Friday, May 28, 2010

Finding Congressional activity

Question: How do I find what occurred in the US Congress on September 11, 2001?

Answer: One method is to use Thomas from the Library of Congress. Click on:
  1. "Congressional Record", currently on the left hand side of the page, then
  2. "Browse Daily Issues", currently to the right of "Search the Congressional Record", then
  3. "107" for the daily listing of the 107th Congress. We know that this is the correct Congress because the years 2001-2002 are listed at the top.
You will find September 11, 2001, towards the bottom of the page with links to the floor activity in the House, extensions on remarks made in congress, and a digest summary of the day's activities. There doesn't seem to have been any floor activity in the Senate on that day, but if there were, that would have been listed too.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Question: What was the population of Aniak in 1950? What was the population of Juneau in 1960?

Answer: Alaska's Department of Labor and Workforce Development offers some U.S. Census reports and data for Alaska for 1900 through 1990 at http://labor.alaska.gov/research/census/cenhist.htm. Here is a direct link to the 1960 report, which includes some of the 1950 data as well: http://labor.alaska.gov/research/census/histpdfs/1960ak.pdf. Table 8 lists cities and towns in alphabetical order, and there, you fill find 1950 and 1960 population data for Aniak and Juneau. More recent data is available from the U.S. Census Bureau's web site. Try using the population finder at http://www.census.gov/population/www/.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Finding Old Alaska USGS Reports

Question: Where would I find a copy of Marcus Baker's Geographic Dictionary of Alaska? I think it was published in the early 1900s by the US Geological Survey.

Answer: While this dictionary is available in paper at a number of libraries, including ours, thanks to the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, you can also find this report online at http://www.dggs.alaska.gov/pubs/pubs?reqtype=citation&ID=3362. This is one of many historic USGS reports that have been digitized by the Division. You can search or browse for more of this historic material at http://www.dggs.alaska.gov/index.php?menu_link=publications&link=publications_search.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Contacting Social Security

Question: How can I locate the nearest Social Security Office?

Answer: Visit the Social Security Administration website at http://www.ssa.gov and go to Contact Us, then Find an Office. Then type in your zip code. You will be given one or more offices near you. Each office entry has local and toll free phone numbers, along with the office address and a map showing the area near the office.