Quick Start: How to Use AVAnnotate
Step 1: Log into AVAnnotate with your GitHub Credentials
Sign in with your GitHub credentials, or create a new GitHub account by providing a username, email address, and password.
Step 2: Create a New Project
Select + Add on the Projects page and input information about the new project, including the GitHub Account associated with the project, Title, Description, Language, and Project Slug. Project Contributor(s) and Collaborators are optional. For more information, see Projects.
Step 3: Add an Event
Most Events are associated with a single AV file, but an event may be associated with multiple AV files if it required more than one tape or reel to record it. Alternatively, in special cases, there is no AV file. See here for more information on Events.
Select + Create under the + Add menu on the Data Manager page and input information about the new event, including the event Label. For the AV file, include AV Type (Audio or Video), Label, URL, and Duration. Description, Citation, and Rights Statement are optional fields. AVAnnotate can reference AV and images through URLs or IIIF manifests. Events can also be imported via Import under the + Add menu on the Data Manager page. See here for more on importing events.
AVAnnotate does not store AV or image files.
Step 4: Add annotations and timestamps
Annotations and Timestamps are user-created and correspond to a point or range in the audio or video. Annotations contain information about the audio and video that might include a transcript; captions; information about formal features of the media, like shot sequence, volume, or lighting; historical or cultural context; environmental noises such as fans or car horns; or information about conceptual notes or themes. For more information, see Annotations.
Step 5: Add tags and tag groups
Tags are labels or index terms used in the published project to organize and discover topics in the annotations. Tag groups are used to organize the tags. For more information, see Tags.
Step 6: Customize pages to build context
Users can create auto-generated pages for each event as well as design custom pages that include text, whole events, AV clips with or without associated annotations, AV clip comparisons, and images (via URL links). Users might add a page that includes an introduction or conclusion to the project; build separate sections of an accompanying analytical essay; add context or pedagogical implications for events and annotations; explain the annotation choices made in the project; etc. For more information, see Pages.
Step 7: Publish and share your AVAnnotate project with the world!
Go to the Site Builder page and select Publish!