Archival considerations
Collecting in the field will result in the creation of manuscript and recorded material, to be sent back to the archive centre holding all the collected data. This data will obviously be used by researchers working on the immediate projects being undertaken, but it must be borne in mind that both the manuscript and the sound recorded material can serve the needs of different researchers and that other scholars may wish to consult it from time to time. As linguistic surveys are costly, further investigations of a similar kind are unlikely to be undertaken again for some time. Consequently if the collected data is to be readily usable, certain archival considerations have to be heeded before fieldwork has begun and the data, as it accrues, must be kept in a properly organized archive. The magnetic sound recordings should, of course, be stored under suitable conditions in the archive.
An appropriately designed answer book is used for taking down transcriptions of the speech forms of the informants. It is arranged in such a way that each answer correlates with a numbered question in the dialect questionnaire which is to be used to collect the data. A completed answer book will contain the data of one informant, each item in it being his answer to a question and the whole representing a variety of speech from one area. An extra column is usually provided to note down any 'incidental' material; that is, any further expressions used in the community which exemplify a particular speech form or any similar words having the same meaning.
Biographical details of the informant are also noted down so as to identify a data sample and, from each locality investigated, a number of such answer books will be produced. This will be the working programme throughout the whole area being surveyed. From these answer books the data necessary for mapping work, for example, will be abstracted.
Vocabular items collected when undertaking fieldwork related to lexicographical projects should be entered directly on to index cards, all of a specified size. These will come together in the archive and will be arranged according to a manner of indexing previously established. The information on each card should be set out according to a prescribed form. Normally it will include the index word in the standard language; the spoken form, which may be in transcription; its meaning, with complete utterances to illustrate its use. The card also shows the region from which the information was obtained, the collector's name, the questionnaire number and date of investigation. Thus one card contains details of a single meaning given to a word. All the fieldworkers, including voluntary collectors, should be taught to note down lexical items in this way, as this procedure will reduce considerably any recopying work which otherwise might have become necessary.
The vocabularies can be arranged in a single alphabetical index or in collections according to regions, as is required. With modern photo-copying devices copies of cards can be made so that different arrangements of the same material· is possible.
In section 4(c) of this chapter attention has already been drawn to the necessity of achieving the highest technical standards possible in field recording. Similar care and investment is needed in the archive to ensure the permanent preservation of recorded material. The main factors to be considered are the choice of tape, of tape formats and of recording speeds as well as the copying, packaging and storage of the archive collection. Regular conservation procedures should also be carried out. Readers should study Chapter 2 of this publication, and the associated references listed in Appendix A, for detailed advice on these subjects.
