Restoring Documents

Restoring documents for worldwide usage 02 May, 2013 – Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea – Written by Kate King with Tim Scott In a small office at SIL’s centre in the Eastern Highlands, Rudy Yawiro gives new life to valuable data which has lain untouched in dusty filing cabinets for decades. Working with linguistic papers and translated documents dating as far back as the 1950s, she takes pages of previously unpublished handwritten or typed material, and through a process of scanning and editing converts it into an electronic format. Then these documents are uploaded to the internet, accessible across the world to people interested in studying Papua New Guinea’s more than 800 languages.

Rudy started working for SIL in 2007, as a radio operator.

Her attention to detail and ability to learn were quickly noticed and in 2008 she moved into Academic and Web Publishing. She enjoys keeping abreast of developments in copyright law and the specialised software she uses.

Two years ago she added electronic archiving to her responsibilities, becoming a curator for the Repository for Electronic Archiving and Publishing (REAP), a worldwide digital storehouse for SIL International.

In April, Rudy travelled to Manila to represent both SILPNG and the SIL Pacific Area at the first Global Conference on Archiving. The conference marked two years of REAP’s existence and provided a forum for the discussion and exchange of ideas between curators from all around the world.

Jeremy Nordmoe, the Director of Language and Culture Archives at SIL International, commented that, “Rudy has exhibited an advanced understanding of how REAP works.

In the first two years of REAP, she was one of the top five curators in terms of activity, and is a valuable member of both the PNG Staff and the Global Archiving Community of Practice.”

Rudy’s dream is to train others in SIL-PNG and the Pacific Area and create helps for those who will follow her in this work.

For more information on this release, contact ThePNGexperience, PO BOX 413, Ukarumpa, EHP 444, Papua New Guinea Phone: 011 + 675 + 537-3544 ext. 4431 or Email: thePNGexperience@gmail.com “Tok Save” is the PNG “Tok Pisin” term for announcement or “For your information”. The English spelling conforms to Commonwealth English spelling.