Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The papers of Elizabeth H. Blackburn were given to the Library of Congress by Blackburn in 2016.
Processing History
The papers of Elizabeth H. Blackburn were arranged and described by Connie L. Cartledge and Chad Conrady with the assistance of Jake Bozza and Rosa Hernandez in 2019. Much of the collection's overall arrangement, established by Blackburn and her staff, was retained. The finding aid was revised in 2021 to incorporate description of the digital files.
Digital files were received as part of the Elizabeth H. Blackburn Papers on a variety of storage media, each of which was assigned a unique digital ID number. Use the digital ID number to request access copies of the files associated with each media. A description of the standard processes taken on all born digital records can be found in the Processing History Note: Born Digital Collection Material at https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.digital. Additional processing conducted by staff included converting Eudora inbox email files into a PDF format to provide access to this content. DVDs containing multi-part, multimedia content were disk imaged.
Transfers
One audiotape and four videotapes have been transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division where they are identified as part of the Elizabeth H. Blackburn Papers. Patrons are encouraged to contact the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division in advance of a research visit.
Technical Requirements
Digital files were created primarily in Apple operating systems (OS 7, OS 9, and OS 10) with a few files generated in a Windows operating system. Forensic disk images were created for the Apple formatted media and require emulation for access. The file types in the collection comprise a wide array of formats, including .doc, .ppt, .jpg, and .pdf, as well as files created by Canvas 5, Adobe FreeHand, and MacDraw. The collection also contains specialized file formats such as .gel, FSC2, seq, and ABIF. Each of these specialized file formats are accessible through specialized programs. The .gel file format is viewable through either ImageJ or GelQuant. The FSC2 or FSC 2.0 file formats are accessible using the FCSalyzer program. The .seq file format is made accessible using the program ClustalX. The ABIF, or the Applied Biosystems Genetic Analysis Data File Format, is difficult to use and is accessible, but has limited access through the use of ABIF Manager or the command line tool called Abif.
Sixteen three-and-a-half-inch floppy disks received with this collection are currently unprocessed due to the lack of DiskFit software to open and extract the files. Four DC 2120 tape drives and one magneto-optical disk received with this collection are currently unprocessed due to a lack of required hardware and unavailable for research. The collection includes email correspondence from Eudora and Microsoft Outlook programs. The Outlook email associated with bag mss86091_179_156 is currently unprocessed and unavailable.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or digital ID number, Elizabeth H. Blackburn Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.