going with the (work)flow: tailoring data management ......data management workflow collect data...

Going with the (work)flow: tailoring data management protocols to a

complex research cycle

Rachel Watson Crossroads Project, SOAS

University of Rio de Janerio, August 2017 rw44@soas.ac.uk @casamance_owl

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researchers

participants

transcribers

corpus managers 4

AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDINGS multiple participant multiple languages

multiple format

METADATA (ARBIL) file name

date participants

subject

ANNOTATION (ELAN) transcription

translation language note

participant note

CORPUS

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TYPES OF DATA

elicitation interview

experiments narratives, demonstrations, ‘staged communicative events’

participant observation, ‘left’ camera lavalier mic data

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CORPUS searcheable findable! comprehensible

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Thieburger & Berez 2012

Thieburger 2004

Nathan 2008

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DATA MANAGEMENT WORKFLOW

collect data

create metadata and annotations

deposit in corpus

analyse

THE END 11

DATA MANAGEMENT WORKFLOW

collect data

create metadata and annotations

deposit in corpus

analyse

THE END

unknown people, places, languages/ time consuming/tired

travel/”real work”/transcription lag/ interfaces

searchability/access/harmonized metadata

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DATA MANAGEMENT WORKFLOW

collect data

create metadata and annotations

deposit in corpus

analyse

THE END

unknown people, places, languages/ time consuming/tired

travel/”real work”/transcription lag/ interfaces

searchability/access/harmonized metadata

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PRINCIPLES OF WORKFLOW DESIGN 1. Let the data management flow be dictated by the natural cycle of

research and field trips – not the other way round.

2. Where a task must be carried out in a very specific way by multiple team members, have documents detailing this process in explicit detail. If it doesn’t really matter how it is done, don’t bother.

3. Apportion tasks according to knowledge and expertise, but…

4. Ultimate overseeing of the data and metadata should be ceded to a central manager (we have two – one in London and one in Senegal)

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DATA MANAGEMENT WORKFLOW

collect data

create metadata and annotations

deposit in corpus

analyse

THE END 15

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PRINCIPLES OF WORKFLOW DESIGN 1. Let the data management flow be dictated by the natural cycle of

research and field trips – not the other way round.

2. Where a task must be carried out in a very specific way by multiple team members, have documents detailing this process in explicit detail. If it doesn’t really matter how it is done, don’t bother.

3. Apportion tasks according to knowledge and expertise, but…

4. Ultimate overseeing of the data and metadata should be ceded to a central manager (we have two – one in London and one in Senegal)

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Let the data management flow be dictated by the natural cycle of research and field trips – not the other way round.

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STILL TO WORK ON….

better system for metadata – particulalrly for participants system for being online

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Thank you

Crossroads Project team and collaborators Leverhulme Trust

British Academy IPM Scheme Bruna and Kris

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