Distributed Access to Oral History collections: Fitting Access Technology to the needs of Collection Owners and Researchers

In contrast with the large amounts of potential interesting research material in digital multimedia repositories, the opportunities to unveil the gems therein are still very limited. The Oral History project ‘Verteld Verleden’ (Dutch literal translation of Oral History) that is currently running in The Netherlands, focuses on improving access to spoken testimonies in collections, spread over many Dutch cultural heritage institutions, by deploying modern technology both concerning infrastructure and access. Key objective in the project is mapping the various specific requirements of collection owners and researchers regarding both publishing and access by means of current state-of-the-technology. In order to demonstrate the potential, Verteld Verleden develops an Oral History portal that provides access to distributed collections. At the same time, practical step-by-step plans are provided to get to work with modern access technologies. In this way, a solid starting point for sustained access to Oral History collections can be established

Towards Affordable Disclosure of Spoken Word Archives

This paper presents and discusses ongoing work aiming at affordable disclosure of real-world spoken word archives in general, and in particular of a collection of recorded interviews with Dutch survivors of World War II concentration camp Buchenwald. Given such collections, the least we want to be able to provide is search at different levels and a flexible way of presenting results. Strategies for automatic annotation based on speech recognition – supporting e.g., within-document search– are outlined and discussed with respect to the Buchenwald interview collection. In addition, usability aspects of the spoken word search are discussed on the basis of our experiences with the online Buchenwald web portal. It is concluded that, although user feedback is generally fairly positive, automatic annotation performance is still far from satisfactory, and requires additional research

Robust audio indexing for Dutch spoken-word collections

Abstract—Whereas the growth of storage capacity is in accordance with widely acknowledged predictions, the possibilities to index and access the archives created is lagging behind. This is especially the case in the oral history domain and much of the rich content in these collections runs the risk to remain inaccessible for lack of robust search technologies. This paper addresses the history and development of robust audio indexing technology for searching Dutch spoken-word collections and compares Dutch audio indexing in the well-studied broadcast news domain with an oral-history case-study. It is concluded that despite significant advances in Dutch audio indexing technology and demonstrated applicability in several domains, further research is indispensable for successful automatic disclosure of spoken-word collections

Distributed Access to Oral History collections: Fitting Access Technology to the needs of Collection Owners and Researchers

In contrast with the large amounts of potential interesting research material in digital multimedia repositories, the opportunities to unveil the gems therein are still very limited. The Oral History project ‘Verteld Verleden’ (Dutch literal translation of Oral History) that is currently running in The Netherlands, focuses on improving access to spoken testimonies in collections, spread over many Dutch cultural heritage institutions, by deploying modern technology both concerning infrastructure and access. Key objective in the project is mapping the various specific requirements of collection owners and researchers regarding both publishing and access by means of current state-of-thetechnology. In order to demonstrate the potential, Verteld Verleden develops an Oral History portal that provides access to distribu

Digital Humanities: Community Participation in the Balinese Language Digital Dictionary

In recent years, the capability of Balinese people to write and speak their mother tongue has declined significantly among the younger generations because of the growing influence and adoption of the national language, Bahasa Indonesia.  It has spread rapidly among Balinese youth because it is considerably more straightforward than the Balinese language and is free of caste regulations.  In this paper, we present the details of our digital humanities preservation research dealing with the Balinese language.  We utilize community-based crowdsourcing to participate in expanding and enriching the BASABali Wiki digital dictionary in the form of an online competition. Ninety-six participants in 24 groups participated in our study, and their contribution populated 2686 new unique sentences to the BASABali Wiki digital dictionary. We also discuss the procedures employed to evaluate the digital dictionary: to receive feedback on the digital dictionary system and our approach to acquiring the knowledge of the community

Brand personality and language: an analysis of Tiffany and Pandora product descriptions

openThe research investigates the use of the English language in brands communication strategy. The first chapter aims to give an overall basic knowledge regarding brand communication and its main features: brand personality and brand engagement. To subsequently continue in the following chapter, with an analysis of the linguistic aspects regarding web-based communications and how they influence individuals in their perceptions of a brand or company. The third chapter aims to apply the knowledge gathered in the first two chapters of this dissertation to the examination of the linguistic differences present in the brands Tiffany and Pandora, in a comparison of the two. Key words: brand communication, communication strategy, linguistic analysis, Tiffany, Pandor

Archival of the Fittest: The Role of Archives in Constructing Gay Dutch Historical Memory

Truth, particularly in history, is subjective and constructed through memory. Memory, in turn, is created by archivists, as they actively choose and preserve the narratives made available to researchers and the public; they hold a key position in deciding what is widely understood about what happened in the past. In the same way archivist bias leads to historical erasure, archivists establish historical remembering when they actively make space for individuals and groups who are traditionally omitted from past narratives. Community archives stand distinct from state counterparts, as they restructure what is deemed valuable enough to be preserved within historical memory, thus shifting power to marginalized people reclaiming the past and future. Though a case study of IHLIA LGBT Heritage (frequently shortened to IHLIA), an LGBTI-specific archive in Amsterdam, I unpack archival biases and decisions that contribute to collective memory. Extending the production of memory beyond archival walls, IHLIA has recently presented a public exhibit entitled With Pride to celebrate the institution’s fortieth anniversary and the four decades of LGBT activism in Amsterdam since its founding. While archives are semi-public spaces dictating historical narrative through meticulous collecting, exhibits heighten visibility of selectively-curated information through public access; the coalition between archive and exhibit at IHLIA intensifies the efficiency of memorializing a gay past. By analyzing these spaces, I call to attention the value and necessity of community-based archives, identify IHLIA’s role in Dutch homonationalism, and critique archivists’ decentering of queer audiences and generational identities