Retired BYU–Hawaii faculty members Dr. Dale Robertson and his spouse Linda Robertson have recently joined the University Archive department as service missionaries.
Although the venue has changed for them, their dedication to service continues. Prior to their current missionary service, Dr. Dale Robertson taught political science for 31 years and Linda Robertson taught math for 23 years. (pictured above, right: Robertsons with co-worker Nicholas MacGregor Beste at their workstation)
The Robertsons initially heard about the University Archive program when Matt Kester, the Interim Director of the Library, spoke about the program at a conference and asked attendees interested to apply because the current missionaries were leaving. Elder and Sister Robertson promptly submitted their papers to Salt Lake, received their call by the local stake in early May, and then were set apart by their bishop.
They were initially set to work only three days a week but because they were so eager, their new schedule is now 9 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday.
Their project focuses on digitizing the records of Filipino workers that came and worked in the sugar plantations in the 1920s and 30s—records that were created by the Hawaii Sugar Planters Association. The project itself has been going on for two years.
The actual transition process is long, beginning with a scan of the physical record—or card—through the computer to create a digital record. From there names are extracted and then a computer database record is created and the scanned images are linked with the names of the people.
Each card has a type and has to be validated accordingly—some cards are part of The Bureau of Labor and Statistics while others have fingerprints as part of their identification (pictured above, left). Some cards also include worker-applications-for-passage because when a contract was over, a worker had a free passage back to the Philippines.
Since most cards arrived with almost no documentation, Elder and Sister Robertson are cautious, careful not to lose any information around the card edges that may be relevant at a later date.
And some cards even include personal items.
"Recently there was a letter, an actual letter—on a wrinkled piece of paper," said co-worker Nicholas MacGregor Beste, a history education major.
If it's not letters, the workers also come across files or papers that are attached to someone's name. One had a tax form connected to it. Several cards arrived stapled together and had to have the staples removed so that each card could be scanned individually.
Each name has what they refer to as a batch and a batch number. These batches are created in a program called Kofax, which allow the cards to be made available online.
Once a batch is created and the images numbered, the Robertsons do quality control, which includes straightening up and cropping the images. Cards are then given a final once-over as part of the end process. (right: Elder Robertson begins the cropping process)
Because this project is managed through the Family History Department, the project and computers belong to the Family History Department. Thus, their computers here are accessible from Provo, and a Provo-based supervisor usually informs them when their photo cropping isn’t up to par.
Although the database is not currently online, when it is completed, it will be accessible through the BYU–Hawaii Joseph Smith Library Archives website.
Elder Robertson likens the spirit of the work they do to their experience as temple ordinance workers. Although photo cropping involves hours of repetitive and meticulous measuring and straightening, the end result is special—"By the time we go through the seven or eight processes and have a box done, we've formed a little bit of an attachment to these people. There's just a feeling like something really important has happened," said Elder Robertson.
Elder and Sister Robertson work in conjunction with two student workers—Beste, and Kyle Poulter, a political science major. Between the four of them, they average a box a week—each box containing four to six hundred names. When Beste began last June, the box count was 53 and now they are currently on box 96. Per name count, the jump increased from 21,000 to the current 47,000.
The actual cards are held in boxes and housed in a cold, humidity-controlled storage environment, safe from weather wear, where they will remain, indefinitely. (pictured: Beste in storage facility for cards, handling a box of names that has already been digitized)
"There's probably at least two more years of work on this, and we're signed up for six months and we'll probably stay with the project in one form or another until it's done because we're just hooked," said Elder Robertson.