Miromaa Language Technology Program: Tools and Techniques for Language Documentation and Conservation
Daryn McKenny
Alison Soutar
Location: Preston Hall 307
Week 1: Tuesday, June 17-Friday, June 20
Period 2: 10:15-11:45 am
Miromaa is one of the easiest, user friendly, but also powerful computer programs developed for the maintenance of our traditional languages. It places a lot of gathering, analyzing, and dissemination tools at your fingertips. Miromaa can be used in the field, as an individual or by community language programs for all aspects of language documentation and conservation.
It has been developed by a leading Aboriginal Language Centre from Australia and is not only currently used but also highly suitable for use with many of the traditional languages of North America. Miromaa is developed to meet the need of empowering Indigenous people to be directly involved with all aspects of language reclamation, conservation and revitalization work.
In this course of workshops you will get to explore all facets of using Miromaa for language documentation- you will be extremely confident in exploring all of its features including its extensive use of multimedia and archiving abilities. You will also be exposed to Audacity for sound recording and Lexique Pro for producing dictionaries/word lists/lexicons and other learning resources by the end of the workshop. But most importantly you will be learning skills to use in all aspects of your activity to help stop the loss of language and the digitisation for future needs. Miromaa can also make the entering of data into Toolbox and Lexique Pro much, much easier and assist with resource sharing and production.
We will have at hand the complete range of Zoom digital audio and video recording equipment for you to use and assist you in gaining understanding on what is good practise when using these devices.
For those familiar with other tools like Toolbox, Lexique Pro and possibly Flex, Miromaa’s aim is to not replace but work with those programs when documenting and disseminating languages.
Read more: http://www.miromaa.org.au/Miromaa/About-Miromaa.html
Course Requirements
In attending this course we will be providing every participant with the Miromaa software program for your personal use. You will need a Windows based laptop to run Miromaa (if you have a Mac you must have Windows installed via Boot Camp or accessible in a virtual environment like Parallels) and other specific software installed:
After completing your course registration you must visit the CoLang 2014 special web page at our Miromaa Aboriginal Language and Technology Centre website at http://www.miromaa.org.au/colang.html to read the training information and instructions which also include your personal Miromaa software licenses request.
As we are coming from Australia it is very important that you have applied for your Miromaa Licenses and that your computer is setup with the required software well before the 10th June. We are very excited to have this opportunity to meet you all and share our skills with you at CoLang 2014 this year.
What to bring
1. Your windows based laptop with all of the installed software listed ready to go. (if you have a Mac you must have Windows installed via Boot Camp or accessible in a virtual environment like Parallels)
2. Be comfortable with using your Windows computer and have a basic understanding of file management as a minimum. Ideally you will also have Microsoft Word and Excel installed
3. Have Miromaa (http://www.miromaa.org.au/colang.html), Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/) and Lexique Pro (http://www.lexiquepro.com/download.htm) installed on your computer
4. Bring language samples in some form- book, paper, recordings, in your head etc.
5. Bring your own recording devices if you have them, such as a camera, microphones and digital recorders if you wish, that way you can practice with your own equipment with our assistance.
6. Come prepared with an open mind and open heart ready to do some amazing work together!
Any further questions
Please email us