North to Alaska

The announcement of Sarah Palin as McCain's VP pick was a surprise to many, and it wouldn't taking sides to say that it was a surprise partly because many of us know very little about Alaska. Actually, how many of us could name the governors of states adjacent to our own? Or know much about their history and culture? Alaska may have the 2,000 mile Iron Dog snowmobile race, but every state has its own distinctive culture.

Googling the name of the state and the word tourism would give you some current information of course. Through the library web page you could get much more, history, geography, politics etc.

For example, in our print reference collection you might find the Almanac of American Politics, which has a nice several page biography on each governor, as well as general information about the states. We also have the Book of the States, a series that gives a great deal of factual and statistical information on the various states.

Our article databases would be a rich source of information from journals, newspapers and magazines.

A personal favorite of this blogger are the 1930s American Guide Series books, one for each state. We don't have all of them, but we have many, including the one on Alaska. While obviously dated, these titles give the history, geography etc. in a unique sort of way.

(PIctured here: racers in the 2007 Iron Dog race.)