Miromaa - “Putting Fieldwork, Archiving and Disseminating Technologies in Community Hands: Using the Miromaa Software Program”
Daryn McKenny
Course Information
Miromaa could most probably be one of the easiest and most user friendly, but also powerful computer programs developed for the maintenance of our traditional languages. It places a lot of gathering, analysing, and dissemination tools at your fingertips. Miromaa can easily be used in the field, as an individual or by a community language centre/organisation for all aspects of language documentation and reclamation.
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 and will be producing dictionaries and other learning environments by the end of the workshop. But most importantly you will be learning skills to use in all aspects of your activity. For those familiar with SIL programs, Miromaa can make the entering of data into Toolbox and Lexique Pro much, much easier and assist with resource sharing and production.
It has been developed by a leading Aboriginal Language Centre from Australia and is highly suitable for use with many of the traditional languages of North America. Miromaa was developed for the need of empowering Indigenous people to be directly involved with all aspects of language reclamation, preservation and revitalisation. (It is also being used by many academics as an important tool in their language work.)
It is highly advisable to apply for your Miromaa license prior to attending the workshop, you can do this at http://www.miromaa.com.au/how-to-obtain.html
We will be making available a special InField2010 request form to apply for your license and download of Miromaa. This will enable you to have played with Miromaa in your own time and on your own computer and have some basic hands on experience and understanding of Miromaa which may also arm you with prepared questions.
Lexique pro and Audacity will also be used, but don’t worry if you don’t know how to use them we will show you the basics.
More information may be made available here as we get closer to the date.
Further Information
About Miromaa: http://www.miromaa.com.au/about-miromaa/introduction.html
Benefits: http://www.miromaa.com.au/about-miromaa/benefits.html
View Miromaa in action: http://www.miromaa.com.au/learning-centre/learning-room.html
Instructor(s) Bio:
Daryn McKenny has been the manager of the Miromaa Aboriginal Language and Technology Centre since 2003, he is a passionate Aboriginal person and proudly acknowledges is traditional heritage to the Gamilaraay and Wiradjuri nations. Daryn has been instrumental in developing ways of using technology to assist in empowering Aboriginal people to be hands on at all levels of language activity through the creation of his program, Miromaa. His organisation also organises and hosts the National Puliima Indigenous Language and Technology conference every two years in Australia and also developed the “Our Languages” website. Daryn is always looking for innovative methods to help others find ways to stop the language loss and capture and disseminate our languages.