Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 21, Number 7, 1 July 2004 — New "electronic library" offers Hawaiian language research tools on the Web [ARTICLE]

New "electronic library" offers Hawaiian language research tools on the Web

By Sterling Kini Wong Kahiau Wallaee used to spend hours at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa's Hamilton Library, searching through Hawaiian language newspapers on microfilm to research reports for her class assignments. But then a classmate told Wallaee was about a way to cut her research time down from hours to minutes by using the keyword search capabilities of the recently launched online Hawaiian eleetronic library www.ulukau.org. Officially launched in March as the result of a partnership between Alu Like ine. and the Hale Kuamo'o Center for Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo, Ulukau is a comprehensive and free Native Hawaiian

library featuring a vast amount of Hawaiian resources and materials, including dictionaries, archival photographs, archival articles and audio presentations by expert speakers. One of the sections of Ulukau, whieh is the first Hawaiian language e-library in the world, enables people to search by keyword through approximately 120,000 news pages taken from 100 separate Hawaiian periodicals published between 1834 and 1948. "It's great, because it minimizes the time looking through articles," says Wallaee, a junior majoring in Hawaiian language and Hawaiian studies. "Just type in what you're looking for, and it pops up." "The founders of this site wanted to move the Hawaiian language into the 21st century through the medium of the Internet," says Robert Stauffer of Alu Like's Hawaiian Legacy Program. "We wanted to increase the accessibility of these incredible collections and materials, many of whieh are being made searchable by word for the See ULUKAU on page 6

'ōLeLo on-Line

ULUKAU from page 1 first time." Ulukau, whose name refers to obtaining interpretative power, is already being touted by its founders as the most popular indigenous language site in the nation. The site, whieh was first created in September 2003, had generated significant interest in the community even before its official launeh, logging 1.8 million hits in six months, purely by word of mouth. "Because of the site's unique contents and easy maneuverability, we fully expect a large number of visits from the general puhlie," says Keola Donaghy, technology coordinator for Hale Kuamo'o. "With the puhlie launeh, we have taken the neeessary steps to ensure that Ulukau is eapahle of handling a large increase in traffic." One of the most convenient aspects of Ulukau is the online Hawaiian dictionary section, whieh contains Pūku'i and Elbert's standard Hawaiian Dictionary, as well as Māmaka Kaiao, a dictionary of contemporary Hawaiian words. "Certainly the most popular part of the new electronic library is the dictionaries site," Donaghy says. "It's very fast and very complete." The site also contains the Hawaiian bible, or "Baibala Hemolele," whieh was first translated from the original Hebrew and Greek in 1839. Ulukau's online version is searchable by book, chapter and verse. In addition, the website includes the 1968 revision of the Hawaiian bible. According to a note on the site, "The Baibala Hemolele project was created to save and make available historic and contemporary texts of the Hawaiian Bible for students, and to provide content for 'imi pono (striving for righteousness)." The entire text of 35 books about Hawaiian topics are also available electronically on the website. One of those books is Stephen L. Desha's Kamehameha and his Warrior Kekūhaupi'o, with translation by Frances N. Frazier, whieh is presented on the website through a partnership with Kamehameha Schools, the printer of the book. Stauffer said the site hopes to expand its collection of books relating to Hawaiian culture in the near future. For Kaniau Padilla, the classmate who informed Wallaee of the website, Ulukau has proven to be an indispensable resource. "I don't know why more students in my class don't use it," says Padilla, a junior majoring in social work. "I've never even used microfilm; Ulukau is so mueh faster and easier." ■