Student Equity, Excellence, and Diversity

Digitizing Hawaiian Language Newspapers to Promote
Wider Use via the World Wide Web

Summary of Accomplishments

Complete microfilmed holdings of six newspapers were scanned in entirety. They are Ka Hoku o ka Pakipika, Ke Au Hou, Ka Manawa, Ka Lama,Ka Lei Momi, Ka Lanakila. Over 3,800 scans were made from newspaper pages.

Twenty-two series and articles selected from Hawaiian language newspapers listed above as well as others (Ka Nupepa Kuokoa, Ke Alaula, Ke Au Okoa, Ka Puuhonua o na Hawaii) were printed from microfilm and prepared for scanning.

A web site (http://libweb.hawaii.edu/) was established on the server at the UH Mänoa School of Library and Information Studies. A hard drive purchased with this grant expanded the capacity of this server to enable the storage of indexing files and images in web-accessible graphic format. A sampling of images has been loaded on the web, to demonstrate different methods of displaying and accessing the images, and to illustrate the problems and challenges encountered during the scanning and processing.

The web site was demonstrated to a Hawaiian language class and to a Hawaiian Studies class.

The following activities were proposed. Each item is followed by a statement of accomplishment or progress.

1. Identify source of print master microfilm and purchase if needed, to provide a clean copy from which to scan.
   Twelve new rolls of microfilm were purchased for scanning. As a point of comparison, public use rolls of some titles were also scanned. Quality of scanned images were compared.
2. Rent use of Minolta Microdax 3000 digital microfilm workstation to scan microfilm to digital format.
   The cost of the equipment if it were purchased (over $15,000) necessitated rental. In addition the innovative nature of the project required a cautious approach to making expensive and final decisions about equipment. Communication with colleagues involved in experimental projects such as this reinforced the sense that our efforts involved pioneering uses of technology. One hundred hours of use was rented and fully utilized. Procedures were written; a sample is attached to this report.
3. Hire and train students to scan and optically enhance images and conduct preliminary-level indexing.
   Two undergraduate students assistants were hired, one from UH Mänoa and one from Honolulu Community College. A graduate student in the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) participated as an intern, for a directed studies course. Third-year or greater reading ability in the Hawaiian language, while not required, would have eased the process of enhancing images and locating specific stories on the microfilm. Optical enhancement software was purchased and tested on the images. Rudimentary indexing was created as web links were put in place. A second graduate student intern from SLIS has begun to digitize the articles photocopied from the microfilm.
4. Purchase additional hard drive to expand School of Library and Information Studies web server.
   Completed.
5. Investigate or develop form to search index files.
   A simple form to keyword search files is included on the main project web page.
6. Link to appropriate library and Hawaiian resources on the web.
   Project is not sufficiently represented online; it will be listed on appropriate library web pages when it is more fully online.
7. Develop form to survey usage information.
   Development of an e-mail survey is part of the fall SLIS digitizing intern's project

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