Digitization and Dissemination of Technically Problematic KUAC-FM Radio (Alaska) Programs (1979-1997)

Digitization and Dissemination of Technically Problematic KUAC-FM Radio (Alaska) Programs (1979-1997)

One hundred and twenty-six hours from the nearly 950 open-reel audio tapes from the KUAC FM Audiotapes Collection held in the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives at the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), have been selected to be digitized by the Northeast Document Conservation Center using their high-touch, high-quality technical approach. The digital recordings will be available through the UAF Library Catalog via WorldCat for anyone with an Internet connection. The collection will be of interest to historians, scientists and researchers around the globe. Topics of national and international significance include Arctic policy, global warming, effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, whaling, dog mushing, interviews with well-known Alaska Native leaders and programs about youth, racism and women in the political process, just to name a few.

Approximately 126 hours, recorded on 10.5” and 7” open reel audio tapes, have been selected from the nearly 950 recordings composing the KUAC FM Audiotapes Collection held in the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives (APRCA) at the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). KUAC-FM was the first public radio station in Alaska, signing on the air in 1962 and established to give interior Alaskans access to the same programming and opportunities as other Americans. Connecting Alaska to the world was a challenge for broadcasters then, and remained so through the 20th century. Sample materials were selected from the following subseries; further details are supplied on attached spreadsheet. Chinook - 1 recording; Conversations with Susan McInnis/Sunday at Noon - 83 recordings; Fairbanks Arts Review - 10 recordings; Homefires - 10 recordings; I Didn’t Know That - 6 recordings; Northern Storyteller - 5 recordings; Straight Talk - 11 recordings; Unnumbered Audio Tapes - 7 recordings. The collection consists of 18 subseries of radio programs recorded by KUAC-FM from approximately 1979 to 1997. The recordings were transferred to APRCA at an unknown date(s). Recordings were officially assigned to the Oral History Collection in July 2015, and temporary “AAA” numbers are being replaced with new oral history accession numbers. Recordings are currently filed in subseries order. A complete list of the recordings was created between 2013 - 2015. From July 2015 to June 2016 a grant-funded employee digitized the Newsmaster subseries (approx. 63 recordings) and the Northern Storyteller subseries (approximately 95 recordings), cataloging the recordings into WorldCat and linking many of the library records to URLs.

Recordings at Risk

2017

126 recorded hours

University of Alaska Fairbanks

University of Alaska Fairbanks

25948421

Open-reel audio tape 126 hours, recorded on 10.5” and 7” open reel audio tapes 126 hours

Ms Leslie McCartney

$24,690

True