Alaska Collection

Overview

The Alaska Collection is located on the second floor of the Consortium Library. It contains books, maps, microforms, videos, and other materials relating to Alaska, and other arctic regions.

Additional locations are Alaska periodicals, which are shelved in the appropriate periodicals sections, the Alaska Statutes, Alaska Administrative Code, and Anchorage Municipal Charter & Code Regulations which are kept near the reference desk, and Alaska newspapers which are shelved with other newspapers on the first floor.

Holdings

Holdings in the collection can be accessed through the Library Catalog. The Collection designation "ALASKA" above the Library of Congress call number on the book indicates the item is in the Alaska Collection. In the catalog, items in the Collection appear as:

Many items in the Alaska Collection are marked "REF ALASKA" meaning that they do not circulate. The library tries to obtain two copies of all Alaskana, so that one copy can be checked out and one copy is available here in the library at all times. However, this is not always possible.

A few Alaskana titles that a library patron might find in the library catalog will have as its call number collection designator "RARE". These items are located in the Archives Department and do not circulate. They include books on Alaska published generally before 1875, and author autographed copies. Circulation policies for the Alaska Collection are the same as for the rest of the Library's materials.

Holdings in the Alaska Room also include over 5000 maps. These consist of USGS maps for Alaska, Alaska nautical charts, miscellaneous maps on Alaska topics, as well as worldwide maps. The map collection is not generally reflected in the library catalog. Rather, there is a card file on top of the map cases, giving title, location and subject. Other items in the Alaska Room include :

1. Vertical file cases containing miscellaneous brochures, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, etc., relating to Alaska.
2. Wickersham Bibliography file containing photocopies of all the magazine articles cited in Judge James Wickersham's A Bibliography of Alaskan Literature 1724-1924.
3. Alaska Eskimos Bibliography file containing articles cited in Arthur E. Hippler's The Alaska Eskimo: a selected, annotated bibliography. (published 1977).
4. The subarctic Athabascans bibliography file, containing articles cited in The Subarctic Athabascans: a selected annotated bibliography (1974) by Arthur E. Hippler.

These files (#2-4 above) are kept locked. Please ask staff in the reserve room to open them for you. They do not circulate.

Databases

Inuit Health Database

Citations in this database are included in PolarPac, and through the printed index "The Health of The Inuit of North America: a bibliography from the earliest times through 1990 by Robert Fortuine, et al." It focuses on the health of the Inuit of Alaska and Canada from earliest recorded history through 1990. Full text of the citations are held in the library; they do not circulate. Ask at the reserve desk for help.

State Depository

The Consortium Library is a depository library for State of Alaska publications.

Alaska Newspapers

The Consortium Library has a strong collection of Alaska newspapers on microfilm and microfiche. These are housed in cabinets on the first floor. They are arranged numerically, and there is a notebook on top of the cabinets. The best guide to Alaskan newspapers is "Alaska Newspapers on Microfilm 1866-1998", published as the Alaska part of the Library of Congress's US Newspapers Project.

Special Databases for Alaskana

Alaska & Polar Regions Index

This indexes articles written about Alaska and other polar regions appearing in journals received at Rasmuson Library, UAF, who manages the index. It contains over 120,000 citations dating from 1978 to the present. Because the index is based on holdings at Rasmuson Library, the Consortium Library does not necessarily have copies of all articles cited, but we have many and the rest can be ordered through interlibrary loan. The index also contains some citations from non-periodical sources that relate to Alaska. It does not include reference to newspaper articles, with the exception of the former weekly magazine supplements of the Anchorage Daily News (called "We Alaskans") and the Fairbanks Daily News Miner ("Heartland").

PolarPac (CD-ROM available only within the Consortium Library building)

PolarPac lists books and serial titles held in libraries worldwide who have major polar collections. In addition to Alaska, and other U.S. libraries, listings come from Canada, England, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark. PolarPac also contains the Alaska Periodical Index, but it is not as current as the online version of this index, as PolarPac is a CD product. Other important citation databases included in PolarPac include National Snow and Ice Center, Oil Spill Public Information Center newspaper database, Lapponica, and Ancestors (over 130,000 entries with information on early settlers in Alaska).

Arctic and Antarctic Regions (CD-ROM available only within the Consortium Library building)

This database contains over 600,000 bibliography citations (most with abstracts or annotations) relating to polar and cold regions worldwide. There is a multi disciplinary approach, but the database is especially strong in social, physical engineering, and earth sciences. Coverage is from the mid 1800s to present.

Wenger Anthropological Eskimo Database (CD-ROM available only within the Consortium Library building)

This is a full text database focusing on first contact and primary source material pertaining to the Inuit of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. This database is on a dedicated machine in the library.