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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>I agree with all of Martin’s comments –
and could add a few more logistical, financial and administrative problems from
recent experience….<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>It’s taken us the best part of 3 years to get an
internal web-accessed multilingual corpus system operational at Aston (launched
June 2007).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Iztok Kosem will be talking about some aspects of corpus
tools/interfaces and user-friendliness at TALC.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Provision of copious documentation, help files,
tutorials, etc is a current concern, as well as brief introductory sessions to
assist and ensure take-up by language-teaching colleagues.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Extending awareness to non-language disciplines is
another short-term goal.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>We’re piloting some small-scale practical usage
projects, referential and DDL, and I’ll be talking about some of these
ideas at the Aston Corpus Symposium on May 23<sup>rd</sup>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>And we’re also discussing and planning ways of making
the system available beyond Aston (technical, copyright, etc) in the not too
distant future.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Best<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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padding:0cm 0cm 1.0pt 0cm'>
<p class=MsoNormal style='border:none;padding:0cm'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB style='font-size:12.0pt'>Ramesh
Krishnamurthy<br>
Lecturer in English Studies, School of Languages and Social Sciences,<br>
<st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Aston</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType>,
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Birmingham</st1:City> <st1:PostalCode
w:st="on">B4 7ET</st1:PostalCode>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">UK</st1:country-region></st1:place><br>
Tel: +44 (0)121-204-3812 ; Fax: +44 (0)121-204-3766 [Room NX08, 10th<br>
Floor, North Wing of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Main</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Building</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>]<br>
<a href="http://www.aston.ac.uk/lss/school/staff/krishnamurthyr.jsp"
eudora=autourl>http://www.aston.ac.uk/lss/school/staff/krishnamurthyr.jsp</a><br>
Director, ACORN (Aston Corpus Network project): <a
href="http://acorn.aston.ac.uk/" eudora=autourl>http://acorn.aston.ac.uk/</a> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<X-SIGSEP></div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>From: corpora-bounces@uib.no on behalf of Martin Wynne<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>[martin.wynne@oucs.ox.ac.uk]<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Sent: 16 April 2008 17:02<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>To: Gill Philip<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Cc: corpora@uib.no<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Subject: Re: [Corpora-List] Data-Driven Learning
materials<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>I very much agree with Gill's observations. Looking
what is freely available on the web is not a good way to judge the uptake or
range of DDL materials. As Gill points out, most DDL resources and courses are
only deployed locally.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>To get something useful out on the web, you need to
sort out the following (to name but a few):<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>- getting it on a web server<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>- basing it on web technologies<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>- get it to work with the available back end
technologies on your server<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>- make sure that it is accessible and works with a
variety of browsers<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>- make sure it is robust and bug-free<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>- support by the web server's sysadmin<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>- the exercises need to be suitable for unsupervised
work (which requires a lot more documentation, explanation, hand-holding,
controlled revealing of results, tips and hints, etc)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>- be prepared to support users, or leave them in the
lurch if they hit snags<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>- ensure that you are not getting into any legal or
ethical difficulties if you publish any of the the materials (in short, you're
not likely to be allowed to put that corpus online...)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>So getting your course materials to work on your
students' PCs is one thing, putting them on the web may involve a lot of
additional challenges.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Obviously there are huge potential advantages to
putting materials on the web, but we shouldn't be surprised that not everyone
does it.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN-GB
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Martin<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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