Identification and Comparison of Gray Literature in Two Polar Libraries: Australian Antarctic Division and Scott Polar Research Institute

Gray literature collections were investigated and compared at the libraries of the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) and the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) in order to improve accessibility. These collections are important to Arctic and Antarctic researchers, but are problematic because they are not well documented, often have limited access, and are arranged by subject using a classification system specific to polar libraries. Tangible results of the project include estimates of the number of gray literature items in the polar subject categories for the two libraries, along with a template of a user’s finding aid to these collections. In addition, 172 sources from four Antarctic expeditions in the early part of the 20th century were selected as a representative sample; 64 from AAD and 108 from SPRI. While small, the sample was a focused topic with enough variety of materials to provide good examples for accessibility issues. Inquiries are continually received at AAD and SPRI for information related to these four expeditions, so improved access will be beneficial for both researchers and the two institutions. Making the material more available is also very timely, anticipating renewed interest from the public with the approaching centennial celebrations of two of the expeditions coming up in 2010 and 2011. Despite the similar subject nature of the collections, only ten items were duplicated in the two libraries. Solutions for improving access, such as linking the gray literature collections to broader initiatives are addressed in more detail in the final report. Providing the references in a metadata format to include in an online catalog or linked to a website will increase visibility and use of the materials. Suggestions for improving the arrangement of the materials and reducing duplication within the collections are also discussed in the final report available on my blog. http://www.consortiumlibrary.org/blogs/dcarle/sabbatical/Summary / Project Background / Project Methodology Part I / Results Part I / Project Methodology and Results Part II / Discussion and Recommendations / Additional Activities / Additional Accomplishments / Additional Professional Activities / Project Goals Not Completed/ Benefitsof Sabbatical / Conclusion and Acknowledgement

Alaska Resources Library and Information Services: Building Community in the 49th State

The Institute of Museum and Library Services recognized the community-building achievements of an unusual library in Anchorage, Alaska when it bestowed one of three 2001 National Awards for Library Service on the Alaska Resources Library and Information Services (ARLIS). This award, the highest in the nation, is given to libraries that “demonstrate a core commitment to public service through innovative programs and active partnerships that address the urgent and changing needs within the communities they serve.”Ye

Alaska Resources Library and Information Services: Pioneering Partnerships on the Last Frontier

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Science and Technology Libraries on September 2008, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/ 10.1300/J122v24n01_08Five federal agencies, one state agency, one state-federal entity, and one university combined their library resources to create the Alaska Resources Library and Information Services (ARLIS), which opened in Anchorage in 1997. This new library focuses on Alaska’s natural and cultural resources, and serves agency personnel, university faculty and students, and local and international researchers from the public and private sectors. Funded by its parent agencies and collectively directed by a team of six librarians, ARLIS is recognized for its unique and innovative structure, one-of-a-kind collections, and quality in-depth service.Ye

The University of Alaska Anchorage experience

In the fall 2005, when two faculty librarians at the University of Alaska Anchorage’s (UAA) Consortium Library realized that three people on the library staff were enrolled in library school, they saw the perfect opportunity to start a discussion group that would benefit both currently employed librarians and students entering the information field. The original three students were enrolled in the MLIS distance program at the University of Washington, working in the Consortium Library, and taking classes part-time. The two faculty librarians had been out of library school for more than ten years by then, so the intent was to organize a forum with an informal, relaxed atmosphere that would be an engaging way to keep up with current curricula, to learn about class projects the students were working on, and to hear about their experiences. While the librarians learned from the students, the students could, in turn, share their new expertise with the library faculty. That was the beginning of what came to be known as FLIP: Future Library and Information Science People.1 Now, nearly seven years later, FLIP is still going strong. What the name stands for has changed slightly—to Future Librarians and Information Professionals—and the membership has expanded to include anyone considering a career as a librarian or enrolling in an MLS or MLIS program. Characterizing FLIP as a “mentoring” program misses the mark, since so much more than just mentoring is happening. Because the benefits go both ways, we prefer the term “un-mentoring” to describe FLIP. Regardless of its definition or description, however, the original purpose remains the same: to provide an informal discussion forum that enriches library school studies with librarian expertise, advice, and insight

Navigating the information seas: developing the "Resources by Subject" system at the University of Alaska Anchorage's Consortium Library (poster)

pp. 225-22

COMMFISH: all about Alaska's commercial fisheries collections

pp. 3-1

Alaska’s discovery portal : an example of sharing polar information

Alaska’s geographic location places it at the forefront of research activity and information gathering about the Arctic and the changing environment of the Polar Regions. To facilitate sharing such information with the residents of the state, the Alaska Discovery Portal uses an integrated approach to retrieve materials from for-profit publishers, vetted websites, Alaska’s Digital Archives, open access resources such as the University of Alaska’s Institutional Repository, online topical Research Guides, and more. By licensing resources for all Alaska residents, the Discovery Portal can do what Google and other search engines cannot—pass through pay walls put in place by commercial publishers. Using whaling in the Arctic as an example, this presentation will demonstrate the wide variety of formats for different audiences that can be retrieved, and the interdisciplinary nature of those formats. From contemporary to historical, locating scholarly or newspaper articles, or multimedia, photographs, drawings, maps, or web resources in disciplines that span geography, ecology, and anthropology to name just a few, are possible through the Discovery Portal. This unique resource, available to anyone in Alaska with an internet connection from home, school, or library, is helping to bridge the digital information gap across the state. The cooperative efforts that created and developed Alaska’s Discovery Portal, how it is maintained and by whom, both financially and in terms of ongoing input of materials, along with suggestions for implementing a similar network in other locations will be discussed.publishedVersio

Blazing Trails Through an Untamed Wilderness: Improving Your Library's Self-Guided Help

Libraries provide self-guided help on their websites through FAQs, guides, and tutorials. This content, often created to meet immediate needs and located on multiple webpages, can become an untamed wilderness over time. A group of librarians at the University of Alaska Anchorage took a holistic approach to reflect on, re-envision, and renew our library’s online self-guided help in order to provide students with a more navigable path to research success. This group includes an instructional design librarian and four subject specialist librarians who have responsibility for a significant amount of library instruction, LibGuides, and other tutorials. When we realized the scope of the changes and the extent of the content we needed to edit and create, the project felt overwhelming, but by sharing our experience, we hope to empower others to blaze a trail to improve their own self-guided help. This paper will describe our project and process, lessons learned, and resulting impacts

Papers, posters, and keynote presented at the 26th Polar Libraries Colloquy, hosted by the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA 10 – 15 July 2016

Published July 2023 by the University of Alaska Anchorage, UAA/APU Consortium Library, and edited by Daria O. Carle. Copyright in individual papers is held by the contributors. A digital copy of this publication can be found at https://polarlibraries.org/colloquy-proceedings/ and in ScholarWorks, the University of Alaska’s Institutional Repository, https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/. A copy of the 2016 Colloquy program is also available at https://polarlibraries.org/colloquy-proceedings/. Further information on the Polar Libraries Colloquy, including details of membership and upcoming conferences, is available at https://polarlibraries.orgHistory of Polar Information Science / Working in Antarctica: Mapping a Changing Experience through the British Antarctic Survey / Géoindex+: A Geospatial Platform for Northern Historical and Research Data / Establishing Criteria for the Development of the “Northern Collection” at Université Laval’s Library: An Exploratory Approach / Introducing Two New Reserach Platforms: seaiceportal.de and expedition.awi.de (abstract only) / Establishing a Digital Library Service for the Inuvialuit Settlement Region / Changing Patterns of Polar Research / Mapping the Rescue of an Archive / Byrd 1933: Films from the Discovery Lecture Series / History of the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library and Its Rare Books Collection / A Roadmap to Navigate the Range of Polar Libraries, Databases, and Archives Now Available Online / Mapping Change with Finna in an Arctic Research Joint Library (paper not listed in program) / Mapping Chang in a Small Library Environment: From Reading Room to Communications Center (abstract only) / The Continued Evolution of the Cold Regions Bibliography Project: Current Status of the Antarctic Bibliography and the Antarctic Journal of the United States and its Predecessors / Connect the North: The Arctic Connect Project / Languages and Dialects in the Digital Library North (abstract only) / Bridging Arctic Indigenous Knowledge with the Digital World: Sharing Indigenous Ways of Knowing in Partnership with Arctic Communities (abstract only) / The Canadian Consortium for Arctic Data Interoperability (abstract and poster