This month (and every month) you can dive deeper into Black History using these resources.

HistoryMakers is a collection of oral interviews with Black Americans from around the country. It features the stories of over 2,000 individuals! You can search through the collection by topic, the state they lived in, or browse the History Makers by name. This database is available through the Statewide Library Electronic Doorway (SLED).

We love looking through the Library of Congress collection of photographs. There are some really incredible images there! There are also primary documents that you can explore. While items can be searched, they’re also often grouped in thematic categories. You can explore the African American History section here.

If you want to explore contemporary stories of Black Alaskans, Black in Alaska is a wonderful photo and interview project featuring individuals from around the state.

Also locally focused, the book Black Lives in Alaska by UAA Professor Dr. Ian Hartman explores the historical legacy of Black Alaskans which spans before statehood. This is the second of Dr. Hartman’s book. You can find it here at the Consortium Library or at your local public library branch.

A couple of other highlights in our collection include Black Art: A Cultural History, which explores the artistic achievements of the African diaspora throughout history and it has been updated to include the first two decades of the twenty-first century; and America on Fire: the untold history of police violence and Black rebellion since the 1960s, which examines the history of policing and protest from the civil rights era to today.

These resources just scratch the surface! We hope you continue to explore Black history all year round and reach out to us if you need any help finding particular resources!

From time to time, the Statewide Library Electronic Doorway (SLED) does trials of new databases, giving you access to fantastic resources and information. Some of these trials are expiring on June 30th – be sure to check them out before they’re gone!

Access all databases through the SLED website, here: https://lam.alaska.gov/databases/a_z

Here’s a list of the trials expiring at the end of June:

• Access Video on Demand
• African-American History
• American History
• American Indian History
• Ancient & Medieval History
• Bloom’s Literature
• Issues & Controversies
• Mailbox School & District Edition
• Mid/High School eBook Subscription Collection
• Modern World History
• Polling the Nations
• Science Online
• Source Reference
• Today’s Science
• World Almanac
• World Almanac for Kids
• World Almanac for Kids Elementary
• World News Digest
• Writer’s Reference Center

These trials will expire at the end of August:

• Audio Book Cloud
• Romance Book Cloud
• Teen Book Cloud
• Tumble Math

Did you know that the library has lots of useful guides that can help with your research at home?

These guides cover all kinds of topics, including how-tos (e.g. how to choose keywords for your search) and guides on doing research in a particular subject area (e.g. chemistry).

The subject guides are a great starting point if you’re just starting on your research and need to get pointed in the right direction. Subject guides will identify databases that include publications in your subject, link to other guides that might be helpful, and include the contact information for the librarian who is an expert in your subject.

If you ever find that you need a little more help, you can use that contact information on the subject guide page to get in touch with that subject’s librarian to make an appointment (a great option if you’re doing an in-depth project) or you can reach out to one of our virtual reference librarians with your question by email, text, chat, or phone – more info here!

As always, if you have questions about access to the library and what services are available, you can find up-to-date information at our Library Services: COVID-19 guide.

Have you heard of SLED? It stands for the Statewide Library Electronic Doorway and houses some amazing information resources for all Alaskans to access and use! If you haven’t already, we encourage you to take a look at some of the great resources they have available here: https://lam.alaska.gov/sled.

A few new resources have been added for access through the summer, including Audio Book Cloud, eBook Public Library Collection, and Business Source Ultimate. You can also find resources like Learning Express, which provides test preparation and study materials on a variety of topics. Access them here: https://lam.alaska.gov/databases/a_z

Don’t forget that if you need any help finding information or resources, the Reference Librarians are still here to help – virtually! Check out our previous post for ways to contact us.

We hope you’re getting some rest during Spring Break, but if you’re working on projects or papers this week, the Research Help Desk is still here to help! We are open every day this week except Friday. You can always check the open hours of the library, the Research Help Desk and other departments here: https://libcal.consortiumlibrary.org/hours/

Working on assignments from home? No problem – you can contact us by email, phone, text, or chat! Find more information on our Ask Us page here: https://ask.consortiumlibrary.org/

If you’re doing research off-campus, don’t forget to log in for off-campus access to ensure you’re able to access all the articles and databases we are subscribed to. Log in from the homepage using your UA login.

Happy Spring Break!