferson Building Great Hall into the secret vaults where more than 600 miles of shelves hold 130 million items, many of them priceless treasures--from George Washington's hand-written diaries to Galileo's first images of the moon to the original camera film of the movie Frankenstein. See how a staff of 4,000 catalogues protects and preserves these treasures and distributes them globally via a new World Digital Library.
The Library of Congress (LoC) has a HUGE collection containing millions of objects which are individually catalogued, researched and housed. I was slightly jealous (okay, REALLY jealous) of the resources available to the LoC. The govermentally funded institution has thousands of collection specialists, cataloguers, preservation specialists, and copyright specialists on staff. Not to mention the storage facilities available to the growing collection! If only every museum, library and archives had those kinds of resources on hand ...
If you are flipping through television channels, and happen upon this episode, pull up a seat and enjoy the ride. It's not to be missed!
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