New Access to Old Materials: The Hong Kong Newspaper Literary Supplements Digitization Project

New Access to Old Materials: The Hong Kong Newspaper Literary Supplements Digitization Project Leo F.H. Ma, Branch Librarian, New Asia College Ch ien Mu Library, University Library System, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Louise L. M Chan, Project Team Member, University Library System, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Abstract With no doubt, newspapers are a primary source of research materials for teaching and research activities in educational organizations. In many academic libraries, newspapers are stored in microform format to save library space. As a result, readers find it difficult to access this important pool of information efficiently. To meet the increasing demand for accessing newspaper resources on Hong Kong literature in the universities of Hong Kong and beyond, the University Library System of The Chinese University of Hong Kong launched the Hong Kong Newspaper Literary Supplements Digitization Project in 2000. Twenty major newspaper literary supplements in Hong Kong such as Wenyi of Ta Kung Pao( 大公報 文藝 )(1938-1941), Yan Lin of Lih Pao ( 立報 言林 )(1938-1941), Xingzuo of Sing Tao Daily( 星島日報 星座 )(1938-1941), Xin Qu of New Life Evening Post( 新生晚報 新趣 ) (1945-1975), Wenyi of Wah Kiu Yat Po( 華僑日報 文藝 )(1947-1949), Wenyi Zhoukan of Wen Wei Po( 文匯報 文藝周刊 )(1948-1949), etc. were identified and digitized since then. Currently, more than 170,000 entries of articles published in newspaper literary supplements are provided through the Hong Kong Literature Database, a common platform for various kinds of resources on Hong Kong literature including monographs, journals, newspaper literary supplements, theses and dissertation, and Internet resources. Apart from reviewing the Hong Kong Newspaper Literary Supplements Digitization Project, this paper also discusses the challenges in digitizing newspaper information and suggests possible solutions to the problems encountered. Introduction Recognizing the emerging need for primary resources on Hong Kong literature among academicians, the University Library System of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (hereafter CUHK ULS) launched the Hong Kong Literature Database (hereafter the Database) in June 2000, which is the first database on Hong Kong literature around the globe. The Database provides a common platform for storing and 1

retrieving various types of materials, including monographs, journals, newspaper literary supplements, theses and dissertations, and web resources, on Hong Kong literature. 1 The Hong Kong Newspaper Literary Supplements Digitization Project (hereafter the Project), being part of the Database project, was implemented at the same time when the Database was kicked off. Before describing the Project, this paper first looks into the increasing research interest in modern Chinese literature using newspaper literary supplements as a supplementary source to the traditional methodologies and perspectives among Chinese scholars in the past two decades. The paper then describes the Project details including the objectives, scope and searching capabilities in order to demonstrate how CUHK ULS responds to the demand for accessing newspaper literary supplements from readers. Apart from outlining the challenges, the outcomes of the Project are also discussed. The Study of Newspaper Literary Supplements Modern Chinese literature has been developed for more than 90 years since the Literary Revolution (1917) in China. In the past, studies of modern Chinese literature were mainly focused on writers, works, sects, literary history, etc. Relatively speaking, there are not too many in-depth studies on newspaper literary supplements. Taiwan scholar Lin Qiyang ( 林淇養 ) pointed out that literary supplements form a significant part of Chinese newspapers which has long been neglected by researchers (Lin 23). However, a new research methodology which emphasizes on interdisciplinary studies of Chinese literature has been emerging in the past two decades. That means literary study no longer adheres to its traditional perspectives and methodologies. Instead it integrates knowledge from different subjects and disciplines. Some researchers now approach their studies from both textual and socio-cultural aspects. Textual study analyses fundamental composition and features of the genre while socio-cultural study examines the production and development of literature in relation to its social and cultural context (Zhou & Yang 1). Newspaper literary supplement is also a major publication tool in mass media. It is both physical and spiritual since literary supplement provides not just a physical condition for the production and development of literature but a fundamental change in format and contents for literary works. Thus, 1 For detailed description about the objectives, scope and technical specification of the Database, please refer to another article on this topic by the author. (Ma, Wong & Lau 1341-1347) 2

Chen Pingyuan ( 陳平原 ), scholar from mainland China, stated that the study of newspapers is a study in the directions of both physical and spiritual, culture and literature, as well as contents and format (Chen 97). No matter in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan or even overseas, the study on newspaper literary supplements has gradually become a popular research topic. A number of publications specialized in newspaper literary supplements were published. 2 Recently, universities in Hong Kong launched increasingly more research projects in newspaper literary supplements. For instance, Department of Chinese Language and Literature of The Chinese University of Hong Kong has undertaken five research projects in literary supplements in Hong Kong newspapers namely An Investigation of the Literary Supplement Qianshui Wan Edited by Liu, Yi Chang in Hong Kong Times (1960.2.15 1962.6.30) ( 劉以鬯主編 香港時報 淺水灣 時期 [1960.2.15 1962.6.30] 研究 ) (2002/03), A Study on the Literary Supplement MEGPAPER in the Hong Kong Daily News ( 新報 副刊 MEGPAPER 研究 ) (2002/03), A Study on the Newspaper Literary Supplements of the Overseas Chinese Daily News (Wah Kiu Yat Po) of Hong Kong ( 華僑日報 副刊研究) (2003/04) and A Study on Supplements of the New Life Evening Post ( 新生晚報 副刊研究) (2005/06). From the perspective of literary study, studies on literary supplements of Hong Kong newspapers carry three purposes: (1) Literary supplements in Hong Kong newspapers are major resources on Hong Kong writers. Many prolific Hong Kong writers are either contributors or editors of newspaper literary supplements. For example, Gao Xiong ( 高雄 ) and Hu Juren ( 胡菊人 ) were editors of New Life Evening Post and contributors of Xin Qu ( New Fun ) of New Life Evening Post ( 新生晚報 新趣 ). Other famous Hong Kong writers like Shisan Mei ( 十三妹 ), Dong Qianli ( 董千里 ) and Liu Yichang ( 劉以鬯 ) were either contributors or columnists of Xin Qu. 2 In the past ten years, scholars in mainland China and Taiwan began to recognize the importance and significance of newspaper supplements in their research. In 1997, a major conference on newspaper supplements was held in Taiwan and subsequently a proceedings Shijie Zhongwen Baozhi Fukanxue Zonglun ( 世界中文報紙副刊學綜論 On the Chinese Newspaper Supplements in the World ) (Taipei: Council for Cultural Affairs, 1997) was published. Also, scholars such as Chen Pingyuan ( 陳平原 ), Leo Li Ou-fan ( 李歐梵 ), Leung Ping-kwan ( 梁秉鈞 ), Lin Qiyang ( 林淇養 ), etc. have published papers on the research methodology and significance of newspaper literary supplements. 3

(2) Literary supplements in Hong Kong newspapers provide a channel for writers from mainland China to publish their works especially in a politically turbulent period. For instance, Xingzuo ( Horoscope ) of Sing Tao Daily ( 星島日報 星座 ) (1938-1941) and Wenyi ( Literature and Arts ) of Ta Kung Pao ( 大公報 文藝 ) (1938-1941), significant literary supplements in Hong Kong, had many notable writers from mainland China, such as Ba Jin ( 巴金 ), Dai Wangshu ( 戴望舒 ), Shen Congwen ( 沈從文 ) and Xiao Qian ( 蕭乾 ), as their contributors. (3) The layouts and contents of the literary supplements reflect the production mechanism and mode of transmission of literary works in a society, which in turn, effectively reflect the literary ecology and societal changes of a particular place at a particular time. Liu Yichang ( 劉以鬯 ), renowned writer and veteran editor in Hong Kong, once mentioned that there is a close relationship between newspapers and the development of Hong Kong literature. Since the 1920 s, almost every newspaper has a literary supplement (Liu, About Hong Kong Literature 132). In addition, the readership for literary works in a highly commercialized place such as Hong Kong is small and it is hard for a literary journal to survive in the market. Thus, writers in Hong Kong have to rely on newspaper literary supplements to publish their works (Liu, About Hong Kong Literature 143). All in all, literary supplements in Hong Kong newspapers play an important role in Hong Kong literature and are significant research materials for the study of Hong Kong literature. The Hong Kong Newspaper Literary Supplements Digitization Project It is without doubt that literary supplements in Hong Kong newspapers have published substantial primary source materials on Hong Kong literature and culture. However, literary supplements are very often published either on daily or weekly basis which will result in a great quantity of paper originals. As we all know, it is neither easy to take good care of this large volume of old newspapers nor store them in proper condition, which cause great hindrance to researchers of Hong Kong literature. The Project is one of the major digitization projects initiated by CUHK ULS in 2000. The Project has digitized literary works in 20 major literary supplements in Hong Kong newspapers since 1930 s and makes these literary 4

supplements available free on Internet. The Project not only allows readers around the world to access Hong Kong literary works via Internet, but also provides first hand materials for researchers in order to support their research on Hong Kong literature. Right now, the Project includes Xingzuo of Sing Tao Daily (1938-1941), Yan Lin of Lih Pao ( 立報 言林 ) (1938-1941), Wenyi of Ta Kung Pao (1938-1941), Wen Xi of New Life Daily ( 新生日報 文協 ) (1945-1946), Xin Yu ( New Language ) of New Life Daily ( 新生日報 新語 ) (1945-1946), Xin Qu of New Life Evening Post (1945-1975), Wenyi of Sing Tao Daily ( 星島日報 文藝 ) (1947-1953), Wenyi Zhoukan of Wah Kiu Yat Po ( 華僑日報 文藝週刊 ) (1947-1949), Wenyi of Ta Kung Pao (1948-1952), Wenyi Zhoukan of Wen Wei Po ( 文匯報 文藝周刊 ) (1948-1949), Xin Wenyi of Wen Wei Po ( 文匯報 新文藝 ) (1950-1951), Wenyi of Wen Wei Po ( 文匯報 文藝 ) (1956-1967), Qianshui Wan ( Repulse Bay ) of Hong Kong Times ( 香港時報 淺水灣 ) (1960-1962), Xing Hai of New Evening Post ( 新晚報 星海 ) (1979-1991), Da Hui Tang ( City Hall ) of Sing Tao Evening Post ( 星島晚報 大會堂 ) (1981-1991), Wen Lang of Wah Kiu Yat Po ( 華僑日報 文廊 ) (1992-1994), Wenyi Qixiang of Sing Tao Daily ( 星島日報 文藝氣象 ) (1992-1993), Wanfeng of New Evening Post ( 新晚報 晚風 ) (1993-1995), Wenyi of Wen Wei Po (1993-1998) and Wenxue of Ta Kung Pao ( 大公報 文學 ) (1992-2003). (Figure 1) Each newspaper literary supplement has a home page so that readers can browse the literary supplement by issue and/or date. (Figure 2) The Database also provides different access points, such as title, author, keyword, source title, etc., to facilitate searching. For those supplements which have been granted permission, both index and full-text are available. Otherwise, only index is provided. For example, full-text articles of Wenxue of Ta Kung Pao are available from the first issue onwards. (Figure 3) In addition, the Database provides a hyperlink to the library catalogue of CUHK to indicate the availability of the paper originals. (Figure 4) 5

Figure 1: Title List for Hong Kong Newspaper Figure 2: Home Page of Wenyi of Wen Wei Po Literary Supplements Figure 3: An example of a fulltext article in Figure 4: Hyperlink to Library Catalogue Wenxue of Ta Kung Pao Aiming at providing the most relevant primary resources to readers, the Project collaborates with experts and scholars in Hong Kong literature as well as research units in universities. For instance, from July 2004 to February 2006, the Project received a research grant from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (hereafter HKADC) to compile indices of three literary supplements, namely Xin Qu of New Life Evening Post, Wenxue of Ta Kung Pao and Wenyi of Wen Wei Po. Xin Qu of New Life Evening Post, a major literary supplement in Hong Kong, published daily for 30 years (1945-1975) with 110,000 some articles. Notable prolific Hong 十三妹) and San Su (三蘇) were its contributors. In Kong writers such as Shisan Mei ( 2005, Fan Sin-pui from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature of CUHK, Principle Investigator of the research grant project A Study on Supplements of the New Life Evening Post funded by the Research Grant Committee of the Hong Kong SAR Government, made use of the index provided in the Database to conduct an in-depth and comprehensive study on Xin Qu. On 3rd March, 2006, a press conference was held by the University Library System to publicize the outcomes of 6

the Project. In the press conference, Fan Sin-pui talked about the result of his research project with the media. (Figure 5) Also, Liu Yichang ( 劉以鬯 ) delivered a talk on My Experience as an Editor of Newspaper Literary Supplements in Hong Kong to share his experience in editing literary supplements such as Qianshui Wan of Hong Kong Times and Da Hui Tang of Sing Tao Evening Post (Liu, My Experience 74-78). (Figure 6) Figure 5: Press Conference held on 3 rd March 2006 (From left: Fan Sin-pui, Rita Wong and Leo March 2006 Ma) Figure 6: Talk by Liu Yichang ( 劉以鬯 ) held on 3 rd Challenges and Outcomes The Project encounters various problems and challenges since its inception in 2000. In summary, there are two main types of challenges, namely resources and technical processing issues. Let s discuss the issue of resources first. Considering the huge volume of articles published in literary supplements, a significant amount of resources have to be allocated to the Project so as to well manage the mass of data. Server has to be acquired for data storage, computer experts have to be recruited to create and maintain the Database, and a lot of manpower has to be engaged to collect, input and proof-read the data. In the light of these difficulties, a variety of measures have been taken to secure funding for the Project. First of all, allocate funding and manpower to the Project from the recurrent library budget. Secondly, obtain research grant from outside funding body. 3 Lastly, proactively engage in collaboration with faculty and 3 As mentioned in section III of this paper, the Project received funding from HKADC to digitize the indices of three newspaper literary supplements. 7

upload their research results to the Database. 4 Klijn pointed out that the challenge of a newspaper digitization project is to find a balance between accessibility and feasibility within the limitations of available resources. (Klijn) Apart from resources issue, the Project has to resolve different technical processing problems. First, the availability of newspaper is vital in digitizing its literary supplement. For instance, the supplements of Sing Pao Daily News ( 成報 ), as mentioned by Lo Wai-luen ( 盧瑋鑾 ), was very popular and influential in Hong Kong (Tay, Wong & Lo 9). However, there is no complete run of this newspaper in Hong Kong libraries. Second, the output of a digitization process is often affected by the quality of the preserved newspapers. It is difficult to digitize newspaper because it is sometimes badly printed and the paper gets fragile and damaged very easily. In case the digitized images are converted from microform, the fine print on the newspaper may get blurred. (Figures 7 & 8) All theses factors would certainly affect the quality Figure 7: An example of blurred characters in the title of an article ( Xin Qu of New Life Evening Post on 1947.1.10) Figure 8: A symbol is used to indicate an unrecognized character ( Xin Qu of New Life Evening Post Post on 1947.1.10) of images produced in the digitization process. Third, inaccurate data in the paper original requires an additional checking process which, of course, will lengthen the inputting process. For example, the publication date of Xin Qu of New Life Evening Post on March 14, 1948 was wrongly printed as March 13, 1948. 5 (Figure 9) It is, 4 As a recent example, permission is granted by Hoyan Hang-fung ( 何杏楓 ) and Cheung Wing-mui ( 張詠梅 ) of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature of CUHK to upload the index of Qianshui Wan of Hong Kong Times, which is part of their research findings, to the Hong Kong Literature Database. 5 Actually, the problems encountered by CUHK ULS are quite common to other newspaper digitization projects worldwide. For example, Bremer-Laamanen stated that the reasons for the rather late start for 8

therefore, of no surprise for James-Gilboe to comment that [d]igitization is difficult, harder than you ever anticipated, more frustrating than you expect, and full of lessons learned the hard way. (James-Gilboe 155) 正確日期 : 中華民國三十七年三月十四日 Figure 9: March 14, 1948 was wrongly printed as March 13, 1948 ( Xin Qu of New Life Evening Post) Despite all these challenges, the outcomes of the digitization project are very encouraging. Readers can now access Hong Kong newspaper literary supplements through Internet regardless of time and geographical location. Through the Project, worldwide readers can get acquaintance with Hong Kong literature. And researchers can access more primary source materials to facilitate their research on Hong Kong literature. Furthermore, the Project helps preserve the paper originals of newspaper literary supplements. It is widely acknowledged the paper format of newspaper is inconvenient to use while the microform format is certainly not easy to access. The digitized format, on the contrary, is easy to use and access. Since readers can locate the required information through the Database, they no longer have to browse the newspapers page by page. The paper originals of the literary supplements can be better preserved in the long run. Concluding Remarks Digitization is an on-going project. In the past eighty years, the number of newspaper literary supplements ever published in Hong Kong is far more than the number of newspaper digitization projects, especially in the Nordic countries, are due to the large holdings of newspapers, the poor print, the poor quality paper and the use of Gothic Fraktur and Roman text in the Nordic countries. (Bremer-Laamanen 169) 9

titles included in the Project. As a strategic response, major newspaper literary supplements are identified and digitized first. Given the constraints of available resources, it is not difficult to see that there is still a long way to go before the sheer amount of primary source materials contained in newspaper literary supplements can be digitized and made available to readers around the world. Reference Bremer-Laamanen, Majlis. Connecting to the Past: Newspaper Digitization in the Nordic Countries. Journal of Digital Asset Management 2.3/4 (2006): 168-171. Chen, Pingyuan. Wenxue de Zhoubian. ( 文學的周邊 In the Margin of Literature ) Beijing: New World Press, 2004. James-Gilboe, Lynda. The Challenge of Digitization: Libraries are Finding that Newspaper Projects are not for the Faint of Heart. Serials Librarian 49.1/2 (2005): 155-163. Klijn, Edwin. The Current State-of-Art in Newspaper Digitization: A Market Perspective. D-Lib Magazine 14.1/2 (2008): 9 pp. 29 Jan. 2008 http://www.dlib.org/dlib/january08/klijn/01klijn.html. Lin, Qiyang. Writing and Mapping: A Study of Phenomenon of the Literary Communication in Taiwan. ( 書寫與拼圖 : 台灣文學傳播現象硏究 ) Taipei: Rye Field Publishing Co., 2001. Liu, Yichang. Changtan Xianggang Wenxue. ( 暢談香港文學 About Hong Kong Literature ) Hong Kong: Holdery Publishing Enterprises Ltd, 2002. ---. My Experience as an Editor of Newspaper Literary Supplements in Hong Kong. ( 我編香港報章文藝副刊的經驗 ) Hong Kong Literature Monthly ( 城市文藝 ) 1.8 (2006): 74-78. Ma, Leo, Rita Wong and Paul Lau. Preserving the Literary Past Looking to the Future: the First Hong Kong Literature Database. Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE 6A.11 (2005): 1341-1347. Tay, William ( 鄭樹森 ), Wong Kai-chee ( 黃繼持 ) and Lo Wai-luen. Xianggang xin wenxue nianbiao (1950 1969 nian) ( 香港新文學年表 1950 1969 年 The Chronology of Modern Hong Kong Literature [1950-1969] ). Hong Kong: Cosmos Books Ltd., 2000. Zhou, Haibo ( 周海波 ), and Yang Qingdong ( 楊慶東 ). Chuanmei yu Xiandai Wenxue Zhijian ( 傳媒與現代文學之間 In Between Media and Modern Literature ). Beijing: China Social Sciences Press, 2004. 10

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