In addition to celebrating Arctic Council’s 20th anniversary in 2016, the U.S. is now in its second year chairing this high-level circumpolar forum for political discussions on common issues to the governments of the Arctic States and its inhabitants.  The U.S. chairmanship theme, One Arctic: Shared Opportunities, Challenges & Responsibilities reflects the U.S. commitment, with international cooperation, to protect the marine environment, conserve Arctic biodiversity, improve conditions in Arctic communities, and address the rapidly changing climate in the Arctic.

UAA’s very own former Chancellor, Fran Ulmer, is a member of the U.S. Chairmanship team where she serves as Special Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State on Arctic Science and Policy.

Canada, Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Russian Federation, and the U.S. comprise the Council’s eight member Arctic States.  In addition, six Permanent Participants, organizations that represent Indigenous Peoples, are also members.  The chairmanship of the Arctic Council rotates every two years among the Arctic States; in 2015, the U.S. took over the two-year Chairmanship rotation from Canada.

For more information, press releases of the U.S. accomplishments and goals for its chairmanship, and much more, click here.

Are you looking for information about a business or about consumers? Try ReferenceUSA. ReferenceUSA has information about large and small businesses, both public and private. Available consumer information includes income, marital status, age, lifestyle interests, and more. Don’t worry about this database being cut because of budget reductions; you’ll have access to ReferenceUSA through 2019.

Are you aware that you can access Alaskan themed curriculum kits with an environmental education, natural or physical science focus?  Simply come to the UAA/APU Consortium Library with your UAA/APU ID or a Municipality library card, walk into ARLIS (Alaska Resources and Library Information Services) located on the first floor and you will be able to access a myriad of materials that will enhance your curriculum and provide sensory opportunities for students in K-12.  For more information click here.

NoveList is a reader’s advisory database that the Consortium Library subscribes to. If you are looking for summer reading material, it’s a great place to browse. Some of the nice features of this resource include searching by genre or by age group, as well as reading featured articles or finding out about prize winning authors. This database focuses on fiction, so those of you who want the perfect summer escape can find ideas here to satisfy your reading needs. You can find NoveList by going to the Databases link on the Consortium Library website, right under Find Books and Articles. Happy reading!

Well, we can’t help you with your freezer or a ticket, but if you’re looking for information about fish, moose, or ecotourism, ARLIS has you covered with databases you can use right here in the building.  ARLIS is one of UAA’s partner libraries and it subscribes to:

• Fish & Fisheries Worldwide, which is a collection of databases that covers ichthyology, fisheries, and related aspects of aquaculture
• Wildlife & Ecology Studies Worldwide is the world’s largest index to wildlife literature including management, habitat, behavior, economics, diseases, ecotourism, and much more

Both databases can be used on the ARLIS library computers Monday–Friday (8–5). An ARLIS reference librarian will be happy to help if you need assistance. Clicking on the links above will give you a bit more information about the databases, but remember that to search them you’ll need to use the ARLIS computers in person.