Rasmuson Library Research Articles

Collection Condition Assessment in a Midsized Academic Library

ABSTRACTIn 2014, Rasmuson Library at the University of Alaska Fairbanks conducted its first collection condition survey. The institutionally significant Alaska Collection was chosen as a manageable project. Research design based on the literature review led the researcher to conduct two surveys: one examining the entire collection and one looking at only those books most recently circulated. The combined surveys revealed that the circulating books are much more badly damaged that the books in the collection that do not circulate, across a variety of attributes.

Starting a Book Repair Program From Scratch: The Book Repair Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Rasmuson Library

Rasmuson Library at the University of Alaska Fairbanks is the premier research library in the interior region of Alaska. Despite collections of historical significance, book repair has been performed by student employees with little to no training, which has resulted in the generous use of transparent adhesive tape. This resulted in more damage to the books than if nothing had been done at all. In 2012, a book repair program was established. With little training, less money, and few tools, the burgeoning book repair program was still able to save the library considerable amounts of money by repairing books that might otherwise have been thrown away and repurchased.

Beyond “Classroom” Technology: The Equipment Circulation Program at Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks

SUMMARY The library at the University of Alaska Fairbanks offers a unique equipment lending program through its Circulation Desk. The program features a wide array of equipment types, generous circulation policies, and unrestricted borrowing, enabling students, staff, and faculty to experiment with the latest in audio, video, and computer technologies, for both academic and personal enrichment projects. The program enjoys great popularity and significant financial support by the University. The results of a recently conducted online patron survey demonstrate the need for continued support and further development of the equipment lending program.

Going the Extra Mile: Supporting Distance Education at University of Alaska Fairbanks

ABSTRACT The Elmer E. Rasmuson Library at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has a long history of supporting distance education through state-of-the-art, remote access services. Harsh climate conditions (heavy snowfall and icing, high winds, and extreme temperatures), rugged terrain, limited road and telephone systems, and permafrost that prevents the installation of communications networks, all contribute to the challenge of delivering distance education. This article describes and explains the library's services while discussing the challenges of providing information access to a diverse student population living in an area covering over 500,000 square miles.

The Half-Million-Square-Miles Campus

A database that tracked information requests from University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) distance students using the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library's Off-Campus Services (OCS) indicated that, beginning in 2001, students became more self-reliant searchers. Reasons for this trend included: increased number of licensed online resources from which to choose; improved Internet connectivity for remote Alaskan communities; increased familiarity with e-mail and online searching; increased options for delivering material; and ongoing user education via the OCS office. As both UAF on-campus and distance students become more reliant on the library's online resources, services to both groups have begun to overlap and have become similar.

With a Dauntless Spirit: Alaska Nursing in Dog-Team Days

With a Dauntless Spirit: Alaska Nursing in Dog-Team Days Edited by Effie Graham, Jackie Pflaum, and Elfrida Nord (Fairbanks AK: University of Alaska Press, 2003) (345 pages; $45.99 cloth; $21.95 paper) Imagine being a public health nurse having to travel for day upon day by dogsled, sleeping out in the open rain without shelter or in a hole in the snow with only a tarp for a roof! Imagine living in a remote tundra village and receiving fresh fruit and mail only four times a year, that is if the provision boat can get through, or being the only health-care provider available during a diphtheria epidemic that affected a whole village! Drawing primarily upon letters and memoirs archived at the University of Alaska's Rasmuson Library, Effie Graham, Jackie Pflaum, and Elfrida Nord wrote With a Dauntless Spirit: Alaska. Nursing in Dog-Team Days to give voice to the personal and professional experiences of six nurses. These nurses traveled to Alaska from more urban areas and worked in the often desolate and remote rural regions of the Alaska Territory from 1907 through 1947. They had little preparation for the professional, emotional, or physical demands they were to encounter. Yet the excerpts from their letters and memoirs demonstrate their resourcefulness and determination to provide nursing care in spite of the climatically induced rigors and the often culturally mediated differences between patients and caregivers. Living and working as a nurse in the Alaska Territory in the early part of the last century was indeed a job only for those with dauntless spirits. The book is divided into eight chapters with an introduction, conclusion, appendix, and selected historical pictures that enhance the reader's understanding of the nurses' stories. The introduction describes the editors' methods for selecting data, the archives from which the authors gleaned data, and information about the nurses. The conclusion expresses the editors' ideas about the themes of the nurses' shared experiences. The appendix is a 1938 version of nursing job descriptions from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The addition of a medical glossary suggests that this book is also intended for an audience beyond the health-care professions. Chapters 1 and 2 summarize the Alaskan social, education, health-care, geographic, political, and cultural contexts within which these nurses practiced and also provide an overview of modern Alaskan history under Russian and later United States control. Each of chapters three through eight is devoted to one of the six nurses and begin with a brief biography. Written in 1956, chapter 3 consists of Lula Welch's short memoir of her experience in a mining camp hospital from 1907 to 1918. Chapter 4 is a collection of letters written between 1922 and 1926 by Augusta Mueller while she served as a nurse in the Barrow Presbyterian Hospital mission. Chapter 5 includes a selection of letters and monthly reports of Stella Louise Fuller, the first Red Cross Delano nurse assigned to Alaska from 1922 to 1924. …

Russian Sources on Aboriginal Alaska

Grewingk’s Geology of Alaska and the Northwest Coast of America: Contributions toward Knowledge of the Orographic and Geognostic Condition of the Northwest Coast of America, with the Adjacent Islands. Rasmuson Library Historical Translation Series Volume 11. By Constantine Grewingk. Translated by Fritz Jaensch. Edited by Marvin W. Falk. (Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2003. 242 pp., index, 3 maps, 7 plates. $24.95 paper.)

Changing Strategies for Information Delivery: Theory into Practice

ABSTRACT Many events over the past decade have jeopardized the library's ability to fulfill its basic mission resulting in a shift of information delivery paradigms. Interlibrary loan, document delivery and resource sharing have become essential rather than peripheral and funding patterns are reflecting this philosophical shift. There is renewed interest in cooperative collection development and multiple options for meshing document delivery with an existing ILL program. Within this environment under a redefined mission statement, the Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks, addresses these shifting paradigms and has implemented a program to meet the information needs of its patrons.

A Critical Analysis and Evaluation of Russian Language Monographic Collections at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks

An assessment of Russian subject and language monographic resources of the Rasmuson Library is reported. Data indicate that cataloged titles number 9,321 and are 42% Russian, 52% English and 5% other languages. Library of Congress categories vary widely in linguistic composition with science, agriculture and technology holdings primarily in Russian. Holdings are broadly spread over the Library of Congress classes, but history, language/ literature, and science include 61% of all titles. Some classes have so few titles as to be insignificant. Non-Russian Slavic holdings amount to only .035% of collections. An additional 6,836 titles are partially processed, and combined with cataloged titles total 16,157. The collections tend to emphasize selected Library of Congress classes; and comparison with several other universities suggests that only holdings about Siberia can compare favorably with these. Statistical evaluation suggests that past acquisitions have been unsystematic and that evident weaknesses can be overcome through selective purchases and exchanges. The procedure and the evaluation criteria used in the case of Rasmuson may have utility for assessment of collections in other libraries.

Computer Technology and Its Impact on Collection Development

An assessment of Russian subject and language monographic resources of the Rasmuson Library is reported. Data indicate that cataloged titles number 9,321 and are 42% Russian, 52% English and 5% other languages. Library of Congress categories vary widely in linguistic composition with science, agriculture and technology holdings primarily in Russian. Holdings are broadly spread over the Library of Congress classes, but history, language/literature, and science include 61% of all titles. Some classes have so few titles as to be insignificant. Non-Russian Slavic holdings amount to only .035% of collections. An additional 6,836 titles are partially processed, and combined with cataloged titles total 16,157. The collections tend to emphasize selected Library of Congress classes; and comparison with several other universities suggests that only holdings about Siberia can compare favorably with these. Statistical evaluation suggests that past acquisitions have been unsystematic and that evident weaknesses can be overcome through selective purchases and exchanges. The procedure and the evaluation criteria used in the case of Rasmuson may have utility for assessment of collections in other libraries.

The newsletters and annual reports of the Alaska Native corporations

Hales is associate professor of l ibrary science at the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library , Univers i ty of Alaska at Fairbanks. When Congress enacted the Alaska Native Claims Sett lement Act (ANCSA) on 18 December 1971, it not only implemented one of the most massive redistr ibutions of land ownership in the history of the Uni ted States, but also created a major agreement be tween the federal government and Nat ive Americans. Along with awarding the Alaska Natives about four mill ion acres of land and a monetary set t lement of $962.5 million, the act stipulated the establ ishment of twelve regional corporations to manage the money, resources, and lands of the Alaska Natives. A th i r teenth corporat ion was later added to take care of Alaska Natives living outside Alaska. A nonprof i t organizat ion was fo rmed to carry out the health, education, housing, employment , and other social programs of each of the thir teen Alaska Nat ive corporat ions. Most of the Nat ive corporat ions or their nonprof i t components present ly publish annual reports and newsletters. The annual reports generally provide overviews of the corporat ion 's activities for the year, f inancial s tatements , and general business activities. While the chief purpose of the newsletters has been to i n fo rm the shareholders of continuing activities and business dealings of the corporations, m a n y contain much more, such as historical articles about the Nat ive groups, their cultures, and leaders. There are also articles treat ing the many social changes of concern to the Nat ive Alaskans. The Nat ive corporat ions are involved in a mult ipl ic i ty of business ventures, in both Alaska and other parts of the world. Al though efforts are present ly being made to amend the Alaska Native Claims Sett lement Act, the law current ly stipulates that as of 18 December 1991, shareholders

The Research Value of Siberia Content Monographs in Polar Collections of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks

This assessment of the Siberia content monographs in polar collections of the Rasmuson Library of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks identifies language holdings and collection strengths, evaluates research potential and compares holdings with selected Pacific Rim libraries. Data indicate that Russian language titles outnumber English titles seven to one and other languages for to one. Two LC classes, science and history, comprise 44% of the holdings, while the four largest classes constitute 60% of the collection. The Siberiana collection can support research in selected subjects: history, anthropology/physical geography, Eskimo linguistics, agriculture, permafrost, and geology. The collection is about half the size of those at the University of Hawaii and Hokkaido University. It contains nearly as many Siberiana titles as do the Slavic ccollections of the University of California, Berkeley, and is a third larger than holdings in the collections of the University of Washington, Seattle, and several ti...