Guide to the Social Transitions in the North project records
circa 1989-1995
Collection number: HMC-0692.
Creator: Social Research Institute (Anchorage, Alaska).
Title: Social Transitions in the North project records
Dates: circa 1989-1995.
Volume of collection: 1.7 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Collection materials are in English.
Collection summary: The records of a grant-funded sociological data collection project.
Organizational history:
Social Transitions in the North (STN) was a project funded by the National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs, and sponsored by the Social Research Institute in Anchorage. The purpose of the project was to investigate sociological questions relating to demographic, epidemiologic, and domestic transition in a sample of Alaskan and Russian Far Eastern communities. Results of the investigation were to form a basis for international collaboration in areas of native health and rapid social change. The research team consisted of principal investigator Steven L. McNabb, co-principal investigators Aleksandr I. Pika and William W. Richards, W. Penn Handwerker, and Richard G. Condon. On September 7, 1995, during the fourth and final year of the project, an accident claimed the lives of fourteen people, including McNabb, Richards, Condon, and Pika.
Collection description:
The collection contains project members’ notes, reports, correspondence, and statistical documents and data.
Arrangement: The collection is arranged by subject.
Digitized copies: This collection has not been digitized. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Rights note: Materials in the collection may be subject to copyright not held by Archives and Special Collections.
Preferred citation: Social Transitions in the North project records, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Separated materials: The research data produced under this project is held by the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies (ICHS) at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Published material has been separated from the collection and some added to the Consortium Library’s collections. Please search the Library catalog for these materials.
Related materials: Archives also holds the records of William W. Richards, who was a participant in the project: William W. Richards papers, HMC-0693.
Custodial history: The project records were presented to ICHS by Marrianne McNabb and Maribeth Richards. Transfer agreements were signed by both McNabb and Richards in 2002.
Acquisition note: The collection was transferred from ICHS to Archives in 2004 and a transfer agreement was signed by Brian Saylor, Director of ICHS.
Processing information: This collection was initially arranged and described by Susan Means in 2004. Further description was provided by Jeffrey Sinnott in 2004. The collection guide was reformatted to current standards by Veronica Denison in 2015. Published materials and grant related files were removed at that time. Collection materials relating to the arrangement and descriptive history of the collection as well as the transfer of the collection were removed to Archives’ administrative files. Original folder titles have been retained.
| Box/Folder | Description |
| 1/1 | Project Team Meeting Agendas, Notes, Work Plans, Goals & Objectives, & Other Communications |
| 1/2 | Research Protocols and Related Documents |
| 1/3 | Genealogies / Genograms |
| 1/4 | Correspondence – Miscellaneous |
| 1/5 | Emails from Steven McNabb |
| 1/6 | Emails to Steven McNabb |
| 1/7 | Emails from Bill Richards to Steven McNabb |
| 1/8 | Emails from Alexander Pika to Steven McNabb |
| 1/9 | Emails from Richard G. (Rick) Condon, W. Penn Handwerker, and H. Russell (Russ) Bernard |
| 1/10-12 | Field Notebooks |
| 1/13 | Workbook Reports, 1-8 |
| 1/14-2/2 | Statistical Documents & Data |
| 2/3 | Alaska Native Science Commission – Cross-Tabulation Reports (Draft) and Data Entry Notes |
| 2/4-8 | Alaska Native Science Commission – Cross-Tabulation Tables, Data Dictionary, Descriptive Statistics, and Frequency Tables |