Fun in DC....or, my day at at the LoC

Suzanne and I spent Tuesday having fun about DC. We went to Union Station for lunch (very good Greek food) and picking up some silly things for friends and family. 

We arrived at the Library of Congress in early afternoon. When we visited last year, they were in the midst of some major renovations, technological and otherwise. The results are quite spectacular. 

One of the biggest/most interesting changes is the evolution/integration of "myLOC.com". When  you go in you can get a "passport"...placing it in one of the many kiosks, you enter your contact info, etc. and create an account (tied to the bar code on the passport). As you tour the LoC, there are many kiosks into which you can stick your passport, logging the exhibit, getting additional information and playing library games. 

myLOC allows you to "take the library home" with you. You can engage in virtual tours, create your own collections, etc. It is really quite the biblio-geek playground. I will dig about with it more deeply after Road Trip 2009 and post a more cogent review of it.

The interactive displays are exceptionally well done. I've included an image of the one for the Gutenberg Bible. The virtual tour (link) is pretty good...but the kiosk is extremely cool...the closest you can come to playing with a GB...no gloves necessary. 

The new(ish...it opened April of last year) exhibit of Jefferson's Library is amazing. it is an open circle...you can stand in the center and be surrounded by his library...the core of what became the LoC. There are placeholders for lost books that have yet to be replaced (Suz has a new life goal of donating at least one book to this collection). [Hypothetically, I kissed Suz surrounded by TJ's library...too fun.] The interactive kiosks in TJ's library allow you to explore the books by shelf, organized as TJ had them (Memory, Imagination, Reason). It was really wonderful. 

We are planning to include an extra day or two next time...as we didn't really get anywhere *but* the LoC. DC is a remarkable place to visit. If you have not been in a while, go...bring comfortable shoes. If you live in and around...step back and revel is what a remarkable place it is...most I know who live there have ended up very blasé about the wonder and scope that surrounds them (admittedly, because most are working way too hard, all the time).