We have begun calling ourselves the APR "Collections" instead of "Department" in order to claim equality with other major research libraries and distinguish ourselves from other UAF units that focus on Alaska. Nothing else has changed.
When Paul McCarthy, first University Archivist and first head of APR, returned to UAF four years ago as Director of Libraries & Information Technology, he set the theme of "turning the library inside out." His approaching retirement is a good time to review our progress.
For more than fifteen years, APR curators have been developing digital projects to realize a dream of making key collections directly available throughout Alaska and beyond. The first ventures used CD-ROMs to present materials prepared around a theme. The Wenger Anthropological Eskimo Database grew out of a partnership with Hubert and Beatrice Wenger. The Project Jukebox multi-media oral history databases were developed in collaboration with the National Park Service and Alaska Native communities.
Both the Wenger Database and Project Jukebox began moving toward Internet delivery as soon as its potential became apparent. The Wenger Web edition was completed two years ago. The first Jukebox projects appeared on the Web about the same time, and with help from the National Science Foundation, the current count is fifteen with more expected soon. Connect to Wenger and Jukebox under Online Collections at http://www.uaf.edu/library/apr/index.html [1]
About five years ago we began envisioning a complementary approach: a digital archive that would provide both descriptions (as in a library catalog) and digital facsimiles of Alaska sources on all subjects in all formats. We began with a vision for UAF but soon looked beyond to a resource that could serve all Alaska repositories.
In 2002 Rasmuson Library received the first of a series of Congressional awards from the U.S. Department of Education to build Alaska's Virtual Library and Digital Archive in collaboration with the Alaska State Library and the University of Alaska Anchorage. Known affectionately as ViLDA, the digital archive portion already has more than 5,000 items, with more added week by week. The original emphasis was on photographs. More recently the State Library has been adding printed documents and we have been adding maps and film clips, and oral history audio will begin appearing soon.
We know that Alaskans are discovering Alaska's Digital Archive because it has begun inspiring photographic print orders. Try it for yourself at http://vilda.alaska.edu [2]
Steps in a ViLDA search
[2]
[3]
[4]We are immensely grateful to Senator Ted Stevens for embracing this vision of Alaska sources for Alaskans.
Crucial to the success of ViLDA has been the continuing leadership of the Photo Lab staff. While adding services to meet the needs of customers, they pioneered our Web presence by producing "The Butler Brothers' Gold Rush" and providing scans for the UAF segments of the Library of Congress "Meeting of Frontiers" project. This work is available under Online Collections at http://www.uaf.edu/library/apr/index.html [1] During the planning stage of ViLDA, they provided project-wide expertise on image file specifications, selection of hardware and software, and storage of high-resolution master scans. As selection and cataloging progressed, they refined the workflow at UAF so that they could keep up without neglecting external customers. Make their acquaintance and see their equipment below:
Digital Photographic Services staff: from left, Akanit Nakoneczny, Chrissy Leake, Richard Veazey, Kim Armstrong, and Stephanie Baldwin. The printer is a 24 inch wide professional model Epson capable of producing photographic quality large format prints.
Last and least on the "inside out" theme, these annual reports are now on the World Wide Web at xxxxxxxxxx.
Left: First page of a letter from Evelyn A. Davis, Chena, Alaska, to her sister Mrs. R. L. (Dollie) Durham, San Francisco, describing Christmas activities in Chena, 1911. Mrs. R. L. Durham Papers, Archives and Manuscripts, Alaska and Polar Regions Collections, Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Below: Evelyn A. Davis of Chena, Alaska, 1912. Mrs. R. L. Durham Papers. accession number 2004-064-08.
For more detail, go to UAF Library Goldmine [5], and search by "author" for the creator of the collection, last name first (e.g., Durham, Mrs. R. L.).
The Arctic Regions. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office, 1925. This copy was annotated by Sir Hubert Wilkins with flight paths and notes for expeditions including: the 1927 Stinson biplane mishap that forced him and Ben Eielson to walk across the ice to Beechey Point, the Wilkins-Eielson 1928 route, the Wilkins Submarine 1931 Route, The Wilkins Flying Boat 1937 route, the Levanevsky search in 1937, and others. It was held in Rasmuson Library as an ordinary federal government publication until documents librarian John Kawula recognized its provenance.
Geological Sketch Map of the Northern Islands of Canada to Illustrate the Report by J.G McMillan B.A SC, Geologist on Board C.G.S. Arctic, 1908-09. 1910. The geological information is "from results of various expeditions. Letters denote where fossil remains have been found in the different formations."
Right: An unidentified Yupik girl poses for photographer Robert W. Stevens in Savoonga circa 1967. Stevens flew to the tiny St. Lawrence Island village on several occasions to film the people and their traditional activities. Robert W. and Elizabeth L. Stevens Collection, Alaska Film Archives, Alaska and Polar Regions Collections, Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Above: Carl Ben Eielson leaves the trading schooner Nanuk at North Cape Siberia November 1, 1929 one week before his fatal crash returning to the stranded vessel. Robert W. and Elizabeth L. Stevens Collection.
These are among the 130 recordings added to the collections this year:
Clara Morgan is interviewed by Charles Mobley in Aniak in 2003. She was a health aide there for many years.
Frank Darnell is interviewed by Ron Inouye in Fairbanks and Anchorage in 2001 and 2002. He talks about his life and career as a teacher and educational leader for rural Alaska. A transcript is available.
Local historian Joe Ashby speaks with Ron Inouye in 1992 about Sitka history and changes he has seen in the community.
Outgoing UAF Chancellor Marshall Lind talks with Bill Schneider about his life and career in Alaska.
Walter Bullwinkle, retired ironworker and contractor, talks with Robyn Russell in 2004 about his life and work, including construction of log cabins around Fairbanks.
Presbyterian missionary Bonnie Wartes talks with Bill Schneider in 2004 about her life and work on the North Slope, including building the church in Anaktuvuk Pass.
The Jukebox staff applied their method in somewhat different ways from their typical community project:
A grant from the National Science Foundation made it possible to hold a workshop on Dangerous Ice Conditions and put the recorded proceedings and related materials on the Jukebox website.
The UAF psychology department commissioned a jukebox for its People Awakening program, which enables Native Alaskans to discuss issues of sobriety and how they have addressed it in their lives. It was distributed to the participants but is not available to the general public.
All were purchased on a fund given by the late Elmer E. Rasmuson.
When a project on missions discovered some titles that we had never acquired, we began searching for copies to fill the gaps. Here are the first purchases for one denomination:
The Beginnings of the Moravian Mission in Alaska, by J. Hamilton Taylor, 1890.
Kolerat Pitsiulret, or, True Stories of the Early Days of the Moravian Mission on the Kuskokwim, by S. H. Gapp, 1936.
To Tell the Story: Mission Stories from the Alaska Territory, by Grace H. Dittmer, 1998. Still in print.
Did you know? The Academic Relations Division of Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade gives us $2,000-$2,500 annually to buy Canadian publications on Canadian subjects.
With the building-wide renovation complete, use of the collections is increasing:
Daily registrations in the Research Room are up 50% (though annual registrations are down 9%).
"Distance" reference questions, with e-mail now predominant, are up 13%.
Photographic prints ordered are up 16% (though the number of orders is down 4%).
Inquiries to the Film Archives are up 17%, and circulation of VHS copies of archival films is up 46% (in part because they were moved to the video collection on the main floor).
Circulation of oral history recordings reached a plateau in the late 1990s. About half of the use is within Rasmuson Library, mainly from UAF. For the cassettes that leave the building, the main constituencies are UAF students (40%), UAF faculty and staff (20%), and interlibrary loan (25%).
We made presentations to 24 groups (up 60%) with 337 participants (down 6%). We hosted more UAF classes from more departments (Alaska Native studies, anthropology, history, library science, northern studies, rural development, and sociology) in addition to continuing interest from schools (Tetlin and Nenana) and from community groups such as the Fairbanks Genealogical Society and Adult Learning Programs of Alaska.
The Alaska Film Archives provided film elements for these documentaries:
Seward: The First 100 Years, Weston Productions (Eagle River).
Secrets of Denali National Park, Bellevue Entertainment (Chicago).
Buy It, Sell It, Record It, Marketing Solutions (Anchorage).
The Gold Rush, RTE Irish Television (Dublin).
It also supplied footage for a continuous-running program for Alaska Channel cable television in Fairbanks hotels. Fees for all these uses assist our film preservation efforts.
Here are some of the recently published books that use APR photographs or manuscripts:
Russians in Alaska 1732-1867, by Lydia T. Black. University of Alaska Press, 2004.
With a Camera in my Hands: William O. Field, Pioneer Glaciologist. By Suzanne C. Brown. University of Alaska Press, 2004.
Tlingit Art: Totem Poles & Art of the Alaskan Indians, by Maria Bolanz and Gloria C. Williams. Hancock House, 2004.
Cultural Politics and the Mass Media: Alaska Native Voices, by Patrick J. Daley and Beverly A. James. University of Illinois Press, 2004.
Alaska National Guard 27th Infantry Battalion, in the Defense of Alaska..., by John H. Grainger. Tongass Publishing Co., 2004.
A Wild Discouraging Mess: The History of the White Pass Unit of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, by Julie Johnson. National Park Service, 2003.
The Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands: Region of Wonders, by Terry Johnson. Alaska Sea Grant College Program, 2003.
Eskimo Drawings, edited by Suzi Jones. Anchorage Museum of History and Art, 2003. Items we loaned for the exhibit are reproduced in this catalog.
Broken Wings: Tragedy and Disaster in Alaska Civil Aviation, by Gregory P. Liefer. Hancock House, 2003.
Ernest Gruening: Alaska's Greatest Governor, by Claus-M. Naske. University of Alaska Press, 2004.
Early Transportation Routes Fort Wainwright, Alaska, by Ronald J. Burr Neely, Jr. Colorado State University and U.S. Army Alaska, 2003.
The Last Giant of Beringia: the Mystery of the Bering Land Bridge [on the work of David M. Hopkins], by Dan O'Neill. Westview Press, 2004.
Livengood, the Last Stampede, by Audrey Parker. Hats Off Books, 2003.
We also provided photographs for the Fairbanks Visitors and Convention Bureau 2003 guide and for a field guide to California beetles.
In processing collections, we aim to match or surpass the pace of acquisitions:
With the addition of a half-time curatorial assistant, the Archives is now able to process all but the largest manuscript and photograph acquisitions within a year of their arrival. The first section of Curator's Choice in this report is just a sample of the new collections that are ready to use. In addition, we used grants and gifts to work on several large collections: the Elmer E. Rasmuson Papers, supported by the Rasmuson Foundation, and the William O. Field and William R. Wood Collections, supported by bequests from Dr. Field and Dr. Wood.
The Oral History Program created 231 catalog records covering 990 recordings while adding 130 recordings to the collection, including the sample in Curator's Choice. Increased cataloging was made possible by a grant from the Interlibrary Cooperation program of the Alaska State Library. The prime interlibrary feature is that Alaskans can borrow cassette copies free through local libraries. To see what we have on your topic, go to http://www.uaf.edu/library [6] and click first on UAF Library Goldmine, then on Power Search. At the Power Search screen, type your keyword as "word or phrase" in the upper section, select "UAF Campus Libraries" for Library and "Audio Cassette" for Type in the lower section, and Search. Choose the keyword Kodiak to tap into the rich vein opened by the grant.
The Alaska Film Archives added 120 records to UAF Goldmine. The search technique is the same as for oral history interviews except that the Type is "Archival Video."
The Alaska/Polar Periodical Index added 6,623 records, surpassing last year's peak and eliminating a backlog of ephemeral publications such as newsletters. To browse the index, go to http://www.uaf.edu/library [6] and click on UAF Library Goldmine, then click on Alaska/Polar Periodical Index at the far right on the bar below the Goldmine title.
Our colleagues in Rasmuson Library's Bibliographic Access Management Department have dramatically reduced the Alaska book cataloging backlog over several years. Most newly acquired books appear in the UAF Goldmine catalog and on APR shelves within a month.
A measure of the corresponding challenge for digitization is that we accessioned more than 5,000 new photographs as we were preparing the first 2,500 entries for the digital archive. We will do better as we integrate digitization into our curatorial and public service routines, but it will always be selective. The greatest barrier is not scanning but supporting activity such as preparing descriptions and preserving "digital objects."
A less costly way of improving access is to make existing descriptions more accessible:
An update to the 1983 manuscripts guide is being prepared for online access.
Similar work is underway on the in-house databases for our 2,000 rare printed maps and 11,000 so-called manuscript maps (many of which are 20th-century printed maps annotated by hand). UAF Goldmine catalog entry has begun.
The underlying information for all three databases was compiled over many years by curators who envisioned Internet access but retired before we were ready to bring it off. Once they are online, we will keep them current.
Another effort in the same spirit is to improve access to existing microfilm:
Almost 1,300 microfiche copies of rare books produced in APR over more than a decade were added to the UAF Goldmine catalog and placed in cabinets in the open stack area, making them available whenever the building is open. This multi-year project was begun with a gift from Mrs. Mary Louise Rasmuson.
The majority of our microfiche copies of archival collections were re-sleeved, entered in Goldmine, and provided with new or improved finding aids. Examples include the Helper Neck "Eskimo Bible" (filmed here from the original loaned by the family), portions of the Michael Z. Vinokouroff Papers (from the Alaska State Library), and the Alaska segments of the Education and General Files of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1897-1937 (from the National Archives).
The Oral History Program collaborated with June Pinnell-Stephens from the Fairbanks North Star Borough Library to digitize two audio collections, "Songs and Legends" and "Alaska Native Interviews," and distribute them on CDs to almost two dozen libraries and cultural centers throughout Alaska.
A special preservation activity has been working with UAF's Facilities Services to fine-tune our new climate controls. For example, the Research Room was persistently colder than the Archives stacks until someone realized that an inconspicuous new sensor was basking in the warmth of a reinstalled computer. Humidification worked quite well last winter after some adjustment. Dehumidification in the summer is proving to be more challenging.
Ongoing preservation efforts feature reformatting and rehousing:
The Alaska Film Archives continued its strong reformatting program. The goal is to reformat all obsolete-format materials and all films that are deteriorating (about 6%), with priority based on condition, camera and developing work, and content. The original video production "40 Below in Fairbanks" and eight recordings of Yupik-speaking elders in Akiak and Akiachak were remastered from the obsolete BetaMax video format. More than four hours of 8mm film from the 1930s and 1940s, including footage of Girl Scout activities and Ladd Field, were sent to an Outside lab for production of Digibeta and SP masters. Most of this work and much else was supported by a multi-year grant from the Rasmuson Foundation. A fifth grant (five for five over six years) from the National Film Preservation Foundation paid for reformatting original films by famed musher Leonhard Seppala.
Oral History staff made preservation copies of 217 items (about 4% of the collection).
The manuscript map survey covered an additional 1,125 items. Many received immediate attention in the form of flattening, cleaning, taping, or refoldering, and some were listed for more painstaking work at a later time.
Because our statewide collecting mission is so immense and so compelling, we are sometimes at risk of slighting our core responsibility for "materials of enduring value to the University of Alaska." Here are some key efforts of the University Archives in the past eighteen months to make sure that does not happen:
Obtained Chancellor Lind's approval of the University Records Authorization Policy.
Modified locations and descriptions of records in the Archives stacks so that related series are shelved together and organizational relationships are reflected in box labels and inventories.
Published a brochure and a booklet to inform the University community about what the Archives can do for them and what they should do for the Archives.
Expanded the University Records web page with links ranging from the Records Transfer Authorization Form to the UAF Fight Song. See it all at: http://www.uaf.edu/library/apr/univrecords/index.html [7]
Worked with our micrographics unit to film all surviving grade rosters from the founding of the Agricultural College & School of Mines through the multiplication of campuses around 1970.
Participated in a survey sponsored by the University of Alaska System to improve management of current records.
Began reaching out to student organizations to encourage them to donate records. Received records from the UAF Communication Club. Began harvesting outdated ephemera from campus bulletin boards.
Hosted Renee Pike, an intern in records management from the Tanana Valley Campus. She inventoried the Chancellor's Office records and coordinated campus mailing of the University Archives brochure.
APR activities noted elsewhere are the exit interview with Chancellor Lind and work on the personal papers of the late President Wood. Dr. Wood's official records came to the Archives many years ago. Chancellor Lind's will arrive as they are no longer needed in the office of his successor.
Our work is so collaborative that it would be impossible to credit individual staff members equitably in the preceding sections of this report. Instead, let me begin this section with the entire distinguished roster:
The accomplishments below have a personal signature.
Two staff members had books published this year:
Construction History of Sitka, Alaska, as Documented in the Records of the Russian-American Company, by Katherine L. Arndt and Richard A. Pierce. National Park Service.
The Whales, They Give Themselves: Conversations with Harry Brower, Sr., prepared by Karen Brewster. University of Alaska Press.
These works were not part of Kathy's and Karen's jobs in the library, but we benefit immeasurably from their painstaking scholarship and deep knowledge.
Other staff members made presentations, held leadership positions, or had their work published in books or journals:
Anne Foster presented "Hollywood Hookers: Images and Popular Culture of the Gold Rush Prostitute" to the Alaska Historical Society and chaired a session on collaborative projects for Northwest Archivists. She is secretary of the Tanana-Yukon Historical Society and chairs the Northwest Archivists' education committee.
Ron Inouye organized a panel on Traditional Ecological Knowledge for Polar Libraries Colloquy and completed a term on its governing board.
Tamara Lincoln presented "The Odyssey of Raffaello Lugnani" to Polar Libraries Colloquy and prepared "Siberian Labor Camps" for Encyclopedia of the Arctic.
Robyn Russell presented "Is It Archival? Considerations for Librarians and Oral Historians" in a panel titled "Terror at 20,000 Tapes" that she organized for the Oral History Association. Her text has been excerpted in various newsletters.
Bill Schneider contributed a segment on "The Search for Wisdom in Native American Narratives and Classical Scholarship" for a state-of-the-discipline issue of the journal Oral Tradition.
Dirk Tordoff presented "Evaluation Criteria for Regional Media Archives" to the Association of Moving Image Archivists, provided an archival film presentation for the Centennial of Flight banquet sponsored by the FAA in Fairbanks, served as a panelist for the Preservation and Access Program of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and served as consultant to the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository in Kodiak under an NEH preservation planning grant.
This year's award winners:
Bill Schneider received the Alaska Historical Society's "Contribution to Alaska History" Award for 2003.
Ramona Pierce, fiscal technician since June 2002, was Rasmuson Library Employee of the Month in September 2003.
Highly favorable reviews of the most recent volumes in the Rasmuson Library Historical Translation Series, Steller's History of Kamchatka and Through Orthodox Eyes, appeared in the journals Russian Review and Ethnohistory. Congratulations to translators Margritt Engel, Karen Willmore, and Andrei Znamenski; to series editor Marvin Falk, and to copy editor Kathy Arndt.
The Archives has begun mounting exhibits quarterly in the south lobby on level 2:
"For Love of Learning," marking the rededication of Rasmuson Library, by Anne Foster;
"In Honor of American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month," by Caroline Atuk-Derrick;
"In the Image of the Constitutional Convention," honoring the Governor's Conference for Alaskans, by Rose Speranza;
"Eureka! Nuggets from the Alaska & Polar Regions Archives," in honor of the UAF Authors' Reception, showing uses of archival material from card games to monographs, by student assistants Jennifer Simpson and Amy Russell.
Robyn Russell and Anne Foster organized an Alaskana non-fiction book discussion group that is open to anyone who would like to join in. Call Robyn at 474-6773 for details. The October topic is World War II in Alaska.
Finally, thanks to Anne Foster for serving ably as acting department head during my sabbatical.
Links:
[1] http://www.uaf.edu/library/apr/index.html
[2] http://vilda.alaska.edu/
[3] http://vilda.alaska.edu/cgi-bin/queryresults.exe?CISOROOT=all&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOBOX1=parades+fairbanks&go.x=14&go.y=8
[4] http://vilda.alaska.edu/cgi-bin/viewer.exe?CISOROOT=/cdmg11&CISOPTR=935
[5] http://goldmine.alaska.edu
[6] http://www.uaf.edu/library
[7] http://www.uaf.edu/library/apr/univrecords/index.html