VOA标准英语2010-Website of the Week - Library of Congress

More than one million searchable and browsable¹ images

Art Chimes | Washington, DC 09 April 2010

 
Photo: Library of Congress
The Library of Congress contains a treasure trove² of photographs and other images.

Related Links
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Time again for our Website of the Week, when we showcase interesting and innovative³ online destinations.

This time, we crack open the vaults⁴ at the Library of Congress to unearth⁵ a treasure trove of photographs and other images, from Japanese woodblock prints to century-old color photographs of the Russian empire to pictures documenting 20th century America.

"The Prints and Photographs Online Catalog is the primary access tool to learn about and explore the picture collections at the Library of Congress," says Helena Zinkham, acting⁶ head of the Prints and Photographs Division at the Library of Congress. "There are descriptions for many millions of pictures and about one and a quarter million have the digitized image right with the catalog record."

Zinkham says the vast collection is more accessible than ever, thanks to a redesign unveiled this week, updating some shortcomings in the pioneering  website that dates back to the 1990s.

"The pictures are right on the same page with the catalog description. We're able to have a browse⁷ index, in other words, an alphabetical⁸ index for the entire catalog. We can retrieve⁹ thousands and thousands of records for every search."

And Zinkham says the site now incorporates slide shows and up-to-date sharing tools.

The head of Public Reference Services at the Library of Congress, Barbara Natanson, says the print and photo collections get a lot of use from a broad range of online visitors.

"A lot of documentary filmmakers. We have people who are publishing books. We have students themselves from every grade level. We have people who are doing family history or genealogy¹⁰, who may be looking for the sites that are connected to their families, or even members of their families themselves," says Natanson.

And also curious users who just want to browse through more than a million images of art and the art that is real life at the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog or get the link from our site, voanews.com. 
 

1 browsable   

浏览

参考例句：

• In my dressing-room everything breakable had been stowed away. 在我的梳妆室里，一切易碎的物品都已经收藏起来了。
• Is there anything valuable or breakable in your bag? 您的包里有什么贵重物品或易碎品吗？

2 trove   

n.被发现的东西，收藏的东西

参考例句：

• He assembled a rich trove of Chinese porcelain.他收集了一批中国瓷器。
• The gallery is a treasure trove of medieval art.这个画廊是中世纪艺术的宝库。

3 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

4 vaults   

n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴

参考例句：

• It was deposited in the vaults of a bank. 它存在一家银行的保险库里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 unearth   

v.发掘，掘出，从洞中赶出

参考例句：

• Most of the unearth relics remain intact.大多数出土文物仍保持完整无损。
• More human remains have been unearthed in the north.北部又挖掘出了更多的人体遗骸。

6 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

7 browse   

vi.随意翻阅，浏览；(牛、羊等)吃草

参考例句：

• I had a browse through the books on her shelf.我浏览了一下她书架上的书。
• It is a good idea to browse through it first.最好先通篇浏览一遍。

8 alphabetical   

adj.字母（表）的，依字母顺序的

参考例句：

• Please arrange these books in alphabetical order.请把这些书按字母顺序整理一下。
• There is no need to maintain a strict alphabetical sequence.不必保持严格的字顺。

9 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

10 genealogy   

n.家系，宗谱

参考例句：

• He had sat and repeated his family's genealogy to her,twenty minutes of nonstop names.他坐下又给她细数了一遍他家族的家谱，20分钟内说出了一连串的名字。
• He was proficient in all questions of genealogy.他非常精通所有家谱的问题。