The Voice of A Community Chinese Times Digitization Project Ian Song Prepared for the Multicultural Canada Conference

Presentation Outline Background Information Chinese Freemasons The Newspaper Rationales for the Chinese Times Digitization Project Project Overview Technical Aspects Some Points About Digitization Project Management

Background Information Chinese Freemasons - 1 Chinese Freemasons Society of Canada Chinese Freemasons Society of Canada A secret, anti-Qing Dynasty( ) association A secret, anti-Qing Dynasty( ) association Hongmen: 洪 = “ 漢 ” - “ 中土 ” ; Named after the Era Name of the First Ming ’ s Emperor Hongmen: 洪 = “ 漢 ” - “ 中土 ” ; Named after the Era Name of the First Ming ’ s Emperor Started at Barkerville in 1963, known as Cheekungton(CKT) Started at Barkerville in 1963, known as Cheekungton(CKT) Supported Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and his anti-Qing struggle in China Supported Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and his anti-Qing struggle in China Published Chinese Times Published Chinese Times photos

Background Information Chinese Freemasons - 1 Chinese Freemasons Society of Canada Chinese Freemasons Society of Canada A secret, anti-Qing Dynasty( ) association A secret, anti-Qing Dynasty( ) association Hongmen: 洪 = “ 漢 ” - “ 中土 ” ; Named after the Era Name of the First Ming ’ s Emperor Hongmen: 洪 = “ 漢 ” - “ 中土 ” ; Named after the Era Name of the First Ming ’ s Emperor Started at Barkerville in 1963, known as Cheekungton(CKT Started at Barkerville in 1963, known as Cheekungton(CKT Supported Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and his anti-Qing struggle in China Supported Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and his anti-Qing struggle in China Published the Chinese Times Published the Chinese Times

Background Information The Newspaper - 1 The Chinese Times Started in 1907 & named Chinese Daily News Changed its name to Chinese Times in 1915 A variety of contents: local and international news, advertisements, photographs, and creative writing The only source for early Chinese immigrants in Vancouver to know the information of their motherland and local news

Background Information The Newspaper - 2 Background Information The Newspaper - 2 Chinese Freemasons Building(1901), 1 West Pender Street, Vancouver

Background Information The Newspaper - 3 Background Information The Newspaper - 3 The Chinese Times BuildingChinese Times Building

Background Information The Newspaper - 4 “ Overthrow Manchu and establish a republican country. ” An example of the newspaper

Rationales for the Chinese Times Digitization Project Informational Value Key historical resource for research on the Chinese community in Vancouver, even in Canada Key historical resource for research on the Chinese community in Vancouver, even in Canada Most comprehensive source for young Chinese- Canadians to know the life of early Chinese immigrants in Canada Most comprehensive source for young Chinese- Canadians to know the life of early Chinese immigrants in Canada

Rationales for the Chinese Times Digitization Project Access Difficulties Hard to find: No regional public library has it ? Hard to find: No regional public library has it ? Some restrictions Some restrictions Difficult to read on microfilm Difficult to read on microfilm No formal and published index No formal and published index Preservation Considerations Both historical and informational values require long- term preservation Both historical and informational values require long- term preservation Material deterioration: Fragile, yellow, and dusty original printed paper Material deterioration: Fragile, yellow, and dusty original printed paper

Project Overview Goal Goal To bridge the distance between valuable historical information and the public through digitization projects Partnership and Cooperation Partnership and Cooperation Universities: SFU; University of Calgary Social institutions: Chinese Freemasons Society; Sien Lok Society of Calgary; Multicultural Heritage Society of Ontario Other organizations

Project Overview Objectives To Digitize the Chinese Times from 1915 to 1992 To make the digitized newspaper searchable and online accessible Project Plan Digitize newspaper pages First Phase: over 200 thousand pages( ): (Finished) Second Phase: over 80 thousand pages( ) Digitize English summaries of the newspaper ( ) produced by Professor Wickberg (Finished) Provide free online access Browse Search

Technical Aspects Scanning Scanning Image Processing Image Processing OCR （ Optical Character Recognition ） OCR （ Optical Character Recognition ） Online Access Online Access

Technical Aspects Scanning Microfilm scanner capturing high quality images

Aspects Technical Aspects Image Processing Preparing images for OCR/Preservation Preparing images for OCR/Preservation Preparing images for online display Preparing images for online display

Technical Aspects OCR - 1 Chinese OCR software

Technical Aspects OCR Traditional and Simplified Chinese characters Traditional and Simplified Chinese characters Other languages: English, Japanese and Korean Other languages: English, Japanese and Korean Horizontal and vertical layout Horizontal and vertical layout Print and hand-written Print and hand-written

Chinese Times in Contentdm ( Technical Aspects Online Access - 1 English Summary

Technical Aspects Online Access - 2 The Chinese Times in Contentdm (

Technical Aspects Online Access - 3 The Chinese Times in Contentdm (

Some Points About Digitization Project Management Supports Supports Management: the organization Management: the organization Collaboration Collaboration Financial: digitization is never cheap Financial: digitization is never cheap Technical: equipments Technical: equipments Staffing Staffing

Some Points About Digitization Project Management Policies & Procedures Policies & Procedures Copyright Management Cost Estimation Preservation and Storage Media File Management & Backup Plans Hardware and software purchase and maintenance Documentation Staff Hiring and Training Quality Control

Some Points About Digitization Project Management Cooperation Cooperation Between Organizations Consortia: technical standard, working procedure, share experience, etc. Operation Management Production Manual Control Workflow & Priority Efficiency & Personal Differences

Some Points About Digitization Project Management Technical Considerations Technical Considerations Scanners Scanners Image Quality: resolution Image Quality: resolution Image Formats Image Formats OCR OCR Metadata Metadata Color Management if necessary Color Management if necessary Digital Collection Management System: Open Source or Proprietary Software; handle non-Romanized language searching Digital Collection Management System: Open Source or Proprietary Software; handle non-Romanized language searching

Thank You!

Chinese Freemasons Background Information Chinese Freemasons - 2 Dr. Sun Yat-Sen and some members of Freemasons in Vancouver

Chinese Freemasons Background Information Chinese Freemasons - 3 Chinese Freemasons Building(1901), 1 West Pender Street, Vancouver

Background Information Chinese Freemasons Background Information Chinese Freemasons - 4 Chinese Freemasons Building(1901), 1 West Pender Street, Vancouver