134 Days until January 21, 2020 - Census 2020 Enumeration of Remote Alaska begins in Toksook Bay
205 Days until April 1, 2020 – 2020 Census Day
Resources:
After much budget uncertainty we are pleased to announce that every current SLED database listed on the SLED Databases page will be available through 6/30/2020. Availability after that will depend on the budget process for FY2021.
If you use the SLED username and password combination to access the databases, we will change the password on Monday, September 23, 2019. If you work in a library, archives, museum, or school in Alaska, you may contact Daniel Cornwall at Daniel.cornwall@alaska.gov for the new password, which will not work before 9/23/2019. The password MAY NOT be posted on the web or shared through a group e-mail.
October appears to be heavy with observances of interest to LAMs or Alaskans in general. Here’s what we’ve compiled:
Today we take a quick look at the SLED history primary sources guide Performing Arts.
This guide contains collections of primary source material relating to performing arts in Alaska, held by archives, libraries, and museums across the state. This guide is not comprehensive and may not include every collection containing primary source material relating to Alaskan performing arts.
Collections featured in this guide include:
All of the Alaskan Primary Sources guides on SLED are supported in whole or in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Alaska State Library.
The Sheldon Jackson Museum's August Artifact of the Month is a twined cedar bark covered bottle (SJ-I-C-9). Still vibrantly colored, the basketry-covered bottle is in excellent condition and was likely made in the early 20th century. This colorful example of Tsimshian basketry was generously donated to the museum by Gladys Whitmore of Sitka on Dec. 10th, 1976.
Read more about this covered bottle »
Please help get the word out to artists and other arts organizations that the Alaska State Museum is opening two calls-for-entry:
Both of these calls opened on September 3, 2019 and close on October 12, 2019. See the State Museum’s Artist Opportunities page for more details and application links.
We recently got this announcement for the Wasilla Museum’s last “Night at the Museum” for this season:
Come join us on Thursday, August 15th, as we learn from MAT+SAR our local search and rescue group about the K-9 team and how to get involved with search and rescue in the Valley.
K-9 Demonstrations will be between 5:30 and 7:30 pm. Free for the family.
We like the idea of cultural institutions providing space to local first responder groups to share about their work and invite volunteers from the community. If you’ve done something like this we’d like to hear how it went and whether people were motivated to join or contribute.
As previously announced on the AkLA list by Joyce McCombs herself, Joyce is retiring from the Delta Community Library on September 27, 2019. She will be succeeded by Tiki Levinson, who is coming out from retirement to run the Delta Community Library. While we at the State Library will very much enjoy working with Tiki in her new role, we will really, really miss Joyce.
So too, will Delta Junction, from the sounds of a recent Fairbanks Daily News-Miner article titled “Librarian plans to hit the books after retirement” which appeared in the September 3, 2019 edition. A few quotes demonstrating Joyce’s impact:
Delta Junction City Administrator Mary Leith said McCombs has a big following and that people love her. "She's always been there for them," Leith said. "A lot of people are going to miss Miss Joyce."
Linda Sloan, library board president, said McCombs will be hard to replace when she retires later this month. "There is a wide breadth of things she does to connect people to resources. She has been amazing all these years, a positive active person in the community. I admire her broad outlook on what a community is and that she provides something for almost everyone. She is a true community leader in her quiet manner."
A positive community leader who did all she could to connect people to resources (and fun). We can agree to all of that.
The rest of the article is a great read about Joyce, her career at Delta and this statement of her plans:
Plans include writing a children's book and a collection of her "Carefree Gourmet" columns she wrote for the Delta Wind, gardening, visiting with friends and researching family ancestry. She and Steve will work on their house and occasionally go to a movie in Fairbanks. "I'm not going to take on any jobs or volunteer work for a year," McCombs said. "I'm not going to attend any meetings."
If you have access to the Fairbanks Daily News Miner we encourage you to read:
Tarnai, Nancy. Librarian plans to hit the books after retirement. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (AK), 9/3/2019.
Take care Joyce. Stay in touch! Tiki, welcome!
We received this welcome news from Julie Mitchell of the Willow Public Library:
The Willow Library Replacement and Community Center Upgrade project took a huge step forward at the September 3, 2019 Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly meeting with an appropriation of Two Million from the Land Management Permanent fund. This puts us at about 90% worth of funding and with the reception of a pending Rasmussen Grant we will be able to move forward with the project!
Rachel Cohen, who worked for a time at the Alaska State Library, has returned to Alaska and is the new Archivist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives of the Rasmuson Library. See UAF’s brief blog announcement from 9/3/2019 for a smidge more. We welcome Rachel back to Alaska and look forward to what she’ll surely have to share about the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections' awesome holdings!
According to Alaska Native News, the Anchorage Museum has received a $75,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). From the 8/23/2019 article titled Film Project Presents the History and Identity of Alaska:
The three-part documentary series, titled Alaska, will tell an authentic story of Alaska from its earliest Indigenous peoples to the present. Live cinematography in urban and remote locations across the state will be mixed with rare still and motion picture archival materials. Reflections and insights by historians, Indigenous representatives and elders, anthropologists, writers, journalists, artists, policy makers, scientists and adventurers will be incorporated throughout the series.
For more, read the full article. We wish the Museum well in the work and look forward to seeing the finished product.
The US National Archives has been digitizing a lot of material and making available through their catalog. We recently received an e-mail from the National Archives Catalog mailing list that describes an exciting new catalog feature. From the e-mail:
What is OCR?
OCR converts images that contain typed, handwritten, or printed text into text that can be read and searched by a computer.
Previously, records in the Catalog were only searchable based on the titles, descriptions, and other fields entered by archivists, or by tags and transcriptions entered by citizen archivists. Now, with OCR capability, text from some images in the Catalog can be extracted, making that text searchable and more likely to come up in your search results.
Currently, the Catalog’s new OCR engine is applied to records in either JPG or PDF format added to the Catalog since June 2019. NARA is exploring how to retroactively process records from before that point, but right now this feature applies to millions of pages!
Here’s what you can expect and how it works:
A search for “Melvin H. Coulston” returns this Bureau of Indian Affairs record with OCR data. The search term is bolded.…
Try it out!
You can test the capability yourself by running one of the following searches and clicking the first result returned for each:We still have work to do! Right now, we are investigating options to re-process items for OCR that were in the Catalog prior to June 2019. Additionally, records that are only available in PDF format currently do not provide the page jumping or highlighting capability.
OCR is not perfect! While this technology helps to make records more searchable, we still find human-entered transcriptions to be more accurate than OCR, so we still need your help as citizen archivists to transcribe records in the Catalog, and help decipher that tricky handwriting!
If you try out the National Archives' catalog, we'd love a comment to share on whether you find the OCR searchability helping or hindering you in your research.
As previously announced on the AK Museums mailing list, the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) and the National Council on Public History (NCPH) have partnered to create an online resource called the Inclusive Historian's Handbook. From the website:
This dynamic reference source supports inclusive and equity-focused historical work in public settings by sharing a knowledge base that invites more people to engage in history projects. This handbook provides concrete examples of how to make history work more relevant. It centers on equity, inclusivity, diversity, and public service while offering accessible windows into the many ways public historians work.
For a sample of the writing style, consider reading the article on US Founders. The Handbook is recruiting additional writers.
While aimed at public libraries, the webinar below may be of use to museums and archives staff wishing to build their digital skills:
Tools for Building Digital Skills with Your Patrons and Staff
Thursday, 9/26/2019
- 10:00 AM-1`:00 AM (Pacific)
A free DigitalLead webinar
Public libraries have long been leaders in bringing people into the digital world, providing programs and services that help patrons get jobs, gain knowledge, increase productivity, and engage with others online. Leveraging and strengthening existing library and community resources can help reduce staff burden and increase the library’s impact on digital literacy. In this webinar, a panel of digital literacy experts will share tools, resources, and partnership strategies to help you enhance digital skill development among patrons and library staff.
Learning Outcomes
At the conclusion of this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Understand how to integrate digital tools and resources into the library’s new or existing digital literacy training efforts to reduce burdens on staff, capture learner data, and promote local resources;
- Spread information among library staff about tools they can use and also recommend to patrons seeking technology or computer help; and
- Recognize potential partnerships that can support and sustain new technology and its impact on the community’s access and digital readiness.
Who Should Attend
This webinar is intended for public library staff with limited prior knowledge of digital literacy and related resources. It will be useful to front line staff as well as managers and administrators.
Visit the event page to register for this webinar.
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