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INTERVIEW: Marko Stech speaks about Internet Encyclopediaof Ukraine project
Dr. Marko R. Stech is project manager of the Internet Encyclopediaof Ukraine project at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS)and managing director of the CIUS Press. Apart from overall project managementof the encyclopedia, he was responsible for developing the general conceptof the IEU Internet site and for supervising the programming of this siteby Jaroslaw Kiebalo.
Currently he leads a group of editors working on a painstaking taskof editing existing IEU entries in order to adapt them for Internet use.In the meantime, a process of writing new IEU entries, particularly thosedealing with post-Soviet Ukraine, is also under way under the supervisionof the IEU's managing editor, Roman Senkus.
The following interview was prepared by the CIUS to familiarize readerswith the Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine.
Q: Why the Encyclopedia of Ukraine project? Why do you consider itto be important?
A: A specifically "national" encyclopedia, like the Encyclopediaof Ukraine, represents, so to speak, a modern definition of a given nation.It is an extensive database containing not only information about, but alsothe experience of many generations, that defines the national history, culture,art, and social customs. One can no longer imagine a modern, developed nationwithout its own encyclopedia.
In the particular case of Ukraine, our first encyclopedias also had aspecific goal. In the face of blatant denials of the very existence of theUkrainian nation, the first Ukrainian encyclopedias were designed to providea sort of scholarly and scientific proof that we actually exist as a nationwith our specific history and culture. I am quite sure that Prof. VolodymyrKubijovyc and his co-workers had this in mind when they worked on the EntsyklopediaUkrainoznavstva in France and North America after World War II. They alsoworked to preserve for posterity our historical and cultural heritage thatwas being systematically destroyed in the Soviet Union.
Q: But another goal of a "national" encyclopedia shouldbe to represent a given national culture in the world, correct?
A: Yes, absolutely correct. And this has been and continues to be a veryvital aspect for Ukrainians because, until recently, the world did not recognizeour existence as a separate nation and considered Ukraine to be, to a greateror lesser extent, a part of Russia.
Unfortunately, still a lot needs to be done in order to change this deeplyingrained perception, especially as far as our history and culture are concerned.And in order for the encyclopedia to serve this kind of purpose, it mustbe made available to foreign readers. And this means that it must be publishedin a language that can be understood by other nations and it must be physicallyaccessible in foreign countries.
This was the goal and purpose of the English-language Encyclopedia ofUkraine prepared by CIUS in cooperation with the Shevchenko Scientific Society(France) and supported financially by the Canadian Foundation for UkrainianStudies. The five-volume encyclopedia was published between 1984 and 1993in Toronto, and distributed to the majority of important libraries and institutions,and it can also be found in the homes of thousands of individuals.
Q: But now you are transferring this Encyclopedia to the Internet.
A: Yes, although what you say is not exactly correct. The transfer ofthe EU database to the Internet is only one of the steps in our project.The original EU database, consisting of over 15,000 entries, has been andwill continue to be considerably expanded and updated. In addition, we willbe adding great numbers of new graphic and multimedia information. As aresult, the Internet Encyclopedia will represent a new and previously unavailablelearning and information resource.
In order to give you a fuller picture, I need to explain the main reasonswhy CIUS decided to create the Internet Encyclopedia. First, we had to considerthe question of currency of the information presented in our encyclopedia.A book is a final physical result of a printing process, and, once printed,it cannot be changed. Owners of the five-volume set of the encyclopediaknow very well that much of the information contained in the first volumes,especially in volume 1, published in 1984, is no longer valid and up todate. This was the time when no one could imagine that within a span ofseveral years the Soviet Union would collapse and Ukraine would become anindependent country. That's why any "contemporary" entry in volume1 makes references not to Ukraine, but to the Ukrainian Soviet SocialistRepublic, and so on.
In our Internet Encyclopedia we are dealing with information in an electronicformat that can be changed and updated at any time. In fact, we have beenchanging and will continue to regularly change information on our site,and the entries we have already uploaded are up to date. We can also addnew entries. For example, the printed encyclopedia contains no informationon such prominent Ukrainian statesmen as Viktor Yuschenko or Leonid Kuchma,who were not yet prominent enough at the time when the encyclopedia waspublished. We can add any new and newly discovered information to our sitewithout problems at any time.
Q: And what are other reasons for switching to the Internet format?
A: The second main reason is the question of accessibility. The printedvolumes of the five-volume encyclopedia are available in many librariesand in many private homes, but still, in order to be able to use this information,you have to be in the place where these five large books are physicallyaccessible and you have to hold them in your hands. This is possible primarilyin larger cities in North America and Europe.
Working with the Internet allows us to be accessible literally everywhereand at any time. Whether it is Asia, Africa, South America, or Europe, whethera student in Australia or a journalist in Russia - anyone who has a computerand access to the Internet can at any time access our site and view theinformation on Ukraine that we currently have available. Our website, whichis already being visited by anywhere from 150 to 400 visitors each day,is often logged on to by people from Europe and Asia, for example, fromsuch countries as Korea, Japan and the Philippines, who have never had accessto the printed edition of the EU.
And finally, the third main reason for switching to the Internet formatare technical possibilities that were simply unthinkable in the past. Apartfrom the text and a limited number of illustrations available in a printedversion of a book, we can provide the viewer with practically unlimitednumber of graphic information as well as with audio and multimedia files.
Imagine that over 20,000 in-depth articles on all aspects of Ukraine,its history, people, geography, society, economy, diaspora and culturalheritage are freely accessible to anyone at any time and in any place inthe world. And imagine that these entries are accompanied by thousands ofmaps, photographs, illustrations, tables, music files and multimedia materialsthat allow viewers to see photographs of prominent people they are readingabout; to find exact locations of cities, mountains, or rivers; to viewarchitectural monuments and works of art, and to listen to musical compositionsmentioned in the text. This is exactly what the Internet Encyclopedia isdesigned to be.
The final result of this complex, multi-year project, initiated by CIUSin 2001, will be a highly sophisticated and by far the most comprehensivesource of information in the English language on Ukraine and Ukrainians.
Q: This all sounds quite ambitious, but how realistic is it that thisproject will be successfully implemented? How much of this work has alreadybeen done?
A: I am pleased to say that the probability that the Internet Encyclopediaproject will eventually be successfully completed is very high. I can sayit simply because our IEU team, working at the CIUS Toronto office, hasalready passed several crucial tests, and that means that we have alreadyproven beyond any doubt the most important thing: that we have the expertiseand resources to successfully complete this complex work, provided thatwe find enough financial backing.
For one, we have completed the design and programming stage of our project.Our website is fully operational and it can be accessed at any time atwww.encyclopediaofukraine.com.This programming process proved to be quite challenging, primarily becausewe had to accommodate our linking and search functions for the great varietyof multinational characters that appear in the Encyclopedia. Although mostof this work had to be done literally from scratch, we still managed tocreate a site that has a more sophisticated linking and search capabilitiesthan, for example, the Internet edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Second, we have already converted the EU database from an old and practicallyunusable computer format to a modern format that we can work with. Subsequently,we have developed a system of dealing with the painstaking and very time-consumingwork of correcting conversion errors, editing and updating files and adaptingthem for Internet use. Over 800 entries have already been edited, updatedand uploaded to our site and Internet users have the ability to access detailedinformation on such topics as "Black Sea," "Bukovyna,""Central Rada," "Christianization of Ukraine," "Cossacks,""Ivan Franko," "Bohdan Khmelnytsky," "Kyivan Rus',""Ivan Mazepa," "Yaroslav the Wise," and many, many others.Also we have already developed sophisticated map displays, so that viewerscan not only see the exact location of such towns as "Drohobych"or "Halych" on local maps, but also view where exactly they arelocated with reference to Ukrainian borders, etc. Although at this pointin time we are focusing primarily on making the text of entries availableon our site, some of our entries, such as "Industry," alreadyhave tables and diagrams, and, if you visit such entries as "DmytroBortniansky" or "Maksym Berezovsky," you can listen to themusical compositions described in the text.
Finally, we have already developed the basic mechanism of researchingand writing new entries, and very soon over 100 completely new entries dealingwith contemporary Ukraine will be available on our site. That means thatat this point we have successfully overcome all of the most perilous technicaland organizational difficulties, and I can say with complete certainty thatwe have what it takes to complete this complex work.
However, how fast and how completely we will be able to do this willdepend, to a large extent, on the kind of support we can obtain from ourUkrainian community in North America.
Q: What kind of support are you referring to?
A: First and foremost, we desperately need financial resources not onlyto continue with the project, but also to complete the first version ofthe IEU as soon as possible. CIUS is fully dedicated to the project andevery year provides roughly $50,000 to the IEU budget. Also, having recognizedthe importance of the IEU in the process of disseminating objective informationabout Ukraine in the world, several individuals and institutions, such asthe Curkowskyj Foundation, have supported us financially in the past.
However, additional, on-going financial support from individual and organizationalbenefactors is crucial if this immense, multi-year project is to achieveits goal. CIUS encourages benefactors either to support the current operationof the IEU, or to create endowments designated for any area of study thatwill be featured on the IEU. Only with such long-term support can we producethe final result that can properly represent Ukrainians in the world.
We are also grateful for moral support in various forms. The one thingI would ask your readers to do is: please visit our site, read the informationit contains, send us your comments, tell your friends and acquaintancesabout this site. If you are a teacher, encourage your students to use oursite, etc.
In some cases, individuals can be helpful in providing us with graphicand audio materials for our site. For example, Bohdan Skrobach of Torontovolunteered to scan maps and tables from the printed encyclopedia and thiswas extremely helpful for the project.
In short, your help can take a variety of forms, but the important thingfor us is that people begin to consider the Internet Encyclopedia as a projectthat is very important and useful to them personally, to their children,families and friends. After all, it is our common interest to present ourhistory, culture and our current community to the rest of the world in thebest form we can.
Q: How much work remains to be done and what are your predictionsregarding the implementation schedule?
A: As you can probably imagine, the amount of work required to createand maintain an encyclopedia is immense. Apart from the technical work ofpreparing our text and multimedia files for our site, there is a tremendousamount of editing to be done, plus there is a need for continous researchand gathering of information on a wide variety of subjects in various fields.Any encyclopedia project also needs a team of subject editors who specializein different areas of knowledge and can write new entries.
Our current budget allows us to employ only three permanent staff members,and only on a part-time basis. This includes Roman Senkus, managing editor,Andrij Makuch, senior manuscript editor, and myself. Anyone else neededby the project has to be hired on a very temporary contractual basis, andthis greatly limits our choices. Also, our budget does not allow us to developat this point a full team of subject editors, necessary for writing newentries.
In order to work at optimum speed, our project needs a minimum of $250,000per year, which is a small sum compared to expenses incurred by other encyclopediaprojects. If we are able to generate the required financial support fromthe Ukrainian community in North America and, thus, if we are able to hiremore people and work at optimum speed, I foresee that the first versionof the full Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine, containing over 20,000 entriesand thousands of illustrations and multimedia materials, would be readywithin five years. Afterwards, we would only need to constantly maintain,update, and expand our site.
If we do not find enough financial support, this process will take longerand the actual schedule is difficult to predict. So although the CIUS isdetermined to continue working on the Internet Encyclopedia no matter what,the ultimate succes of the project will greatly depend on the response ofthe Ukrainian community and the support we can receive.
As I said earlier, the task of presenting the true and objective portrayalof Ukraine and Ukrainians, of our culture and history to the world is crucialfor all of us. So I hope that we will find supporters ready to join forceswith us to successfully accomplish this historic task. It is important thatpotential donors to the project not be discouraged by the relatively largesums needed for the entire project. Any donation to the IEU, no matter howmodest, is very important to us and will allow us, for example, to editand display on the Internet a few new entries. And this is how this complexproject is being realized: entry by entry. So literally everyone is in aposition to contribute.
* * *
All donations to the IEU project (payable to CIUS - Encyclopedia of Ukraine)may be sent to: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, 450 Athabasca Hall,University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E8, Canada.
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