(ANLAMS) Alaska Native Libraries, Archives, and Museums Summit

This summit was convened at the University of Alaska Consortium Library in April 2011. It was intended for professional and paraprofessional staff members working in Alaska libraries, museums, archives, and cultural centers that serve a significant Alaska Native population or who work with Alaska Native cultural materials. This summit was the result of a focus group of Alaska Native librarians, archivists, and cultural center staff. The Summit offered professional development and training at the paraprofessional and professional levels and was a launching point for a plan to make training in our fields more accessible for cultural heritage agencies throughout Alaska.

The summit featured 5 preconferences:

• AHSRAB: Archival Collection Care and Preservation Training (full day)
• Libraries: Sharing Our Stories and Cultures (full day)
• Libraries: Beyond the Basics of Cultural Collections and Programs (full day)
• Museums: Disaster Preparedness Planning for Small Institutions (full day)
• Storage Mount Making at the Anchorage Museum (half day).

Daily Summit keynoters included Willie Hensley, former legislator and chair of First Alaskans Institute; Sven Haakanson, Jr., then of the Alutiiq Museum and Archaeological Repository, Kodiak; Loriene Roy, University of Texas Austin and first Native American president of the American Library Association; David George-Shongo, Jr., Seneca Nation Archivist; Cheryl Metoyer, University of Washington, iSchool; Joan Kane, award-winning Alaskan poet; Jill Norwood, Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian; and Paul Ongtooguk, University of Alaska Anchorage. The 45 conference sessions followed these tracks: grants and grantwriting, archives, museums, libraries, and Alaska Native languages.

The Summit was followed by four smaller workshops over the next two years:

• Museum Boot Camp conducted by Scott Carrlee, Alaska State Museum, Feb. 2012, Anchorage
• Archives Basics arranged by Dean Dawson, Alaska State Archives, in collaboration with the Alaska State Historical Records Advisory Board, May 2012, Anchorage
• Culturally Responsive Libraries Workshop organized by Sue Sherif, Linda Wynne, and Jacque Peterson, Alaska State Library in cooperation with the Alaska Library Association, May 2013, Anchorage,
• Library of Congress Digital Preservation Train the Trainer Workshop conducted by the Library of Congress and organized by the Elmer Rasmuson Library of the University of Alaska, August 2013, Fairbanks.

For more information, contact: Sue.Sherif@alaska.gov

Major funding provided by: