Glossary of Specialized Terms ¹

NOTE: Expressions in bold and followed by an asterisk (e.g. “ASW-HSS project*”) appear in the glossary.

A

Analysis (of an audiovisual corpus)

1) A term denoting one of the two main categories of tasks and activities of work on an audiovisual corpus. The other category is processing* of an audiovisual corpus.

2) The work of analysis involves explicitizing the potential value* of an audiovisual text for a given audience (the analyst* could be this audience). A potential value* may be new information provided about a particular topic, missing or unpublished images, explanations which facilitate better understanding of a fact, etc.).

3) In the context of the ASW-HSS project, we distinguish between six main types of analysis of an audiovisual corpus: a) locating a potential value (analysis which consists of identifying the relevant segments or passages in an audiovisual text, and segmenting it); b) paratextual analysis* (a task which involves producing so-called identifying information on an audiovisual text and/or one of its segments); c) audiovisual description* (a task which consists of carrying out a description/interpretation of the visual and audio shots of an audiovisual text); d) thematic description* (a task which consists of analyzing the content of an audiovisual text or one of its segments, i.e. the topics they deal with); e) pragmatic analysis* in the broader sense (a task which consists of explicitly stating the possible uses/users of an audiovisual text and increasing its interest and usefulness for the audience or for a specific use, in the form e.g. of user instructions, linguistic or cultural translation/adaptation, etc.).

Analyst (Role of)

1) This term refers to the intellectual work devoted to an audiovisual (or, more usually, textual) corpus: a) identifying a corpus of work (or analysis corpus*); b) locating the relevant passages or “moments”(as regards a given objective) and segmenting (i.e. “extracting” the relevant passages and moments); c) controlled* or free* description* of the passages and indexing per se, d) and finally – if applicable – translation-adaptation of the previously described passages.

2) The role of the analyst is one of several which characterize work in the context of digital archives (or libraries). Other important roles which were problematized as part of the ESCoM* research are: the role of the publisher* and the role of the knowledge engineer* (or the “concept designer”).

3) The role of analyst takes a number of rather different forms: simple “day-to-day” activity of classifying personal archives; the work of the librarian/archivist, classifying and indexing a collection according to predefined criteria; or the work of a specialist (an “expert”) in the field documented by an audiovisual collection.

4) The role of the analyst requires a number of skills (i.e. knowledge and knowhow), of which the following three must be highlighted: a) textual analysis skills (i.e. the ability to produce a so-called semiotic expert assessment); b) analytical skill (i.e. the ability to produce a so-called referential expert assessment); and c) knowledge and know-how of the technologies and tools needed to carry out and disseminate an analysis (i.e. always being abreast of technological developments, identifying the techniques and tools which are appropriate to the analysis and making effective use of these techniques and tools to carry out and disseminate the analysis).

5) Given the increasingly obvious importance of identifying, describing, publishing, disseminating and appropriating relevant information in the context of a society which is largely conditioned by a knowledge-based economy, the role of the analyst is now rapidly evolving to include new fields and professions.

C

Concept (see: Conceptual term)

Collection (audiovisual-)

1) The term “audiovisual collection” denotes the entire set of audiovisual data which are available in an audiovisual archive and which (at least in part) “feed” the functionally distinct types of audiovisual corpora* that we may encounter in the working process of audiovisual production-publication.

Corpus (audiovisual)

1) A set of visual, sound, filmic etc. texts of any type/genre, size, editorial readiness … which has a particular function according to the phase of the working process* (of audiovisual production-publishing) in which it is developed and used.

2) In the context of the ASW-HSS project, we distinguish between the field corpus*, the processing corpus* and the processed corpus*, the analysis corpus* and the analyzed corpus*, the publication corpus*and the published corpus*.

3) The procedures to be followed when compiling an audiovisual corpus should be as explicit as possible and defined in the form of guides making up the technical documentation accompanying the working process* (of audiovisual production-publishing). Indeed, depending on its place and its function in the working process of audiovisual production-publishing, an audiovisual corpus must fulfill a series of expectations and needs and may therefore be appraised in relation to criteria such as empirical scope, internal consistency/ weighting, epistemic quality, etc.

Analysis corpus

1) The analysis corpus brings together all the audiovisual data that the analyst has selected for analysis, i.e. a set of activities aimed at explicitizing the potential value* of the corpus (or a given part of the corpus) for a given audience. This work constitutes one of the main stages of the working process* in the context of the ARA program* and is carried out using the ASW Description Workshop*.

2) The analysis corpus may be made up of data taken from different sources: i) data from a single field corpus* (most commonplace) or from a number of field corpora (created by the same person/team or by different actors); ii) data from one or more (physically) processed corpora*; iii) data from other sources (i.e. other audiovisual collections* …); iv) audiovisual documents* forming part of one or more already-published corpora* online (on a site such as that of the ARA) and which will be subject to new analyses, re-descriptions, re-interpretations, etc.

3) The analysis corpus, which forms the input of the analysis* stage of the working process of audiovisual production-publishing, must be functionally distinguished from the analyzed corpus, which results from an analysis (description, indexing, etc.).

4) It is also helpful to distinguish the analysis corpus from the processing corpus*, i.e. the corpus of audiovisual data chosen to be subjected to technical or authorial changes to the “appearance” and the linearity of an audiovisual database.

Analyzed corpus

1) All the audiovisual data analyzed (described, indexed, commented upon, translated/adapted …) documenting one or more fields* (an event, a display, a piece of heritage …).

2) The analyzed corpus results from the analysis of audiovisual data, which is one of the main phases of the working process* in the context of the ARA program* and is carried out using the ASW Description Workshop*.

Field corpus

1) All the data collected or produced from a field* dedicated to gathering information to document a scientific or cultural manifestation or “field” research per se (e.g. an archeological excavation, a sociological survey, an anthology of oral expressions as part of an ethno-literary research project, etc.).

2) In the context of the ARA program, the collection of the audiovisual data and the constitution of a field corpus are governed by a set of principles which are expounded in an online document entitled “Collection and preservation of audiovisual data”. This document is available for consultation on the ARA Website: http://www.archivesaudiovisuelles.fr/EN/about4.asp.

Processing corpus

1) All the data which have been chosen to be processed by a technician or the author. Technical processing encompasses the activities of “trimming”, physically cleaning the files containing the data collected in the field corpus, improving the visual or sound quality of the files, etc. Authorial processing is mainly concerned with editing the audiovisual data (according to a montage scenario), creating transitions and special effects, postsynchronizing the sound and image tracks, adding voiceover comments, and so on.

2) The data forming part of a corpus of processing may belong to one or (or more, this is the most recurring case) field corpora* but they may also come from other audiovisual collections*, or even already processed and/or published data.

3) The corpus of processing constitutes one of the two main inputs of the processing/analysis stage of the working process* of audiovisual production-publishing (the other input is formed by the analysis corpus*).

Processed corpus

1) All the audiovisual data derived from the (technical or authorial) processing stage of the working process* of audiovisual production-publishing – audiovisual data documenting one or more fields* (an event, a display, a piece of heritage …).

Publication corpus

1) All the audiovisual data making up the input of the actual publishing phase (one of the main phases of the working process* in the ARA program) and carried out using the ASW Description Workshop*.

2) The relevance of the publication corpus must be evaluated in relation to the objectives of a given publication. In any case, it may be made up of data of a different nature and taken from different sources: i) from only one analyzed corpus* (this is the most common situation in the context of the “normal” activities of the ARA program*); ii) from several analyzed corpora*; iii) from one or more corpora of processed* (but not necessarily analyzed) data; iv) from one or more field corpora* (neither necessarily processed nor analyzed); v) from already published corpora*, etc.

Published corpus

1) All the audiovisual data which are available to a general or specific audience in the form of a chosen genre of publication* (in the ARA program in the form of, e.g. an event site, a themed folder, an interactive video-book, a bilingual folder, etc.).

2) A functional distinction must be drawn between the publication corpus and the published corpus. The publication corpus brings together all the audiovisual data used as input for the process of publication via the ASW Publishing Workshop. However, the publisher/author is free to choose, within the audiovisual publication corpus, a given element that he/she really wants to publish, to the detriment of other items which are publishable but are not chosen by the publisher/author. (However, in another publishing process, the same publisher/author or another person taking on this role may come back to the unpublished publishable items to create a new publication with them …). The published corpus encompasses only those elements which are in fact published online in the form of a given publishing genre*.

D

Document (audiovisual) – (audiovisual text)

1) A term denoting an audiovisual object which has in principle been processed, analyzed and published, i.e. an audiovisual object which, by way of a set of activities forming part of the working process* of audiovisual production-publishing, is given the status and function – quite rightly, and at least in its authors’ eyes – of documenting something, reporting, providing information, knowledge, satisfying curiosity, etc.

2) An audiovisual document/text is only available to us in the form of a specific publishing genre*. As part of the activities of publishing of the ARA program*, it is available to us, e.g., in the form of an interactive* video-book, a documentary, a report, a themed folder*, an educational folder* etc.

3) The audiovisual document is one of the “tangible”, “visible” results of the published corpus* (published online in the context of the ARA program).

4) The digital audiovisual document is not necessarily a static, set, definitive audiovisual text. On the contrary, particularly by way of republication*, the audiovisual document may evolve over time and be enriched, change form, etc.

Domain of knowledge/expertise

1) The domain of knowledge is the referential universe which is covered by the metalanguage of description* and, more particularly, the library of models of description* of a given audiovisual collection*.

2) The expression “domain of knowledge/expertise” highlights that we must distinguish between the domain as it is cognitively represented by the knowledge engineer* (= domain of knowledge in the sense of a fairly reliable expert assessment, more-or-less universally accepted …) and the real domain which is supposed to correspond to the domain of knowledge in the form of an expert assessment.

3) In the ASW-HSS project, several domains of knowledge have been defined and explained in the form of specific metalanguages of description (also called domain ontologies*) i.e. the domains of knowledge covered by the main experimental workshops of the ASW-HSS project – CCA*, ArkWork*, LHE*, AICH* – and FMSH-ARA.

Description

Audiovisual description (type of –)

1) Audiovisual description is a specific type of description of an audiovisual corpus which is mainly concerned with the visual, audio and audiovisual shots in the videos being analyzed. For example, it might look at the different camera angles of a profilmic event, the different framing and camera movements; it might also focus on the sound effects, the “soundscapes” typical of a given type of scene (e.g. of given places or accompanying a certain social practice, etc.).

2) A systematic audiovisual description leads to what could be called a library of visual and/or acoustic and/or audiovisual motifs, i.e. of sorts of recurring stereotypes which characterize the writing of an audiovisual corpus.

3) Like any other descriptive activity, audiovisual description is carried out by way of interactive forms at the disposition of the analyst in the ASW Description Workshop*.

Controlled description (procedure of –)

1) Unlike the procedure of free description*, controlled description is a procedure which relies exclusively on a thesaurus* of predefined terms (or “descriptors”) to denote the domain of knowledge* that is addressed in a video, an audiovisual text.

2) The procedure of controlled description is based on several activities of description (each activity being defined in the hierarchical metalexicon of conceptual terms* of semiotic analysis – a metalexicon which constitutes one of the main ASW metalinguistic resources* required for elaborating models of description*). In this procedure, the only compulsory activity is to select at least one predefined term in the list of such terms in order to identify and possibly classify, the object of the description. Like any other activity of description, this is also carried out by way of interactive forms available to the analyst in the ASW Description Workshop*.

Free description (procedure of –)

1) The procedure of free description is one of the most important procedures of description and along with the controlled description* (by way of a thesaurus*) it constitutes the most central procedure in the ASW-HSS project*.

2) “Free description” means that the analyst provides the appropriate value so that a conceptual term* can adequately represent a thematized domain of knowledge in the form of a topic* in an audiovisual corpus. In controlled description*, these values are predefined in the form of terms or descriptors making up a thesaurus*.

3) The procedure of free description is based on several activities of description (each activity being defined in the hierarchical metalexicon of conceptual terms* of semiotic analysis – a metalexicon which constitutes one of the ASW metalinguistic resources* required for elaborating models of description*). In this procedure, the only compulsory activity is to enter a minimal (linguistic) expression in order to appropriately designate/denominate the domain of knowledge which is dealt with in a video, an audiovisual text. Like any other activity of description, this is also carried out by way of interactive forms available to the analyst in the ASW Description Workshop*.

Paratextual description (type of –)

1) Paratextual description is a specific type of description which clarifies the formal identity of an object being analyzed (a video, a segment of video, an image …), i.e. its title, its author(s), its genre, possibly the date and place of publication, etc. It also clarifies issues of rights (copyright, usage rights …) and if need be, the “main topic” to which the analyzed object belongs (leaving the explicitation (per se) of the topic to the thematic description).

2) Paratextual description offers an identification/presentation of an audiovisual object which corresponds to the 15 criteria of description defining the Dublin Core standard.

3) Like any other activity of description, this is also carried out by way of interactive forms available to the analyst in the ASW Description Workshop*.

Pragmatic description (type of –)

1) Pragmatic description is a specific type of description which is concerned with explicitly stating the potential uses of the audiovisual text it is dealing with and adapting it, wherever possible (and without processing* (per se) of the “material” object), to the profile and expectations of a given audience. The adaptation may take the form of a translation (literal, summarizing, free …) and/or an intellectual/ cultural “reworking” (as is the case, e.g. as part of the popularization of a particularly specialized content so as to make it understandable to a broader audience).

2) Like any other activity, this one is also carried out via interactive forms at the disposition of the analyst in the ASW Description Workshop*.

Thematic description (type of –)

1) The thematic description is a specific type of description which spells out the topics*, i.e. the content or message of an audiovisual text, i.e. of an audiovisual text or corpus of audiovisual texts.

2) The thematic description is carried out using a library of models of description* of the content of the audiovisual objects which are supposed to document a given aspect of the domain of knowledge covered by a video-library, a portal, or more often an audiovisual production-publishing program.

3) Obviously, thematic description varies the most between the different domains of knowledge, as opposed to other types of description (paratextual*, audiovisual*, pragmatic*, peritextual …) which are relatively independent from the referential specificities of a given domain. Hence, implementing a systematic thematic description is an immense task in terms of modeling the domain of knowledge to be dealt with, and then defining and implementing a metalanguage of description appropriate to the peculiarities of the domain in question.

4) Like any other activity, this is also carried out by way of interactive forms at the analyst’s disposal in the ASW Description Workshop*.

F

Field

1) The term “field” designates the phase in the working process* (of audiovisual production-publication) which is dedicated to the collection of audiovisual data documenting either a scientific event (conference, research seminar …), a cultural event (concert, exhibition …) or another type of event (e.g. political, social …), or even a piece of “field” research per se (dedicated, for example, to documenting a cultural patrimony, a social practice, etc.). The “tangible” result of this stage is the field corpus.

2) As part of a program of production-distribution of knowledge heritage (such as the ARA program*), the stage which takes place in the field constitutes one of the crucial moments (a “milestone”) in the working process (of audiovisual production-publication).

Folder

Bi/multilingualfolder

1) The bi/multilingual folder is a publishing genre which is specified and developed to expressly account for the problems of distributing a monolingual audiovisual recording in a knowledge market which is intrinsically multilingual.

2) The bi/multilingual folder offers different versions (reasonably faithful or, on the contrary, abridged, approximate, adapted, simplified …) of an audiovisual recording (created in a given language) in one or more target language(s).

3) This publishing genre was tested by ESCoM* for the ARA program* as part of several French and European R&D projects (in particular see SAPHIR* and LOGOS*. There is now a whole series of bilingual folders (French/Spanish; French/English; French/Russian; French/Arabic; etc.) which can be consulted either on the ARA portal* site or on thematically delimited portals such as PCM (Peoples and Cultures of the World)*, DLC (Linguistic and Cultural Diversity)* or SCC (Semiotics, Culture, Communication)*.

Educational folder

1) The educational folder is a specific genre of publication which uses/reuses audiovisual recordings (processed or not, analyzed or not) to create educational resources (per se) for either formal or informal education.

2) As a general rule, the educational folder is organized around a series of chapters where each chapter is supposed to represent a phase in the acquisition and appropriation of a certain type of knowledge or know-how. Each chapter contains audiovisual material and a collection of additional information which is useful to the learner or the teacher. The folder itself comprises guides aimed at the teacher and the learner as well as suggestions of tests and validating knowledge.

3) This genre of publication was tested by ESCoM* for the ARA program* as part of the European project LOGOS*. Today, there is a whole collection of educational folders covering a variety of topics and which may be consulted either on the ARA portal* site, or on thematically delimited portals such as DLC*, PCM* or SCC*.

Thematic folder

1) The thematic folder, as its name suggests, brings together different audiovisual contributions on a theme or topic. Depending on the explicit objectives of communication, the thematic folder may take different forms: a folder which recaps a question, a folder which sparks a debate, a folder about a controversial issue, an awareness-raising folder, etc.

2) This genre of publication was tested by ESCoM* for the ARA program* as part of the European project LOGOS*. Today, there is a whole collection of educational folders covering a variety of topics and which may be consulted either on the ARA portal* site, or on thematically delimited portals such as DLC*, PCM* or SCC.

Form (interactive working)

1) The interactive form is the analyst*’s (or, according to the case, of the writer/author*’s) working interface enabling him to use the different models making up the metalanguage* (of description, of publication …) in his work of analysis* (or publishing), dealing with the domain of knowledge/expertise* of a given audiovisual archive.

2) Hence, the Description Workshop* is made up of a series of interactive forms enabling an analyst* to carry out a metadescription*, an audiovisual description*, a thematic description*, etc. The Publishing Workshop*, is also made up of interactive forms enabling a writer/author* to “upload” audiovisual data, choose publishing models, import analyzed corpora in order to publish them, adapt them to a publishing model, etc.

G

Genre of publication

1) A genre of publication is a culturally and historically situated model which lends a text a certain form, a certain “gestalt” which is recognizable by those who have an appropriate skill (reading, comprehension). Generally speaking, a genre of publication may be identified by the simultaneous recourse to a series of criteria such as the content, the narrative (but also formal and physical) organization, the audiovisual mise-en-scène, etc.

2) The ARA program uses several genres of publication – in particular the interactive video-book*, the thematic folder*, the bilingual folder, the video-lexicon. Each genre of publication is explicitly described. It is converted into a model which the editor-analyst, by way of an interactive form, may envisage publishing* or republishing* a given audiovisual corpus.

M

Metalanguage of description

1) A structured set of models of description i.e. interactive forms* in the ASW Description Workshop* which are used by the analyst when working on an audiovisual corpus, an individual audiovisual text, or a specific passage (segment) from an audiovisual text.

2) The semiotic theory of the audiovisual text constitutes the frame of reference for elaborating the ASW metalanguage of description*. Hence, in accordance with this theoretical framework, the metalanguage of description* distinguishes between several functional types of models of description among which: (i) a class of models of description reserved for producing the metadescription itself (clarifying the content, the objectives, the authors, the target audience, etc. of a particular analysis); (ii) a category of models of description reserved for clarifying the paratextual data of the audiovisual objects being analyzed: title of the object, author(s), genre, language, intellectual property, etc.; (iii) a significant category of models dedicated to the analysis of the content itself conveyed by an audiovisual corpus; (iv) a category of models more particularly dedicated to the audiovisual mise-en-scène of the content conveyed by an audiovisual corpus (models which serve for analyzing the visual and acoustic shots); (v) a category of models dedicated to the contextual and linguistic adaptation of an audiovisual corpus. In other words, the ASW metalanguage of description is a generic ontology*, called ASW ontology*.

3) As part of the ASW-HSS project and its different experimental fields, metalanguages of description have been created for six domains of knowledge/expertise. These correspond to the main experimental workshops* of the project: the CCA Program*, LHE Program*, ArkWork Program*, AICH*, PACA* and ARA/FMSH*. These six domains share all the models of description of type (i), type (ii), type (iv) and type (v). Only type (iii) models of description systematically vary between the three workshops CCA, ArkWork and LHE – thus each of these workshops has its own models for describing audiovisual content which is adapted to their domain of knowledge/expertise. On the other hand, the AICH and PACA workshops reuse a subset of type (iii) models of description dedicated to analyzing audiovisual content from the domain of expertise of the CCA workshop by adapting them to the referential specificities of their respective domains. Finally, the ARA/FMSH* workshop, which has a domain of expertise that is somehow “transversal” to those of the other workshops, borrows (from each of these domains) the models that it “needs” in order to process its own audiovisual corpora. These metalanguages are what we call domain ontologies* derived from a generic ontology* which is the ASW ontology*.

Metadescription (ASW –)

1) The ASW metadescription forms part of the activity of analysis of an audiovisual object. It enables the analyst to specify the content, objective, audience etc. … of his analysis.

2) The metadescription of an analysis is carried out via interactive forms* intended for this specific task in the ASW Description Workshop*.

Model of description

1) A model of description is a hypothesis of the “best way” to describe a concrete object. It is part of the metalanguage of description* of a domain of knowledge/expertise.

2) A model of description is composed of a set of metalinguistic resources notably including conceptual terms* which are organized into schemas* and sequences*.

3) In the context of the ASW-HSS project, several libraries of models of description have been elaborated and tested. A library of models corresponds to a domain of knowledge/expertise.

4) Besides libraries of models of description which are specific to the domain of knowledge* (such as the LHE Workshop*), a common library of models of description which does not depend on the domain of knowledge, has been identified, defined and realized. It may be used to analyze any audiovisual corpus. These models of description guide paratextual description* of an audiovisual text, its audiovisual description* stricto sensu, and its pragmatic description*.

Model (publishing-)

1) A publishing model expresses a specific genre of publication* with the aid of which a publication corpus* may be published and distributed online. Examples of specific genres of publication are, the interactive video-book*, the thematic folder*, the bilingual folder*, etc.

2) Similarly to the models of description, the publishing models are part of the ASW metalanguage of description where they form a separate library.

3) In the context of the ASW-HSS project, we focused more on developing models of description and less on developing publishing models. Consequently, the current publishing models seem rather rudimentary and frozen.

Knowledge engineer (role of–; also: “Concept designer”)

1) Along with the roles of the analyst* and the writer/author*, this is one of the three main roles which have been identified as part of the ASW-HSS project*.

2) The knowledge engineer (also called “concept designer”) is the role which brings with it the delicate – and very difficult – task of defining and creating the models of description* of audiovisual corpora documenting a domain of knowledge/expertise*. If necessary for the development of new models of description*, his work (sometimes) requires making changes to the ASW metalinguistic resources* in the form of local additions or the creation of “user” resources* (as opposed to the common resources*).

3) The knowledge engineer is supposed to be perfectly conversant with the metalinguistic resources without which there could be no model of description* or publishing model*, no interactive form* in the Description Workshop* and Publishing Workshop*.

4) However the knowledge engineer is also supposed to be familiar with the techniques of conceptual analysis, description/modeling of knowledge as well as approaches and disciplines such as cognitive sciences, artificial intelligence, semiotics and linguistics in the broader sense. Finally he must be able to liaise, on the one hand, with the people and teams responsible for the technical development of the models of description and the publishing models, and on the other hand with all the participants of a project of analysis and publishing of audiovisual corpora.

O

Object (of analysis)

1) The object of analysis is the object, the entity to which an analysis* (a description, a commentary, an interpretation etc. …) refers.

2) As part of the ASW-HSS project, we distinguish between different categories of objects of analysis: i) objects of analysis which are composed of the referents to a domain of knowledge/expertise* which is peculiar to a video-library/a portal; ii) objects which serve for the spatial and temporal localization of the referents; iii) objects of a discursive and enunciative nature serving to give a specific vision to the thematized referents in an audiovisual text; iv) objects for the mise-en-scène or the audiovisual expression of the thematized referents; and v) objects which serve to carry out a metadiscourse (a comment, an opinion …) either on the act of analysis or on the object of the analysis (the audiovisual text).

Object (audiovisual-) (see: Audiovisual Text)

Ontologies (ASW domain–)

1) An ASW domain ontology is a metalanguage of description which was developed in order to analyze audiovisual corpora documenting a specific domain of knowledge/expertise.

2) A domain ontology relies on the generic ASW ontology, borrowing some of its relevant conceptual terms, models of description and some parts of the common thesaurus (in addition to its own metalinguistic resources, if necessary). The metalinguistic additions which are specific to a domain form part of a special branch in the metalexicon of the ASW conceptual terms, in the ASW models of description and in the ASW common thesaurus.

2) As part of the ASW-HSS project, domain ontologies were defined for the CCA, ArkWork, LHE, AICH and FMSH/ARA workshops.

Ontology (ASW generic–) (see: ASW metalanguage)

P

Procedure of analysis

1) A procedure of analysis is a task composed of one or more activities of description (each of these is defined in the metalanguage*, the ASW generic ontology*).

2) In the context of the ASW-HSS project, two basic procedures of analysis (of description) were defined, namely controlled description* and free description*. A third procedure is the composite procedure relying on both the basic ones.

Process (working – of audiovisual production-publication)

1) As part of the ARA program*, the working process facilitating the constitution, publication and distribution of scientific or cultural heritage can be broken down into five main stages: i) preliminary activities prior to a field work lato sensu taking place; ii) field activities (lato sensu) recording and collecting all the data documenting that field; iii) processing and analysis of the audiovisual corpus; iv) audiovisual publication; v) activities which put the finishing touches to the working process.

2) Each phase is composed of a set of specific tasks or activities which are instrumented and described in the technical documentation which accompanies the working process.

Processing (of an audiovisual corpus)

1) One of the two main categories of tasks and activities forming part of an audiovisual corpus, the other being the analysis.

R

Relation (conceptual–)

1) A conceptual relation represents a specific type of link which can be established between objects (of analysis)* and represented by conceptual terms* or concepts*.

2) The conceptual relations form part of the ASW metalanguage* which distinguishes different types of conceptual relations. The most important distinction is made between i) relations which define the links between the objects of a domain of knowledge/expertise and ii) relations which define the links between objects of analysis* and procedures of analysis*.

3) A conceptual relation serves to define the configurations between conceptual terms* forming the ASW metalanguage* – configurations in the form of schemas*, sequences* or models*.

Resource (audiovisual-)

1) A term denoting any audiovisual text which holds a cognitive and practical value* for a given audience. An example of such a value* would be to satisfy one’s curiosity, need for information, etc.

Resources (metalinguistic)

1) Term design any element belonging to the ASW metalanguage* and which helps the model maker in implementing a domain ontology*, i.e. models of description* which are appropriate to a domain of knowledge/expertise*.

S

Schema (conceptual–)

1) The conceptual schema is a micro-configuration of conceptual terms* (composed of at least one conceptual term) which, along with other conceptual schemas, constitutes a sequence* of a model of description. The conceptual schema enables us to create relations* between two or more conceptual terms*. It forms part of the ASW metalanguage of description.

2) The ASW metalanguage of description* notably distinguishes between two complementary types of conceptual schemas: the category of schemas which represent a given part of the referential domain of the domain of expertise* (for example, schemas which represent, in the AICH domain of knowledge, the rituals and celebrations, the languages and families of languages, the localities and the periods, etc.); the category of schemas which represent a given activity of description forming part of the ASW procedures of analysis*.

Schema of indexing

1) The schema of indexing specifies what the analyst must do when choosing a particular activity which is part of a procedure of analysis*. An activity and, a fortiori, a procedure of analysis may be made up of several schemas of indexing. It is presented as an interactive form* composed of fields, tables and other elements that the analyst has to fill in.

2) The schemas of indexing are part of the ASW metalanguage* where they constitute a library which differentiates between the linguistic, textual, audiovisual, with the aid of a thesaurus, in reference to a standard (such as LOMFR or Dublin Core …), etc. schemas of indexing.

Schema (referential–)

1) The referential schema is a specific type of conceptual schema* which sets the referential value of a conceptual term* beforehand. For example, if the referential domain of knowledge is limited to French literature of the Middle Ages (this is a case forming part of the LHE* domain), the conceptual term [PERIOD] is a priori set by the expression “Middle Ages” and is then interpreted by appropriate numerical values to represent the temporal boundaries of that time. In other words, the conceptual term* [PERIOD] cannot be used in order to designate other temporal referents such as, e.g. the temporal referent “18th Century”.

Sequence

1) A model of description* is composed of several sequences. Each sequence serves to describe/analyze a given object.

2) As part of the ASW-HSS project, we distinguish between four main types of sequences: (i) sequences which serve to describe the thematization in an audiovisual corpus; (ii) sequences which serve to describe the mise-en-scène of a thematized domain in an corpus (audiovisual mise-en-scène either in the form of a held discourse or in the form of a specific visual or sound mise-en-scène*); (iii) sequences serving to contextualize (spatial, temporal frame …) a thematized domain; (iv) sequences serving to better explain the analyst’s point of view, the content and the objectives of the analysis.

3) A sequence is derived from the following two components: (i) the “object of analysis*” component (i.e. the object in the sequence which is subjected to the analysis) and the “procedure of analysis*” component (i.e. the methods according to which a given object is analyzed).

T

Term (conceptual)

1) A conceptual term (sometimes also simply called “concept”) is a metalinguistic expression that designates a given type of objects* (in the ASW-HSS project, we distinguish 5 specific types of objects).

2) The conceptual terms are part of the ASW metalanguage of description* where they are organized in the form of a hierarchy of concepts. This hierarchy of concepts notably distinguishes between i) conceptual terms representing the objects of analysis* of the ASW domain of expertise and ii) conceptual terms representing the ASW activities and procedures of analysis*.

3) The conceptual terms representing the objects of analysis (= first class of conceptual terms) form the “domain of analysis” part of the model of description*, and the conceptual terms representing the procedures of analysis (= second class of conceptual terms) form the analytical part (per se) of the models of description*.

Thesaurus

1) The thesaurus is one of the main resources for controlled description*, as part of a work of analysis* of an audiovisual corpus*.

2) As part of the implementation of the different experimental workshops* of the ASW-HSS project*, first a restricted and very simple thesaurus (countries of the world, temporal periods, languages of the world, authors of French literature, French regions and districts, etc.) was created. Gradually, this original/simple thesaurus was complemented by new facets: a facet corresponds to a conceptual term* (or a schema* of conceptual terms) and is interpreted by a hierarchical list of predefined terms (of “descriptors”).

3) The ASW thesaurus is part of the resources of the ASW metalanguage of description* (in the same way as the indexation generated by the analysts by way of the procedure of free description*). In particular, we can distinguish between common thesauruses (i.e. common to all domains of knowledge/all groups of users of ASW metalinguistic resources) and particular thesauruses which are specific to a given domain of knowledge/expertise (for example, the AICH* domain possesses, as well as the ACH* domain, its own thesaurus facets).

V

Value (of an audiovisual text)

1) A term denoting the capacity of an audiovisual text to fill a gap (satisfy a need, a desire …) of information or knowledge among an audience.

2) The analysis of an audiovisual text consists of explicitly stating this (so-called potential) value of the text for a given audience (the analyst may himself be that audience). If need be, with or without appropriate processing, the analyst may conform, i.e. adapt the profile, the authorial identity of the audiovisual text, to the expectations and the needs (desires, sheer curiosity …) of a target audience.

Video-book (interactive)

1) The interactive video-book is a specific genre of publication of an audiovisual audiovisual corpus. Its structure shows similarities to a “book” in the conventional sense of the word. In particular, it is made up of chapters offering the interested reader the opportunity to navigate through an audiovisual record (which may last several hours) by “leafing through” (i.e. as if the reader were leafing through a book …).

2) The interactive video-book is one of the “standard” models of publication of the ARA program*.

Video-lexicon

1) The video-lexicon is a specific genre of publication of an audiovisual corpus which looks very similar to a traditional thematic dictionary: the thematically delimited chapters of such a dictionary include – in alphabetical order – a list of leading terms or expressions which are defined and exemplified in dedicated articles. A video-lexicon is composed of several thematically delimited “chapters”; each chapter contains a set of leading terms and each leading term feature is dealt with by small audiovisual segments dedicated to it.

2) This genre of publication was tested by ESCoM* for the ARA program* as part of several French and European research projects (in particular see SAPHIR* and LOGOS*). Today there are prototypes of video-lexicons on world languages and world cultures, which are distributed on the DLC* and PCW* Websites.

W

Writer/author (role of–)

1) Besides the roles of the analyst* and the knowledge engineer*, the writer/author represents a third role which has been identified, problematized and orchestrated as part of the ASW-HSS project*.

2) The writer/author intervenes during the publishing stage (as part of the working process* of audiovisual production-publishing. The analyst and the writer/author may be the same person or the same group, but obviously this is not always the case. Similarly, the role of writer/author may be played by a single person at a given moment, but it may also be played by a group, by the same person or by different people who are distant in time and space.

3) In concrete terms, the writer/author uses the Publishing Workshop* in ASW Studio* in order to: i) constitute his publishing corpus; ii) select and, within the current technical limitations of the ASW Publishing Workshop*, adapt the genre of publication to his needs; iii) prepare his corpus prior to its publication (select the elements to be published, check the metadata, add “new pages” …) and; iv) publish his corpus.

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¹ Glossary written by Peter STOCKINGER.