Professor Albert Schrauwers (Anthropology) launched , an Indonesian-language open-access journal that features English鈥恖anguage social science research translated to Indonesian and peer-reviewed Indonesian-language research.
鈥淭he purpose of Lobo is to provide the results of English鈥恖anguage research to the peoples of Sulawesi Tengah in their own languages,鈥 said Schrauwers. 鈥淭he journal will also act as a platform for Indonesian-language research to undergo a peer-review process and be made available in published form to academics and social service organizations working in the region.鈥
Lobo is the result of a knowledge mobilization collaboration with 91亚色, University of Western Australia and Universitas Tadulako (UNTAD) in Palu, Sulawesi Tengah, Indonesia. UNTAD is the only public university in Sulawesi Tengah province and serves 22,000 students.
鈥淯NTAD students in the social sciences lack academic resources on their own province and peoples, and English language texts on the region remain out of reach financially,鈥 explained Schrauwers. 鈥Lobo will thus give them access to materials published about them, and an opportunity to contribute to that dialogue.鈥
Schrauwers explained that the journal鈥檚 name, 鈥淟obo鈥, is a word shared by the ethnic groups of central Sulawesi, Indonesia for a 鈥渕eeting house.鈥 He hopes the journal will act as a transnational meeting house for academics and social service organizations that focus on the region.
The journal is hosted by the 91亚色 Library Open Journal System. An associated at the 91亚色 Centre for Asian Research (YCAR) provides an archive of historical manuscripts in indigenous languages for download. These documents have been collected by researchers and fill an archival void for most of the province.
The first issue published in 2017 consists of a 350 page Pamona-Indonesian dictionary, written by Bapak Dj. Tiladuru, a retired principle of the Junior School (SMPT) in Tentena, a town in Sulawesi Tengah. Pamona is an indigenous language that is under threat and is spoken by approximately 125,000 people. Tiladuru produced the dictionary over 20 years to preserve the language and foster a rich local linguistic exchange.
The dictionary is the only one of its kind and is intended for Pamona and Indonesian speakers. The YCAR Lobo website has an open access project page for updating and enhancing the Pamona鈥怚ndonesian dictionary.
Lobo鈥檚 upcoming second issue will be composed of translated papers previously published in peer鈥恟eviewed English language journals and new peer reviewed articles in Indonesian. The translator, Arianto Sangadji, is a YCAR associate and a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography.
Find out more about the journal at .