Friday, August 14, 2009

Alaska State Flag colors

Question: What are Pantone colors, and what do they have to do with the Alaska State Flag?

“Pantone” is a trademark of Pantone, Inc., and refers to the Pantone Matching System used in commercial color printing and has now expanding out to web design, textiles, paint, and plastics. Pantone colors help maintain standardization of color schemes, keeping colors consistent print after print.

The Pantone colors for the Alaska State Flag are OG blue pms 2768 and Spanish yellow pms 1235. Alaska State Statute Sec. 44.09.020 describes the colors as “The stars shall be the color of natural yellow gold and the field of blue shall be of the same shade of blue used in the official manufacture of the national emblem of the United States.”


Below is the exact layout of our flag, as specified by Alaska Statute.

Finding Historical Fiction

Question: Can you recommend some good historical fiction based in Alaska?

Answer: We have created a list on WorldCat called Alaska Historical Fiction at http://www.worldcat.org/profiles/akstatelibrary/lists/934781. Click on any title for a list of libraries holding that item, or to explore other works by the same author or subject. This list was created by reviewing books listed on the former Alaska State Library Historical Collection publication Some books about Alaska, which was web posted from 1994 to 2000. Some books about Alaska listed both fiction and non-fiction books and all were reviewed by at least one librarian.

If you are interested in historical fiction, but don't want to be limited to Alaska, check out the other historical fiction lists on WorldCat. The State Library is not endorsing these lists, just offering links for information.

Another great source for finding Alaskana is NoveList, a database that allows you to search for novels based on various criteria, including location. Entering "Alaska historical fiction" in the search box brings up over 100 results. NoveList is available through the Alaska State Library for all Alaskans or through local libraries around the world.

Friday, August 7, 2009

Need to Mend a Fishing Net?

Question: I am looking for fishnet mending techniques. Is there a source on the internet for this type of information?

Answer: The National Sea Grant Library’s searchable database of Sea Grant-funded documents includes resources on fishing net repair. Information about the database is available at http://nsgd.gso.uri.edu/. You can search the database at https://eos.ucs.uri.edu/EOSWebOPAC/OPAC/Index.aspx. A search for the terms "net mending" retrieves three documents. Two are available in PDF format. These include: (1) Hillier, A. J., & Recksiek, C. W. (1982). Introduction to net mending. [Kingston, R.I.]: University of Rhode Island (described in WorldCat.org at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/9674341); and (2) Lorimer, P. D., & Sea Grant. (1976). Net mending and patching. Pacific Sea Grant Advisory Program, PASGAP 9. [Corvallis]: Oregon State University Extension Service, Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program (described in WorldCat.org at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/4157254). See http://nsgl.gso.uri.edu/ordering/ for ordering information for the third document, which is a 1989 revision of Lorimer's 1976 document titled "Net Mending and Patching" (described in WorldCat.org at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/47702996).