About us
Mission statement
Archives and Special Collections at the Consortium Library acquires, preserves, and makes available to students, faculty, and the public unpublished documents, photographs, and information stored in non-print media. In addition to supporting the several educational and research missions of the University, it performs a special service mission as community conservator of the papers and records of persons, families, organizations, associations, and businesses. Archives and Special Collections collects papers and records relating to the history of Alaska and the northwest Pacific area.
Our collections
Special Collections: Papers, photographs, moving images, audio, and other types of documentation from individuals, organizations, and businesses. These cover a wide variety of subjects: history, medicine, anthropology, public policy, social sciences, humanities, scientific, engineering, and so forth. These collections are listed alphabetically in the collections list and Archives reference personnel will be happy to assist you with identifying collections that relate to your research topic.
University records: Official publications and permanent and historical records of UAA, ACC, APU, and predecessor agencies. These include student newspapers, Chancellor’s office records, University Advancement photographs, and a variety of records from individual colleges and university offices. Some of these collections are listed on the university records section of the site, but not all. The Archives Reference Desk will be happy to assist you with locating university records not on the site’s listing.
Rare Books and University Theses: Archives and Special Collections also provides access to the Consortium Library’s Rare Books collection and copies of most master’s theses submitted to both UAA and APU. All of the books in Rare Books and the Theses collection are listed in the Consortium Library catalog.
Support the Archives
Donating collections: If you have your own papers, photographs, or other documentary materials, or organizational papers that you’d like to give to the Archives to make them available for researchers, or if you’d like to know the types of materials we collect and preserve, please contact the department for more information.
Financial support of Archives: You can donate online to the Archives through the Consortium Library’s giving page (select Archives and Special Collections support under “Designation”). If you’re thinking of leaving us an estate bequest, please contact us and we and the University Foundation can work with you to provide appropriate wording for your legal documents.
Are you interested in volunteering? Archives and Special Collections has a variety of volunteer opportunities, depending on your interest. Digitizing (scanning) documents and photographs, transcribing hand-written diaries and letters, sorting and describing collections, helping us develop exhibits. We can provide training. Please contact the department for more information.