Data Manager Tags Used in Events

Once you’ve created your AVAnnotate project, the next step is to link your audiovisual events to the project. On this screen, you’ll notice that The AVAnnotate application interface is split into two primary sections: Data Manager and Site Builder, the latter is discussed in a later video.

In the Data Manager section, a project author can import, upload, edit, and add all of the data associated with Annotations, Events, and Tags. The Events tab allows users to upload, create, and edit Events. Events are a central conceptual element of an AVAnnotate project and may comprise one or more AV files, which may be associated with time-stamped annotations.

The Tags tab allows users to upload, create, and edit project-wide tags and tag groups. Tags are labels used in a published AVAnnotate project to index, organize, and discover topics in the annotations.

First, we need to add an event by selecting “Add,” then “Import.” When you import an event, you’re telling AVAnnotate that you already have a file that includes all of the necessary information for AVAnnotate to reference your audiovisual file.

To do this, we recommend using the AVAnnotate Event template, which you can find on our website. The Event template is a downloadable spreadsheet that provides space for you to input information about the Event label, item type, file label, file URL, and an optional citation and description.

Once you’ve filled out the event spreadsheet and selected it for upload to AVAnnotate, you’ll be prompted to configure the data from the file, which means you’re making sure AVAnnotate reads your event file correctly. Use the dropdown menus to match the information from your spreadsheet.

Once you’ve configured the data, the option to “Import” should appear. Select “Import,” and then select “Save Event.”

Video 1a demonstrates how to add an audiovisual event by uploading a completed spreadsheet that contains information about the event. This video will show you how to create an event directly in AVAnnotate without the spreadsheet upload. To “Create” an event, select Add, then “Create.”

To create an event in AVAnnotate, you need some information about the audiovisual event itself. If you already have a IIIF manifest for the audiovisual event, select “Import Manifest” and paste in the reference. If you do not have a IIIF manifest yet, we’ll create one now directly in AVAnnotate.

Sometimes AVAnnotate can read the duration straight from the file link, though other times you may need to enter it manually using the hh:mm:ss format. This is all of the information that’s required to create an event, but you also have the option to add a description, citation, and select a copyright status or Creative Commons Rights Statement.

Once you’ve built a project and imported or added your audiovisual events, you’re ready to add Tags to the project. Tags are short, descriptive words or phrases that will help you categorize and filter your timestamped annotations across the entire project.

To import Tags, we’ll start in the Data Manager section, and then toggle over to Tags. As with the “import” option for Events, “Import” in this case means we have already filled out a Tag spreadsheet template and are ready to upload it into AVAnnotate.

Select “Import,” and then choose your Tag file. Configure the data so that the column headers match the data you’re importing, which should enable the “Import” option.

Double check that the preview of the imported data matches your spreadsheet, and then select “Save.”

Now your Tags section will be populated with Tag groups and individual tags.

You can edit a Tag group by selecting the three-dot menu, and edit individual tags by selecting the pencil icon. Here you can rename a tag or move it into a different tag group using the dropdown menu. You can edit tags at any time.

To upload annotations to your audiovisual event in AVAnnotate, you have two options. First, you can create annotations in a Google Sheets template available in the documentation and import that template in AVAnnotate’s Data Manager section. The second option you have is to add individual annotations to your audiovisual event directly in AVAnnotate’s Data Manager section. In this video we will show you how to complete the first option.

Navigate to AVAnnotate’s documentation. Then, go to the Projects tab and you will see the Annotation Spreadsheet Template under the Bulk Uploading section. Select the hyperlink, and then make a copy of the file by selecting File and then Make a Copy. Don’t delete the headers in row 1.

Now, you can start adding your annotations. In column A, add the start time of your annotation, using the format of HH:MM:SS. Next, in column B, add the end time of your annotation using the same format. Column C is where you will include the text of your annotation; you can type directly into this cell.

Please note that basic HTML tags are allowed in the body of annotations to style your text.

Finally, add at least one tag that corresponds to an annotation by inserting the tag name into column D. You can add multiple tags to an annotation by using the pipe (|) symbol on your keyboard.

Once you have added all of your annotations for an audiovisual event into the template, you can select File, Download, and it is suggested that you save your file as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

Finally, navigate back to AVAnnotate. In Data Manager, select the audiovisual event that you would like to associate with the annotation file. Below the audio, you will see that there are no annotations associated with the event. Select Import, choose the annotation file from your drive, and then you will be prompted to configure the data.

The second option you have for uploading annotations to an audiovisual event in AVAnnotate is to add annotations individually. This option does not require using the spreadsheet. Instead, you can add individual annotations through the Add option in an audiovisual event.

To add an annotation, navigate to the Data Manager section of AVAnnotate and select an audiovisual event. Next, select the Add button and create an annotation. A box will appear for you to insert information about the annotation you would like to add.

First, add the start time of your annotation using the format of HH:MM:SS. In the End Time box, add the end time of your annotation in the same format. Below, you can type your annotation directly into the box and use the above buttons to style your text. Lastly, add at least one tag to your annotation by selecting a tag from the drop-down menu. Please note that you must have already added such a tag to AVAnnotate via the instructions in video 2a or 2b.

You will now see in Site Builder an auto-generated page. To disable an auto-generated page, select the three dots on the right side of the row, and then Disable Auto-Generation. This will create a blank page for your event, which you can add information to by following the details in the next video.

To add an existing Event to a custom page, select “Insert,” and then “Embed AV.” You’ll then see the option to select one of your audiovisual events, and then customize what elements of the events you want to appear on the blank page. The default will include the event’s annotations, label, and description that you inputted when you created the event, but you can choose to include or exclude any of these details when embedding an event on a custom page.