Planning Your Documentation Project

Once you have an understanding of the context of language use in your community, identified goals, and determined what type of research project would be a good fit, the next step is planning the project—collecting materials (data) and building or adding to a documentary corpus. Below are some key terms that are commonly used in documentation.

Data: is the term used for materials that will be collected. It could be audio or video recordings, transcriptions, or images, etc. This is the term most often used in academia or by funding agencies.

Documentary Corpus: is simply a collection of durable materials such as texts, audio, or video that is organized and stored in a way that facilitates safe storage,^ⓘ "safe storage" for documents, whether physical or digital, involves measures to ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability. appropriate access,^ⓘ refers to the necessary and authorized permissions granted to individuals or entities to interact with specific documents or information based responsibilities or sensitivity of the information. and further use.^ⓘ Refers to the subsequent phases or stages a document undergoes in its creation so that it can be utilized, accessed, or revised in the future.

Now that you have identified your goals for documentation project, the next step is understanding what resources you may already have and what you may need to collect or create to successfully complete the project. Some of these tasks may include learning more about what you don’t know or what might be missing (and in turn, needed) to complete the project. Below are some suggested steps for planning; resource handouts are also included at the end of the module to help you with this process.

Create a Wish List of materials to be collected; some examples might be:

• Recordings of speakers in different contexts (i.e. conversation, oral histories, culturally important activities, other
• Collecting images
• Translating and transcribing existing materials

Inventory List:

• Include what materials your community may already have
  • Note if materials need to be translated, transcribed, or converted to another format
  • Note if you have permission to access and use existing materials
• List what new materials need to be collected, recorded, etc.
• Identify speakers, teachers, or learners who may be recorded or interviewed

Resources Needed:

• List type of personnel that may be needed to complete the project
• Identify technology needed to collect materials
• Determine how much time will collection of materials take

Safe Storage:

• Where are materials stored

Appropriate Access:

• Consider and determine who will have access to the material and how/when
• Identifying and noting if material may be culturally sensitive

Below are sample spreadsheets for a Wish List and an Inventory List. These can be used as a guide to help you determine or assess your starting point for documentation. Make sure to note if you have access and permission to use available materials and if they contain sensitive or cultural information.