ConCon documents available in digital format

Important historical documents associated with the CNMI Constitution are now available in fully searchable digital format thanks to a recently completed project funded by the NMI Council for the Humanities.

The project, directed by Deanne Siemer and Alicia Deleon Guerrero, involved locating, organizing and preparing digital copies of approximately 31,000 pages of documents from the three CNMI Constitutional Conventions held in 1976, 1985 and 1995.

These documents include records associated with the election of delegates and the organization of each convention, briefing materials prepared for delegates, daily journals of the convention proceedings, delegate proposals, committee reports, draft constitutional provisions and amendments, and records covering the submission of the constitutional provisions to the people for approval.

Much of the work involved tracking down pertinent documents which, before this project, were not available in one location.

Siemer and Deleon Guerrero received key support from Humanities Council chair Herman T. Guerrero, who made available pertinent documents from his personal collection. Guerrero served as the president of the Second and Third Constitutional Conventions.

Other documents were acquired at the Office of the Attorney General, the NMI Archives, and the Legislative Bureau.

The resulting documents were organized by legal assistants Khristine Dela Paz, Josephine Kapileo, and Rowena DeVera and then converted to digital format by White Coconut Computer Service.

All documents are in PDF format and contained on a fully searchable DVD. The DVD, which comes in a handy plastic case, is accompanied by a 20-page booklet that provides an overview of the collection and instructions on how to view and search files.

DVDs will be distributed to schools, libraries and other repositories throughout the Commonwealth for use by students, teachers and others interested in the history of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The availability of these documents in digital format will help to increase knowledge about the history surrounding the creation of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, it unique political status with the United States, and the responsibilities of individuals in a democratic society.

The collection will also serve as an important legal resource and as an invaluable historical record for future constitutional conventions.

The project was supported in part by a grant awarded by the Council under its 2004 “We the People” program entitled “Exploring the Roots and Responsibilities of Democracy in the Northern Mariana Islands.”

Those interested in acquiring this collection are invited to contact Council staff at 235-4785. [B][I](PR) [/I][/B]