1. Name and Location

Archive Name:
Archive URL: http://www.amphilsoc.org/library/
Host Institution: American Philosophical Society
Country: USA
Contact Person: rs cox
Email Address: rscox@amphilsoc.org


2. Catalog

2.1 If the archive has a catalog in a standardized format, what fields does it contain? If not, what contextual information about the resources are collected? What other information would you like to collect if you could?

2.2 If the electronic catalog conforms to some standard, please tell us the name of the standard.

2.3 To what extent have the archived materials been cataloged electronically?
a small amount

2.4 If there is an online public access catalog, please give its URL.


3. Holdings

3.1 What geographical regions and languages are covered?
Main Regions Covered: Americas
Approx Number of Languages: 200
Main Languages:

3.2 Please give impressionistic estimates of the archive holdings for each of the data types.
DATA TYPE NON-DIGITAL DIGITAL
Texts: large none
Wordlists, Vocabularies, Lexicons, Dictionaries: large none
Field Notes, Correspondence, Misc files: large none
Descriptions (Grammars, Phonologies, etc): large none
Audio Recordings: large large
Video Recordings: small none

3.3 Please list any other data types which are not included above, or any other comments on the archive holdings:

3.4 What proportion of the holdings are unique to the archive and not available elsewhere?
a significant amount


4. Electronic Publication

4.1 To what extent are the archive holdings published electronically, where "published" means that there is a well-defined procedure such that anyone at all can get a standard copy of the data, either on digital media or over the internet?
a small amount

4.2 To what extent are the archive holdings accessible over the web?
just some samples

4.3 Is permission required before materials can be accessed?
no

4.4 Is there any fee for materials?
no

4.5 How are author and/or editor defined for the electronic publications? Is there a bibliographical citation method?
Of course.

4.6 Do the electronic publications have ISBN numbers?
no

4.7 What plans are there to expand the electronic publication of archive holdings?
We will likely increase the numbers of samples made available over the internet, but I suspect we will not provide comprehensive access. We have already digitized most of our sound recordings, but have no specific plans to make them generally available over the internet.


5. General Issues

5.1 Who is the legal owner of archived materials?
The American Philosophical Society legally owns the physical property, but the intellectual property is more complicated. In nearly every case, we have the right now or at some well-defined point in the future to make the materials available for scholarly use on a non- exclusive basis. We have not recognized the right of the "language community" to regulate access, per se, but do request collectors to obtain all necessary rights and permissions from the individual speaker, and we have and will continue to respect the community's wishes to limit access to sensitive materials over and above the individual's on a case by case basis.

5.2 Beyond legal ownership, are there any asserted or perceived moral rights concerning archived materials? Do the holders of the archive see the original speakers or their representatives as controlling publication?
Obviously. See above.

5.3 In cases where no electronic publication is planned, why is this so? (e.g. funding, licensing, technical know-how, lack of interest).
Time, cost.

5.4 Is any of the data in a proprietary format (e.g. MS Word)? If so, are there plans to transfer it to an open standard (e.g., XML)?
In some cases.


6. Do you have any other comments about digital archives of language material, or on this survey?
Your use of the term "archive" appears to differ from the standard meaning of the word (at least in our field) and leads to a number of questions on my part. Secondly, it seems to me that sound and text raise different technological, practical, and potentially ethical questions, but since you've asked about both at the same time, it leads to some lack of precision (and perhaps clarity) in my responses.



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