Inmates at the Women’s Community Correctional Center are the newest group to join the volunteer task force that is creating an electronic database of old Hawaiian-language newspapers.

About 50 inmates will join the Hawaiian-newspaper initiative, launched last year with the goal of transcribing more than 75,000 of the 125,000 pages from the more than 100 Hawaiian-language newspapers printed from 1834 to 1948.

The project, Ike Ku‘oko‘a, or "Liberating Knowledge," is sponsored by Awaiaulu Press. The goal is to transcribe about 60,000 remaining pages from Hawaiian-language newspapers by July 31.

Once transcribed, the pages will be compiled into a word-searchable database.

During a presentation Wednesday at the correctional facility in Windward Oahu, inmates who are part of the correctional center’s Ke Alaula group confirmed their commitment to help Ike Ku‘oko‘a reach its goal.

Ke Alaula is a substance abuse therapeutic program that addresses the needs of incarcerated Native Hawaiians who are affected by physical, emotional or sexual abuse.

"The women are excited for this opportunity," said facility warden Mark Patterson.

With 6,000 volunteers from around the world to meet the goal, each person must transcribe up to 10 pages.

"More people are needed," said Puakea Nogelmeier, executive director of Awaiaulu.

"When folks hear of what we’re trying to do, they think we’re crazy," said Kau‘i Sai-Dudoit, project outreach manager for Ike Ku‘oko‘a. "It’s actually pretty easy."

To join the Web-based project, Sai-Dudoit explained, volunteers register on the site, then are assigned a page. The task is to "just type what you see," she said.

Once finished, the page is sent back to Awaiaulu, where proofreaders ensure it is to be added to the database.

Volunteers are called upon every day to complete pages.

The volunteers in the correctional center’s Ke Alaula program consider the work part of their therapy to recover from years of abuse.

"They’ve gravitated to all the cultural practices, like hula, that we offer through the program to help cope and overcome those issues," Patterson said. "Those practices, in addition to the transcribing of the pages, link them to their culture and will help them when they head back into society."

Patterson said 43 percent of the women in the prison are at least part Native Hawaiian, and nearly two-thirds have children who are part Native Hawaiian.

Janice Cockett, an inmate who said she was 17 years into a 20- to 25-year sentence for murder, said she volunteered to transcribe newspapers because she enjoys anything and everything of historical value.

"Once you’re incarcerated, history is everything. There’s a certain joy and beauty in it," said Cockett, who said she is not Native Hawaiian but was born and raised in the state.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.