Introduction and request for assistance

[Language Laboratories and Archives]

Greetings! My name is Barbara Need and I am a manager of the
University of Chicago Language Laboratories and Archives (LLA). I
have been an interested eavesdropper on this list from some months
now, being both computer support and archivist for the Labs. Part of
the LLA's collection is nearly 350 hours of recordings of
Meso-American languages done in the 1930s and 1950s. Much of this
material is on open-reel tapes, which, of course, are deteriorating.
Last year the LLA submitted a proposal to the NEH to digitize this
material and make it available on-line to researchers and interested
members of the communities where the recordings were made. Our
proposal was turned down, but we are trying to revise it to submit
again. I am hoping that this community can assist me with addressing
some of the concerns expressed by the reviewers.

1) One of the concerns expressed was the lack of letters of support
from outside the University. If any of you would be willing to write
such a letter, please let me know. I can certainly provide you with
more information about the collection

2) Another concern related to the fact that we have no field notes
(or none that I know of--I have some queries out) accompanying the
recordings. one reviewer asked how researchers unfamiliar with the
original interviewer make use of "often highly personal" interviews
fifty years (or more) after they were done. Our PI will be addressing
this from the perspective of a phonologist/phonetician, but if any of
you have any suggestions, it would be much appreciated.

Barbara Need
Manager (LLA)
University of Chicago
Language Laboratories and Archives