Meet Connie, our 2025 Roselani Summer Intern and AMIA Fellow!

This summer has flown by so quickly that we’re only now getting a chance to introduce you to our Roselani and AMIA Pathways Summer Intern, Connie Li! Sadly, Connie has already returned home to Baltimore after spending several weeks with us and is finishing her internship remotely.  The ʻUluʻulu team had a wonderful time getting to know Connie. We miss her already! 

We had her answer our usual new intern interview questions while she was here. Read her take on her experience with us below!

What brought you here to ‘Ulu‘ulu? What are some of the things you’re hoping to learn during your internship with us?

I had been looking to get some experience working with AV or arts archives, and found this opportunity through Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) – I had missed the deadline last year and just decided to try for it this year! 

Before ‘Uluʻulu, I’d gotten a bit of experience with cataloging for the Al Larvick Conservation Fund, but that was the extent of my AV archival work. I have been so grateful to have the opportunity to come to Hawaiʻi not only to learn archiving skills but also Hawaiian history, politics, and culture from the archival materials and my co-workers. 

What projects are you working on at ‘Ulu‘ulu?

During my time here in person, I’ve been working on quality checks for the digitized collections from PBS Hawaiʻi for Robbie, and I also worked with Hōkū on the inventory for the David Kalama collection. I just finished putting all the clean medium-size tapes from that collection into the vault today! 

With the rest of my time, I’ll be doing some cataloging for Koa and checking for consistent metadata across the ‘Uluʻulu Recollect website and the American Archive of Public Broadcastng (AAPB) website where the PBS Hawaiʻi tapes are already online. 

Is there anything about the items you are working with that is surprising or unexpected?

Going through the PBS Hawaiʻi collections for QC has been an exciting process which also makes me feel bittersweet. I have ended up watching several segments in their entirety because I find them so interesting. The devaluation of and funding cuts that libraries, archives, not to mention PBS and other public media have been facing definitely color this project. It’s amazing to see the locality/regionality of these programs, from the panelists brought onto the discussion-based show “Dialog” to interviews with UH football and volleyball players. It feels inviting and familiar, I feel involved as a viewer. 

Did you know much about Hawaiʻi before you started with us? How have your perceptions been influenced by your time at ‘Uluʻulu?

I came to Hawaiʻi with a basic knowledge of the more recent political history and activist movements, which have been an important part of my political education, and I’d seen it represented in various movies and tv shows over the years. Spending time here, going to events, and talking with folks both in and out of the office has given me much more context around some of these issues around tourism and coalition building. Working with the PBS Hawaiʻi collections has also been generative in this way, since I’ve been able to see how folks have been discussing and approaching these issues for generations! 

Now that  you’ve been at the archive for a little while, have you found a favorite aspect?

One of my favorite aspects of the archive has to be witnessing the webs of relationships within and around the materials and seeing people engage with the tapes and files we work with! On my first day here, I attended a tour of the archive alongside a group of students from one of the Kamehameha Schools. Perhaps there were some future archivists among the group! As I mentioned, I’ve also been watching “Dialog” which Dan Boylan hosted several episodes of, and I was able to meet him just the other day on campus! I also got to tag along with Koa and Tisha to a screening of Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī at the Kahuku Public and School Library, and some of the family members of one of the musicians in the documentary were in attendance. It was amazing to watch that documentary with them and hear them point out their family and remember these people together. 

Do you have any advice for future ‘Uluʻulu interns or fellows?

Pack a hoodie for the office. And if you have time, watch some Muppets movies or Love Actually! 

Through the generous support of the Henry Ku‘ualoha & Muriel Roselani Giugni Fund of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation, and in partnership with the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) Pathways Fellowship Program, the Roselani Media Preservation Internship is offered each year at ‘Ulu‘ulu to give a student of merit who is committed to the preservation of our media history the opportunity to acquire practical experience in a moving image archive.