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How to Use the Archive

There are five steps in using the archive to access a particular resource:

1. Registration
2. Searching for the resources you want
3. Downloading the resource to your computer
4. Viewing and/or listening to the resource
5. Using the resource

1. Registration

If you want to access any archive resource, you will have to register. You can search and browse and look at the metadata for all archive resources without registering. This is just like a library: anyone can look at the catalog information, but if you want to check out a book, you have to have a library card. Registration creates a user account for you that will keep track of the resources that you have deposited, and also keep a list of any restricted resources that you have gotten permission to access. Your user account also shows that you have agreed to abide by the Terms and Conditions that govern the use of the archive, so you won't have to pass through that screen again.

2. Searching and browsing

There are several ways of finding resources that interest you in the archive. Searching involves the use of specific terms that the search engine tries to match against everything in the archive. Browsing allows you to gradually narrow the number of resources you're looking at. AILLA offers four ways to locate resources in the archive:

1. Search by metadata. Metadata is data about data: the catalog information used to describe each resource in the archive. AILLA's metadata includes information about the people who participated in creating the resource, like which languages they speak and where they come from; a classification of the genre of the resource, such as 'narrative' or 'grammar'; information about the format and condition of the original medium; and information about the format and size of the digital file. Try a metadata search.
2. Search by keywords. You could also search for some word or phrase that appears in the narrative Description sections of the metadata. This kind of search is just like searching for something using a popular Internet search engine. [Not yet implemented.]
3. Browse by language. This interface offers you a list of language names to choose from. This sounds easier than it actually is, because some Latin American languages have several different names, or several different ways of spelling their names. AILLA uses the spelling that appears in Campbell (1997), unless we have been instructed to use different names or spellings by the speakers of the language in question. So, for example, we spell all the Mayan languages according to the standard orthography of the Academy of Mayan Languages of Guatemala. The Language Names page has a list of the variant names and spellings that are associated with each of the AILLA menu names, that you can consult if you don't find the name you're familiar with on the menu. Try the language browser.
4. Browse by geographical region. This interface allows you to choose a country from a map of Latin America. The result will be all of the resources in AILLA in and about the indigenous languages spoken in that country. Try the map browser.

Search results

All the search and browse interfaces will return a list of results that looks like this:

Each line in the list of results is a brief description of an archive resource. An AILLA resource is actually a bundle of closely related items, or files. That means that there are several files associated with the "One-eyed Grandmother" resource, including audio files in different formats and a transcription and translation file in PDF format (read more about AILLA's file formats).

If you click on the Detail button at the right of each resource, you will see the complete metadata record for that resource.

File identifiers

The metadata record includes a list of all the items that are in the bundle. Files are identified uniquely with a structured file name designed to keep the items in a bundle together. The format of each file is indicated by the file extension. You don't need to understand the file names, but if you're interested, they work like this:

ZOH1M18A1 identifies the resource titled "Entrevista con un Curandero" in the Zoque of San Miguel Chimalapa, Oaxaca, Mexico. ZOH is the Universal Language Code for Oaxaca Zoque. 1M18B1 indicates that this resource was part of the first deposit for this language, that it was on tape 18, side A, track 1. M is just a letter that separates the deposit number from the media number that follows. This scheme allows you to reconstruct the original medium, if you want to, but mainly it is designed to ensure that we have a unique identifier for every resource in the archive.

ZOH1M18A1 is a bundle that includes a .wav file, a .mp3 file, a 1-minute sample file in .mp3 format, a .pdf file, and a .txt (Shoebox output) file with the interlinearized text. All of these files have the same name - ZOH1M18A1 - but they each have different extensions indicating their format type. (The exception is the sample file, which is named ZOH1M18A1sa.mp3.)

3. Downloading files

Most of the resources in the archive are available for viewing and listening by the general public without restriction, but some have special conditions or restrictions defined by the depositor. These restrictions are governed by the AILLA Graded Access System. Your user account will keep track of which restricted files you have access to, so you don't have to ask for permission every time you visit the resource.

Assuming that you have access to the file you want, all you have to do is click on the file identifier. What happens next will depend on your particular system, but in most cases some sort of Download Manager will pop up and take care of downloading the file for you. It may also give you an indication of how long it will take, and give you the option of cancelling the process if it is taking too long.

Warning: wav files may be too large to download to your computer unless you have a very high speed Internet connection. You will probably want to test the MP3 versions first, to be sure that the resource is something that you need, before attempting to download a large .wav file.

4. Viewing, listening, and copying

• Audio files in MP3 format can be listened to with a variety of free players, such as the ones available from MP3.com.
• Text files in PDF format can be viewed with the Adobe Acrobat Reader .
• Photographs and drawings will usually be displayed by your browser, or by a utility program that is standard for your computer.

The Download Manager will automatically start the appropriate display program for you.

If the resource you are interested in consists of an audio file and a text file that goes with it, like a transcription or translation, you can organize the display to be able to read the text while you listen to the recording:

1. Select the MP3 file, which causes it to be downloaded to your computer and starts the MP3 player.
2. Stop the playback, and move the player window out of the way.
3. Select the PDF file, which will be downloaded and opened in an Acrobat Reader window.
4. Restart the MP3 player, and use your mouse to scroll through the text file as you listen.

This method is a primitive, but effective. There are now many software programs that allow you to time-align text with recordings, so that it will scroll forward automatically as the recording progresses. The Elan program from the Max-Planck Institute of Psycholinguistics is such a program, that allows you to add multiple levels of annotation, all aligned with audio and/or video recordings. We encourage our depositors to do this, and when there is sufficient demand, we will incorporate some version of Elan into our interface so that it can be used for viewing time-aligned archive resources. But AILLA staff can not undertake the job of aligning text and sound, because it requires someone who understands at least enough of the language that is recorded to be able to determine where one word ends and the next one begins, and we can't possibly do that for every language in Latin America!

The Download Manager usually leaves a copy of audio files on your desktop, which you can move to any folder you wish. If not, the media player should have a File menu or button that allows you to save the file. The Acrobat Reader also allows you to save the file you are currently viewing to your own computer, by using the File menu or by clicking on the little diskette icon on the toolbar.

5. Using the resource

We believe that the resources at AILLA will be useful in a multitude of ways: for developing teaching materials for all ages and in many kinds of classrooms; for research; in language reclamation programs; and in artistic creations. We encourage you to explore the archive and make full use of the resources, but we ask that you be at all times respectful of the individuals who created them, the peoples whose languages are spoken in these materials, and the scholars who produce and deposit many of our resources. Ask for permission before making any kind of derivative work (transcription, translation, incorporation into a textbook or analysis, creative production, etc.). And always cite any resource that you use in the classroom or in publications following the AILLA Citation Guidelines.