Division staff were grateful to hear that there were no deaths or injuries from the 7.0 Anchorage earthquake on November 30, 2018. We were concerned to hear about damage to buildings and collections and have been following updates from libraries, archives and museums in the affected area.
We have set up an Earthquake Assistance page for LAMS across Alaska, affected by the recent earthquake, to include resources for general assistance, financial assistance, and points of contact. Also, if you have updates to share, we’d like to hear how you were affected and what progress you’ve made to get back up and running.
Starting on January 7, 2019 Alaska State Library, Archive and Museum staff will be coordinating an Alaska Digital Stewardship Training Intensive. The Alaska Digital Stewardship Training Intensive is free and open to any staff or volunteer working in a collecting institution, such as a library, archive or museum.
The Sustainable Heritage Network's Digital Stewardship Curriculum created by the Center for Digital Scholarship and Curation at Washington State University, is designed to introduce staff in small cultural institutions to all aspects of the digital stewardship lifecycle. Participants will have twelve weeks to work through the four online modules. The first module focuses on creating collection development policies, bringing collections into your institution and setting up sustainable digital projects. The second module covers organization and management of collections, description, and digitizing planning and procedures. The third module will cover digital preservation, creating a digital preservation plan and physical preservation. The fourth and final module will cover access and use policies, rights management and online access platforms. Participants are also invited to attend a series of virtual lectures and discussions led by experience facilitators from Alaska. Presenters will also be available to serve as mentors and guides. The 12 week training will intersect with the Alaska Library Association conference to be held in Juneau, February 28-March 3, 2019.
The deadline to register for the Alaska Digital Stewardship Intensive is December 21st.
A screen reader is a computer program or app that reads aloud text from a computer or phone. Created for people with low-vision or blindness, it helps bridge equal access to the use of computers and consumption of information on the Internet. VoiceOver is the built-in screen reader on Macs and iPhones.
How to Use VoiceOver on iOS
5 Common Gestures for VoiceOver on iOS
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Swipe down with 2 fingers |
Start reading continuously (from this point on) |
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Tap with 2 fingers |
Stop reading |
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Rotate both thumbs in sync (like a dial) |
Scroll through rotor for list settings and navigation options. |
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Tap with 1 finger |
Select item |
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Double-tap with 1 finger |
Choose item or activate button |
Learn VoiceOver In-Depth
The State Library continues to gear up for a year of partnerships and programming as part of our NASA@ My Library Grant. This issue we wanted to point out a few resources we have posted from our project page:
We’re still waiting on the delivery of our two STEM kits we will be circulating. Word is that we should have them by Christmas.
The Hands-On Loan Program provides the chance to learn interactively by borrowing items from the Hands-On collection, a special collection apart from the State of Alaska's permanent collections. The program is free (except for the cost of return shipping) and is open to all Alaska based teachers, students, librarians, homeschoolers, and museums.
How It Works
First time participants should read the Program Guide thoroughly.
The Hands-On collection can be browsed and searched from the Gallery page. Items can be selected from the gallery and added to a loan request list, which can be reviewed on the Request page. Loan requests will be processed by staff at the museum and email notifications will be sent to prospectice borrowers once decisions are made about their requests. Once a collection has been loaned, it is the responsibility of the borrower to ensure that it remains in its present condition and is returned at the end of the loan period.
If you meet the borrower criteria, get started with our Hands-On Collection today!
Does your museum have an education collection that can be used statewide? Please drop us a line and we’ll highlight your lending collection.
Month long observances
Week long observances
Specific day observances
Conferences and Awards
If you know of an anniversary or day in January special to libraries, archives or museums, please drop us a line!
We enjoy products that serve multiple purposes. So we’re pleased to announce that the same system that libraries use to enter their state mandated annual reports produces a list and map of Alaska’s libraries.
From our friends at the Alutiiq Museum via an 11/27/18 press release:
With a $1,000 grant from Museums Alaska the Alutiiq Museum will purchase an original watercolor painting by Alutiiq artist Cheryl Lacy. Misty Morning depicts a man in a traditional kayak paddling along a forested coast. Behind him are the dark silhouettes of spruce-covered hills and the pastel colors of sunrise. The painting displays the artist’s talent at creating depth and atmosphere using colors and shading. She even captures drops of water dripping from the paddle.
According to Lacy her art “reflects the journey to learn more about myself, where I came from, and introduce people to Alaska Native culture.” Her favorite mediums are pencil, pen, charcoal, watercolors, and acrylics. She also likes to make pictures out of non-traditional materials, including beads and found objects. The Alutiiq Museum has three of Lacy’s beaded art pieces. Misty Morning is the first of her paintings to be added to the collection.
Support for this purchase comes from the Art Acquisition Fund. Established by Rasmuson Foundation in 2003, and administered by Museums Alaska, the fund promotes the development of contemporary art collections in Alaska museums. Each year, the fund invites proposals to purchase the work of living Alaskan artists, made within the past five years.
Since the fund’s inception in 2003, the Alutiiq Museum has received $204,953.50 in grants to purchase 134 works by 40 artists. These pieces can be enjoyed in the contemporary art gallery on the Alutiiq Museum’s website.
Amanda Lancaster, the museum’s collections manager, can be contacted directly about this purchase at amanda@alutiiqmuseum.org, 844-425-8844, x22. Artist Cheryl Lacy can be reached at Cheryl Lacy dancingravendesigns@yahoo.com .
From our friends at Museums Alaska via an 11/27/2018 press release:
Eleven of Alaska’s collecting institutions, in seven communities from Ketchikan to Fairbanks, have been awarded $125,340 in grants. The awards will support the acquisition of artwork and collections care projects through two separate funds. The funds were created by Rasmuson Foundation and they are administered by Museums Alaska.
The Art Acquisition Fund invites museums and culture centers to submit proposals to purchase recent works by contemporary Alaskan artists. Now in its sixteenth year, this initiative has helped institutions across Alaska enhance their collections, interpret contemporary themes, and support hundreds of visual artists. This fall, eight museums received a total of $86,975 to purchase 29 pieces of artwork from 18 Alaskan artists—including paintings, carvings, photographs, multi-media works, and sculpture.
This year, the Art Acquisition Fund allowed applicants to propose commissioned works. The Kodiak Historical Society and the Sealaska Heritage Institute are the first organizations to successfully receive support for commissioned works. The Kodiak Historical Society and will collaborate with Alutiiq mask maker Perry Eaton on an outdoor installation, and Sealaska Heritage Institute will work with Tlingit artist Nathan Jackson who will create a carved and painted wood hat.
Established in 2013, the Collections Management Fund supports projects that advance the preservation of museum collections with awards of up to $15,000. The fund provides critical support for the care of objects documenting Alaska’s cultural and natural heritage. In November, Museums Alaska selected five institutions to receive a total of $38,322. The funded projects include caring for raptor specimens, conserving gut skin artifacts, digitizing media collections, completing diorama maintenance, and modernizing HVAC controls.
Both funds will offer additional grants in 2019. For eligibility information, application deadlines, and submission directions, please visit the Museums Alaska website.
For a full list of this year’s grantees, visit the full announcement on Museums Alaska.
All of us who work in libraries, archives or museums understands how important technology has become in our work lives. But do we know everything we need to assist our visitors and coworkers? How can we identify and fill training gaps? A December webinar from the Indiana State Library offers one answer – implement technology competencies (statements of what staff should be able to do):
Technology Competencies & How to Exceed them (uses Adobe Connect)
Presenters: Katherine Huddle (Carmel-Clay Public Library) and Heather Rayl (Vigo County Public Library)
They covered this agenda:
Additional training resources related to the competencies discussed in this presentation can be found in the Computer Fundamentals and Productivity sections of the Alaska State Library Digital Literacy guide.
This year the Decatur (TX) Public Library teamed up with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service to provide gardening classes to seven participating families. The families do their growing in the library’s community garden. As of this writing, seven pounds of produce have been harvested and a new class is starting in January (Something we’d find extra challenging here in Alaska).
For more details and photos of the garden, visit:
Library digs community garden program. By Brian Knox. Wise County Messenger, 10/31/2018.
From our friends at the blog Teaching with the Library of Congress:
In the October 2018 issue of Social Education, the journal of the National Council for the Social Studies, our “Sources and Strategies” article focuses on a film featured in the Library’s new National Screening Room, “The House I Live In.” In the film, Frank Sinatra, on a break during a recording session, breaks up a fight where a group of boys threaten and bully another boy because of his religion. The film features the song “The House I Live In,” composed by Abel Meeropol, who also wrote the lyrics to the Billie Holiday song “Strange Fruit.” Commissioned by the Anti-Defamation League of the B’nai B’rith, the movie was awarded an honorary Academy Award and a special Golden Globe Award. In 2007, the film was selected by the Librarian of Congress for addition to the National Film Registry.
Be sure to check out the National Screening Room for many other interesting or rare movies. But keep in mind this warning from the Library of Congress – “These selections are presented as part of the record of the past. They are historical documents which reflect the attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs of different times. The Library of Congress does not endorse the views expressed in these movies, which may contain content offensive to users.”
Last Friday Bulletin, we pointed out a way to use your phone for good with the National Archives Facebook Chatbot. Here’s another way your phone can help others, if a bit less directly related to LAMs: the Be My Eyes app. This app is available to users who are blind or have low vision and to volunteers who can see. Registration is required. Once that’s done, those who need help seeing things can put in a request, and the app will connect them with a seeing volunteer, using the camera functionality to allow the seeing person to see what the requestor can’t. One might determine the color of a sweater or the denomination of paper currency. I’ve let someone know the type of tea bags they had and helped interpret IKEA instructions! The requests are usually quick, and because there are so many more volunteers than users, the number of requests is not onerous. For more information, see https://www.bemyeyes.com/. Available for iOS and Android.
You may find this app a quick and easy way to make a big difference for others, but perhaps more importantly, keep it in mind for your audiobook or large print users. Hat tip to Freya Anderson for this item.
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