it has never been easier to fill out the Census without leaving your house. Stay home and respond to the Census online at my2020census.gov, or over the phone at 1-844-330-2020.
As of this writing the Census Bureau has paused field operations. So we need everyone with a phone or internet connection to count themselves!
Today, Friday 5/1 is Registrar Andrew Washburn’s last day with the Alaska State Museum. He is leaving us to take a curatorial position at the Kentucky Historical Society. We wish Andrew safe travels and best wishes for his new job. Andrew is both knowledgeable and passionate and likely would do well anywhere.
Andrew is a person of many interests and engaged in volunteer service. He combined both for us in a recent lecture titled Illuminating Subjects, a talk on the history of lighthouses in Alaska that was recorded as an episode of At the APK.
Tracy Swaim, who has worked on and off for the Alaska State Library since the 1990s, retired for what we THINK is the last time on April 30th, wrapping up his tenure as our Grants and Data coordinator. We sent him a set of interview questions and as his style, he came up with a much better write up for his sending off. Take it away Tracy!!
My first library job (as a page) was at the A.K. Smiley Library in Redlands, CA in 1985.
I received my MLS from Indiana University (note, I wrote my papers using a Commodore 64 computer).
Patience hired me September 1991 to be the State Publications Cataloger…six months later I was head of Technical Services...a few years later, the Computer Resources Librarian (in Juneau, then Anchorage).
I created the first website for the Alaska State library (yep, manually typing html code) and posted Fran Ulmer’s press releases on the web (again, hand-typing html into each press release, yippie!).
My web searching classes ALWAYS included Walter the Farting Dog (he’s my hero).
When in Juneau I tried a lot of things!
In Anchorage I would rather weed the garden than mow the lawn!
In 2004 moved to the Northeast and was
My husband and I built a kit home in the Vermont hills:
I came back to Alaska in 2014 to be Director of the Alaska Library Network (and moved into the same office I had in 2004…with the same Wallace and Gromit magnets hidden on the back of the metal desk).
In 2018 Patience hired me AGAIN (what is wrong with her!) to be the Grants and Data Librarian in Juneau. :-)
Upon retirement my husband, Mark, and my doggie, Molly (she’s a Lagotto Romagnolo, old Italian breed, look it up), and I intend to move to a travel trailer at my stepdaughter’s farmette in Sequim, WA for the summers and buy a villa in Green Valley, AZ for the Winters.
My best Alaska travel story is a flight from Ketchikan to Hollis. It was a small plane; it was snowing and cold; there were newly hatched chicks on the plane. So, of course, to get the chicks inside without exposing them to the cold, everyone on the plane took their coats off and covered box of chicks!
I wish I had known about and used OneNote earlier! What a nifty organizational tool!
Humor is necessary and should be employed regularly to keep situations accessible, authentic, and creative.
Excel is a gift from heaven (oh yeah, I am a geek)! Amen!
Drop me an email at tracy@aklib.info. Unless it’s about grants or statistics, in which case you’ll want to talk to Claire Imamura, who has taken a 60-day temporary appointment as Acting Grants & Data Coordinator. For grants and stats questions, she can be reached at eed.library.grants@alaska.gov.
Thanks for all the good times!
Tracy
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We miss you already.
We had planned to present the number of wireless sessions logged between 4/15 and 4/30 by the 17 libraries that WhoFi installed and running around the time of the 3/17/2020 mandated closure of libraries, archives and museums under Health Mandate 2.1. As of press time, this was unavailable. We will provide that number in the next Friday Bulletin (5/17/2020), along a full April 2020 number for the libraries that had WhoFi deployed as of 4/1/2020.
Starting with the 5/15/2020 issue, we will be reporting the combined number of sessions for the previous month for all libraries who are using the statewide contract.
What we can report this week is that a library director shared a report to their city council with us that included printouts from the library’s instance of WhoFi. This report allowed them to show the city council that 274 wifi sessions took place during 4/20-4/28, part of the period when this library was closed. The library included a second report on “Average use” that clearly showed afternoons and evenings to be the most popular times for people to be outside using the library’s connection. Tuesday was the most popular day by a significant margin. It is tangible proof that parking lot wifi is an appreciated and used service. These same types of statistics are available to you at no cost to your library.
WhoFi is offered free to public libraries under our statewide license. See more about what reporting is available from WhoFi by visiting our Getting Wireless Statistics page. If you are authorized to speak for your library and you’d like your library to join our statewide license, send an e-mail to Daniel Cornwall at Daniel.cornwall@alaska.gov.
Anjuli Grantham. Curator of Statewide Services, wanted to let people across museums, archives and libraries know about results from two recent surveys sent to museums in Alaska:
The Alaska State Museum and Museums Alaska are issuing a monthly survey of Alaska museums to document the economic impacts of COVID-19 on Alaska museum operations. Thirty museums took part in most recent survey. Survey results show that during the month of March, responding museums had to lay off 28 employees. Alaska museums report anticipated losses of over $4 million in earned revenue due to the virus. The next economic impact survey will open on Monday, 5/4/2020 at https://lam.alaska.gov/museums-covid19.
The Alaska State Museum, Museums Alaska, and Gail Anderson & Associates are pleased to share the results of the 2020 Alaska Museum Survey. Eighty-three Alaska museums took part in the survey. The report and a discussion guide dedicated to inspiring conversations about pathways for strengthening Alaska’s museum field are available at https://lam.alaska.gov/museums-surveys.
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Since the state mandated closure of libraries under Health Mandate 2.1, the OWL Videoconferencing Network has teamed up with a number of libraries to keep them connected with their boards, staffs and patrons. Here is a sampling of activities that have taken place over OWL from 3/17/2020 through 4/30/2020:
If your library would like to schedule an OWL videoconference, please visit https://lam.alaska.gov/owl and complete the Schedule a videoconference through OWL form.
From our friends at the Sealaska Heritage Institute:
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) will hold a virtual Celebration during the time Celebration 2020 would have occurred if not for the COVID-19 pandemic.
SHI is planning live watch parties of previous performances and new videos of associated events from June 10-13 in lieu of an in-person Celebration, which was postponed to June 2-5, 2021.
During the live stream, people will be able to watch the programming together on SHI’s YouTube and interact with each other, said SHI President Rosita Worl. SHI also plans to have live moderators during the broadcast.
“During this time of uncertainty and fear, we need to come together somehow and celebrate our cultural survival. We as a people have been sorely tested in the past and survived many hardships. We will endure, but our people need something positive to anticipate right now,” Worl said.
SHI plans to live stream performances from Celebration 2018 and cut in new footage between dance groups. SHI will accept applications for the toddler review and fashion show through May 15. Videos and images submitted will be produced into videos and shown during the broadcast. SHI will also showcase Juried Art Show pieces through an online exhibit.
The institute is also asking Celebration participants to send selfies of themselves to CeleSelfies@sealaska.com. These will be shared and later combined in a photo collage in lieu of the panoramic photo usually taken during the event. SHI is also seeking short phone videos from participants greeting viewers.
See SHI’s announcement for links to applications.
Is your institution holding an annual event virtually in lieu of the gathering that could not take place this year? Let us know!
The travel magazine Travel & Leisure recently highlighted the work of Travel Alaska and other Alaskan institutions providing virtual tours and events that showcase what Alaska has to offer:
Visit all the wonders of Alaska without leaving home (Video with accompanying article). By Andrea Romano, Travel and Leisure, 5/1/2020.
Institutions mentioned in this article include:
On its website, the Alaska Zoo announced it was re-opening to the public, effective today, 5/1/2020 after consultation with Anchorage and State officials. They are opening in accordance with their guidelines in their COVID-19 mitigation plan. Some of the measures include:
We wish the Alaska Zoo well in its renewed operations.
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