Marianas during the German times online

Ever wanted to read the original sources about the Chamorro health during the German period, or the effects of typhoons, or where the Tinian deer came from, or the history of the Catholic Church? Until now, you had to go to Germany and look up these publications in a library. No longer! Now it will be at your fingertips in minutes, if not seconds! And best of all, it’s free.

The cultural heritage of the CNMI will take a major leap into the digital age on Monday, Sept. 12, when Gov. Juan N. Babauta formally launches the online version of An Annotated Bibliography of German Language Sources on the Mariana Islands.

But this online version is much more than a mere listing of books and articles. It is a true digital library. This website will also deliver most of the items listed in the bibliography as a scanned image file to the user. In total, the compendium contains 1,648 entries with copied material exceeding 11,400 pages.

The project is a collaborative effort by the CNMI Council for the Humanities, the CNMI Historic Preservation Office, and Charles Sturt University in Australia. The work was carried out by Professor Dirk HR Spennemann, who has a long association with the CNMI.

This project started with a request by the HPO to create a compendium of German colonial literature on the Mariana Islands. It was envisaged that as many articles and books on the German colonial period as possible would be copied, indexed, and furnished with a summary in English.

Funded by the CNMI Council for the Humanities, the collection of the original documents was carried out in December 2001 and January 2002. A bound set of photocopies was produced in 2003. An annotated bibliography was published by HPO in 2004: Dirk H. R. Spennemann’s An Annotated Bibliography of German Language Sources on the Mariana Islands. Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands: Division of Historic Preservation (available from the HPO).

This online version is a logical continuation of the original copying project. By placing the files in pdf format on a server, it become feasible to make this unique collection of resources available to the wider public. The project was derived from the demand for printed copies of the compilation, with expressions of interest from various libraries in Micronesia as well as overseas. As the supply of cloth-bound sets of hard copies is both expensive and laborious, it was decided to create a digital library.

The realization of the online project was only possible through the strong support of Charles Sturt University, who considers such activities part of its relationship with its host communities and its emphasis on regional engagement. Charles Sturt University committed three of its technical staff to carry out the scanning process in addition to their normal duties.

Go and look for yourself. Check out the new digital library at the following web address: http://marshall.csu.edu.au/CNMIBIB.