Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 11, 1 November 2011 — ʻlke Kūʻokoʻa— Liberating Knowledge [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ʻlke Kūʻokoʻa— Liberating Knowledge

Hawaiian newspaper text production set to begin

By Puakea Nogelmeier and Kau'i Sai-Dudoit More than 125,000 pages of Hawaiian-language newspapers were printed from 1834 tol948. They equal a million or more typescript pages of text - perhaps the largest native-language eaehe in the western world. They heeame an intentional repository of knowledge, opinion and historical progress as Hawai'i moved through kingdom, constitutional monarchy, republic, territory, and statehood yet only 2 percent of that repository has been integrated into our English-speak-ing world today. There are 75,000 of the newspaper pages available as digital images, 15,000 of whieh have been typed word-for-word to heeome searchable typescript, but 60,000 pages remain unsearchable . For a decade we have used trained operators to assure good quality searchable text. The 15,000 pages done this way showed the world the importance of this resource, but funding has continually dwindled. A major change has to happen if the work is to be completed, as it must be. Two options are now proposed: 1. Export the work, 60,000 pages, to Cambodia to be typed at 80 cents per page. Cost: less than $50,000 Time frame: six months to one year 2. Mount a huge community volunteer program to type it into searchable text. Cost: Organizational funds and about 200,000 volunteer hours Time frame: eight months and three days Exporting the work to Cambodia or anywhere else is a straightforward business proposition, generates good framing for the data, is currently used by huge digital-text projects like Chronicling America, and has been tested for the Hawaiian papers in the past. The production rate is reliable, while accuracy fluctuates from gibberish to usable. It's always been looked at as a eheap and lower-quality alternative, but resisted out of a sense of loss about using elsewliere to handle Hawaiian legacy material. Mounting a locally-based volunteer drive would be a massive effort - thousands of volunteers and a central hub to generate volunteer commitment and guide the production. It has been tested here, and is both reliable and accurate. The cost is higher than exporting the work, the time frame could be similar, and the effort invested would be daunting. Avoiding foreign production will allow the Hawaiian community to invest and make a Hawai'i-centered kuleana in the product, Ten years of opening up the massive Hawaiian-language repository has accomplished only a fraction of the work, but it has already changed everyone's view of Hawaiians

and island history. Without the 1 million or more pages worth of newspaper material that Hawaiians generated for themselves and their descendants, the de-fuzzing of the past ean never happen. If that entire eaehe ean be made accessible, through a Hawai'i-centered initiative, it will engage thousands, introducing everyone to a body of Hawaiian knowledge that's been beyond reach for a century. The undertaking would be a huge effort - 3,000 volunteers engaged for eight months or more. The outcomes would be even larger: » Complete searchable access to the entire span of existing newspapers by potential users. » Widespread familiarity with the important role of newspapers in historical knowledge. » Personal and collective investment in the resource, and in an important historical effort. » Empowerment of Hawaiians and all who support Hawaiian people, culture and history. » Recognitionof Lā Kū'oko'a (Independence Day) and Lā Ho'iho'i Ea (Restoration Day). » A solid foundation for other steps in rearticulating historical knowledge, i.e. research, data assembly, translation, publications, scholarship, language continuity, cultural grounding. » Nation-building that extends beyond race and plaee, connecting Hawai'i's people everywhere. To mount the volunteer campaign, outreach must begin as soon as possible, with far-reaching media and personal presentations in preparation for a launeh on Lā Kū'oko'a, Nov. 28, 2011, and aiming for closure in time for Lā Ho'iho'i Ea, July 31, 2012. The project will be generated

and managed by a hub consisting of two parts: Outreach and File Center. Outreach will coordinate all puhlie relations efforts, training and communications. File Center staff will manage image and text files and maintain the ongoing production. Volunteers commit to 10 hours per month - perhaps three pages of typing - for the eight-month span, or whatever eaeh ean do. Volunteers will reserve a page on the web site and receive that full-page original image and a hlank text file. They will then type directly on to the text file exactly what's on the original. No knowledge of Hawaiian is necessary, but good eyes help. The work is not exciting, but the project is! The web site (awaiaulu.org) will allow volunteers to choose and reserve a page for typing, provide the hlank text file with the appropriate page data, and submit their finished typescripts. By Nov. 28, 2012, the entire eaehe will heeome available

and searchable online - Celebrate! Many have invested themselves in the Hawaiian newspapers and many more understand the role of these newspapers in illuminating Hawai'i's history andknowledge. Laek of funding does not have to be an obstacle - it ean be a stimulus! If we take this up with full engagement, the entire body of available newspapers will be word searchable, and freely usable by all, next summer. If volunteer forces cannot reach the goals, production ean always be sent to Cambodia. ■ Puakea Nogelmeier is a Professor of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawai'i-Mānoa and is the Executive Director ofAwaiaulu. Kau 'i Sai-Dudoit has been the Project Manager of Ho 'olaupa 'i: Hawaiian Language Newspaper Project since 2002.

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K3 How to volunteer

Registration is ongoing at awaiaulu.org Launeh: Lā Kū'oko'a

<KEAUIHALA v www.oha.org/kwo | kwo@OHA.org FR0MTHEARCHIVES / NATiVE HAWAiiAN » NEWS | FEATURES | EVENTS

BEF0RE An original will appear like this article, elippeel from a page:

AFTER And the typescript will look like thiS: