1. Introducing the ELAR information system architecture
Robert Munro &
David Nathan
Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR), School of Oriental and African Studies, London

2. Outline Introduction The ELAR architecture User Requirements Ingestion
Archive & dissemination
Conclusions

3. Introduction – who we are
Part of the Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project (HRELP), based at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.
Funded by the Lisbet Rausing Charitable fund
The other two parts are:
Academic Programme (ELAP) runs postgraduate courses, seminars and workshops
Documentation Programme (ELDP) funds endangered language documentation projects

4. ELAR – current state
In the process of designing and implementing key systems:
accession system (ingestion system)
archive information system
catalogue serving system
archive access system
data storage
long-term backup system

5. ELAR – current state
Source of materials supporting the systems analysis and design:
literature review
review of exemplar materials
interaction with associated archives
interaction with ELDP grantees
interaction with members of ELAP
departmental seminars on language documentation
seminars focused on archiving

6. ELAR – architecture
Strongly informed by the Open Archive Information System (OAIS) Reference Model (CCSDS, 2002)

7. Designated communities
The OAIS model
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Producers
Ingestion
Archive
Dissemination
Designated communities

8. Designated communities
The OAIS model
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Producers
Ingestion
Archive
Dissemination
Designated communities
Identify the nature of the materials (content, format and structures) that data producers will create

9. Designated communities
The OAIS model
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Producers
Ingestion
Archive
Dissemination
Designated communities
Identify the intended users of the archive, and their user requirements

10. Designated communities
The OAIS model
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Producers
Ingestion
Archive
Dissemination
Designated communities
Define dissemination formats, data structures and procedures that support the user requirements of the designated communities

11. Designated communities
The OAIS model
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Producers
Ingestion
Archive
Dissemination
Designated communities
Design an archive information system able to store all the information and produce the required dissemination packages.

12. Designated communities
The OAIS model
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Producers
Ingestion
Archive
Dissemination
Designated communities
Define ingestion (accession) formats and structures that minimise the conversion cost

13. Designated communities
The OAIS model
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Producers
Ingestion
Archive
Dissemination
Designated communities
The archive needs to define three types of ‘packages’: ingestion, archive and dissemination.

14. User requirements EL speakers and communities:
continuation of ownership of language and materials
depositors:
preserve deposit structure; update material; be correctly attributed
researchers:
search (broad, narrow, domain specific); add materials; add relationships
publisher– repurposing:
obtain high quality data for repurposing
publisher– public heritage:
archive to act as mediator
public:
browse
long-term preserver:
obtain clearly structured data

15. Ingestion
A set of formats & structures that can be converted to archive formats with minimal effort:
file formats conforming to the dimensions of portability (Simons and Bird, 2003; Johnson 2004)
support incremental assembly of the deposit
well-documented structures: XML with schema ideal
ELAR preferences:
uncompressed, nonpropriety formats
well-documented structures: (OLAC, IMDI, custom)

16. Ingestion Filenames and structure of deposit:
we convert deposits to formats / structures appropriate for the archive information system
…but, we record the filenames and directory structures of the deposit, allowing depositors to navigate the materials via them

17. Ingestion
Access protocols
… tomorrow

18. Archive and dissemination
Granularity:
archive objects can be bundles
archive objects can be a subsection of a file
the types of related materials and their relationships should play a part in the search options

19. Archive and dissemination
Version control:
modeling versions of materials are required
multiple types of versioning might be required (migration / dissemination / content update)
versions will be ‘invisible’ to most dissemination packages

20. Archive and dissemination
Adding materials and metadata:
users can add comments to data
users can add metadata values not provided by a depositor
users can make relationships between items, including mapping
users can supplement the kinds of metadata and relationships in the archive.
note: all the above require moderation and supporting architecture

21. Archive and dissemination
Language support:
users should be able to add comments / metadata in any language
users should be able to navigate the archive access system via the language preference(s) of their choice
the archive architecture needs to support translations of metadata and comments

22. Archive and dissemination
Archive services
advice and conversion services to depositors
response to requests for information
supporting communications between individuals associated with the archive

23. Archive and dissemination
Archive information system:
separate metadata from materials
avoid redundancy
Dissemination packages:
favour embedding metadata
redundancy ok if an aid interpretation
Technical solutions:
we use MySQL to support the archive
for dissemination, we favour XML and formats allowing metadata to be embedded (PDF, BWF)

24. Conclusions ELAR is newly opened for deposits
Key systems are in the process of development
Significant features include:
modelling archive objects at different granularities
modelling relationships between objects
users can enter/define their own metadata
users can translate information into the language of their choice
users can navigate via the language(s) of choice