The More Things Changes: 1938 Biofuels

Getting energy from agricultural products might seem like a newfangled idea, but it has a long history as shown by this 1938 USDA publication:

Creator
Jacobs, P. Burke; Newton, Harry P.
 

Title
Motor fuels from farm products
 

Source
Miscellaneous Publication United States Department Agriculture
 

Year
1938
 

Volume_Info
no. 327
 

Pages
129 p.
 

DocID
mp0327
 

Publisher
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture

http://naldr.nal.usda.gov/NALWeb/Agricola_Link.asp?Accession=CAT87206224 
Interestingly, the idea to create fuel from ag products wasn’t born from energy [...]

What’s Your Regiment’s History? Let the Army Tell You

If you’re a army vet or someone else interested in detailed US Army history, check out the US Army Heritage Collection Online at http://www.ahco.army.mil/site/finding_aids_brief.jsp.
As the URL implies, these are a collection of finding aids to articles, books and more about Army history, including the history of individual units. Some of the bibliographies they have include:

Subject [...]

A Feminine Touch for Early Alaska

As part of my review of the geography collection at my library, I recently came across the book, Report on the Operations of the US Revenue Steamer Nunivak, 1899-1901 by Lt. John Cantwell. On page 175 of our edition, there are well intentioned but likely sexist compliments towards the non-Native women of Alaska:
In all of [...]

Japanese Libraries in the 1930s: No Maps for You!

The book North Pacific: Japan Siberia, Alaska, Canada by Edward Weber Allen has an entertaining story of the author’s visits to several libraries in Japan back in the 1930s. The chapter is called “libraries” and appears from pages 232 to 236. One part that struck me was the author’s inability to view maps of Japan [...]

Toughy, Bulldog in the Arctic

Today my review of our geography collection brought me to:
Toughy, bulldog in the Arctic.
by Harold McCracken
Publisher:    Philadelphia, J.B. Lippincott Co. [1948]
Edition:    [1st ed.]
Holding libraries:    http://worldcat.org/oclc/1579336
The book has great, endearing bulldog pictures. According to the book jacket this is the true (or mostly true) story that tells:
When Captain Bob Bartlett and Harold McCracken made their last [...]

Japanese, Russian, Spanish in Alaska

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m reviewing my library’s geography collection and finding some good gems along the way. Here are a few more:
A Japanese glimpse at the outside world, 1839-1843 : the travels of Jirokichi in Hawaii, Siberia, and Alaska : adapted from a translation of Bandan
by Katherine Plummer; Richard A [...]

Snapshots of Alaska Tourism

Tourism has always been a hot issue up here in Alaska and recently I came across a few studies that show we’ve been thinking about our visitors for decades:
Traveler profiles : a study of summer travel to Alaska during 1963 and 1964
by Charles E Hinkson;  Alaska. Dept. of Economic Development and Planning.
http://worldcat.org/oclc/12609029
Gawking at the midnight [...]

Captain Cook and More

Recently I have been reviewing our library’s geography collection. I came across some titles that I thought folks interested in adventure, exploration and cross-culture conflict might find interesting (All links are to WorldCat):
The last voyage of Captain James Cook
by Richard Alexander Hough
Publisher:    New York : Morrow, 1979.
Edition:    1st U.S. ed ISBN:    0688034136 : 9780688034139
Captain Cook’s [...]

CIA Involvement in Guatemala

While researching sources for a church related class I’m teaching during Lent, I came across this resource that might be good for people interested in Latin American History:
CIA FOIA Reading Room - Guatemala
From the web site: “This collection — 5,120 documents (over 14,000 pages) — chronicles CIA involvement in the 1954 coup in Guatemala. These [...]

If You’re in Juneau, Check out WWII

If you’re looking for a fun time on February 1st, why not check this out?

PRESS RELEASE

The Alaska State Library’s Historical Collections is proud to present “Alaska at War!” its latest exhibition of images from their photographic collection.
This exhibit of newly-revealed images witnesses the Alaskan people and places affected by the [...]