7. Documentation, control and assessment of data

Once the material has been collected it is essential that the archive provides documentation which is as detailed as possible. There will need to be a number of guides to the overall collection as well as detailed information on each recording.

In a linguistic sound archive a language index will be essential. Inquirers should be able to gain quick access to all the material the archive holds on a particular language. It is important then that all alternative spellings of language names be cross-referenced. In some instances this is not difficult because the differences are rather minor.

For instance, in the case of some Australian (Aboriginal) languages we have variations such as Arabana and Arabanna but sets of alternative names for a single language such as these: Murrinhpatha, Garama and Mariwuda; Yir-Yoront and Koko-Mindjena. Such variations or alternatives clearly need cross-referencing. This can be effected by a card file or running list which is regularly updated. It is not uncommon for the linguistic literature of a region to spawn a plethora of terms of varying status. Some are clearly language or dialect names and their alternates but others are more difficult to categorise being hapax legomena from rather esoteric sources. 13 One is loath to discard the information (or misinformation) but the very large number of names can obscure the overall picture for the uninitiated. It is important for the documentation of a linguistic sound archive that there be some kind of guide through this maze. Careful work through all the sources will enable some identifications to be made and subgroupings to be devised. In some cases it will not be possible to assign particular terms (and the language material that goes with those terms) to any other known category: this will point the areas to be investigated in later fieldwork. The language index can assist fieldwork in other ways. It will be useful for the fieldworker to go into the field armed with all the alternative names that might be expected in the area, otherwise important connections may be missed. It would be a pity if a linguistic research project foundered because a potential informant said: 'No, I never heard of "English"; I only speak "American"'!

To assist the user of the archive there should also be an area catalogue. There are a variety of ways in which such a catalogue could be organized: in terms of culture areas; administrative/government areas; ecological areas; or simply in terms of major named localities.

Information in the archive should also be catalogued according to the people involved in the recording: the depositor; the collector/researcher (usually the same as the depositor); and the informants or collaborators who provided the information. The last mentioned file will assist other field researchers in contacting subjects.

Of major importance, too, is the content of the recording. In some other subject areas, for instance oral history, it would probably be usual rather than the exception for there to be a full transcription of a recording. This is less likely to be so in a linguistic sound archive since the work involved in transcribing unfamiliar language material of quite short duration is quite considerable. It would be unrealistic to expect all material coming into the archive even to be partially transcribed and it would be a disastrous policy decision to refuse to accept such material. The exigencies of the field situation are such that a researcher may decide to collect material simply because it is available, important and unlikely ever to be recorded if this opportunity is not taken and yet he may have no particular research interest in that material himself.

One must expect to receive documentation from outside collectors of widely varying depth. At worst there might be no information at all other than the knowledge that it is appropriate for the recording to be lodged in the archive. Approaching the ideal would be a full transcription with timings. An example of a timed segment of a recording might be:

Archive Tape    
607 Side B 02:30-10:50 Elicitation of colour terms.
For Transcription see MS
No. 1014 pp.45-5l

As much as possible collectors should be encouraged to provide at least a general statement of the content of the recordings. Rough timings with a detailed list of contents are clearly more desirable. There should be a member of the staff engaged in soliciting further information from depositors of materials as well as processing the incoming information and doing 'detective' work on material for which too little information is already available. In addition each recording could be cross-referenced to available literature, e.g. transcriptions held by the archive, by other agencies or in private collections.

To ensure that potential depositors feel confident in lodging their material with the archive there should be an adequate system of control. A range of choices governing the access to and use of the recordings should be available and be formalised in a signed contract of deposit. This will protect the interests of the depositors as well as the archive. In such contracts the interests of the linguistics groups who originally provided the material must be respected. In particular material of a secret or sacred nature should be treated with due discretion. In the event of material for which there is no contract of deposit and any doubt about the status of the material as regards its secret/sacred nature, it would be better to err on the side of caution. In a more general context the staff of the archive should have at least some general familiarity with local copyright regulations or otherwise take expert advice.

A regular assessment of the data held will improve the archive in deciding priorities for research and in keeping the public informed. Regular (e.g. annual) research questionnaires to collectors which could then be collated in a master list for distribution back to those collectors is one method which will help to find the gaps. The archive can then encourage or sponsor depending on finance -specific research projects to fill the gaps. On a regular basis archive staff should solicit data from private collections, particularly where they existed before the creation of the archive.


  1. For an Australian example of this problem see Button, P. 'Australian language names' in Wurm, B. (Ed.) Australian Linguistic Studies; Canberra: Pacific Linguistics; 1979.