Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 5, 1 May 2021 — Helping the Lāhui Connect with 'Ike [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Helping the Lāhui Connect with 'Ike

By Kapena Shim As the Papakilo Database celebrates its 10-year anniversary, I want to commend the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) on its vision and execution to build a comprehensive database of Hawaiian knowledge sources that continues to increase the quantity of 'ike that the lāhui ean engage with - 'ike that is held at so many library and archival repositories both here and abroad. As a librarian for the Hawaiian Collection at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa working with students, faculty, staff and community researchers, I know that Papakilo is a game-changer in terms of the kinds of resources it has, and how it provides access to these resources. Let me share a few examples. I often receive inquiries from students and community researchers to find Māhele records pertaining to their family. Papakilo is my go-to source to easily find the images of the original documents via the "Search Māhele Records" function because, unlike the other Māhelerelated databases that exist, Papakilo consistently provides access to digitized images of the original Māhele documents: the land commission award, register, testimony, and royal patent. This saves researchers tremendous time and hassle from having to access the records on microfilm or in print at the Hawai'i State Archives.

The "Search Newspapers" function is another excellent resource that assists how the lāhui ean search and access the vast repository of Hawaiian language newspapers. The advanced search features, such as the title search and filters, makes it really easy to narrow down the number of "hits" to get a more focused set of results. The addition of the corrected OCR (opheal charac-

terrecognition) from the 'Ike Kū'oko'a initiative increases the number of relevant hits and allows researchers to find even more content that might otherwise be lost due to poor OCR. Recently, I was pleasantly surprised to see back issues of OHA's monthly newspaper, Ka Wai Ola, have been digitized and made available in the newspaper search. This additional content is a great milestone for Papakilo because

it is expanding and broadening the newspaper search to go beyond the Hawaiian language newspapers to include the newspapers that speak to the Hawaiian renaissance and sovereignty movements of the late 20th century. This helps the generations of today connect with the not-so-distant voices of the past so we may untangle where we have been, where we are now, and where we need to go. Looking to the future, I see Papakilo continuing as the main search engine that helps the lāhui connect with 'ike buried in libraries and archives here in Hawai'i and around the world. Mueh appreciation to OHA for recognizing the value of such a database and funding its development and growth over the last 10 years. The lāhui is hungry for 'ike. With every new resource we gain access to, we heeome stronger and stronger in our fight for justice and empowerment to improve the lives of the lāhui. Access to 'ike is one of the keys. ■ Born in Honolulu and raised in Southern California, Kapena Shim returned to Hawai 'i to study at UH Mānoa, where he began a journey of connecting with the stories of his ancestors. He has BA degrees in Hawaiian studies and Hawaiian language, anel a MS degree in library and information science. Kapena is the Hawai'i specialist librarian at UH Mānoa and an archivistfor the Hawaiian Legacy Foundation.

Kapena Shim is the Hawai'i specialist librarian at UH Mānoa. - Photo: Courtesy