Roles in Your Digitization Project
- Ben Chung (Unlicensed)
Differences between the roles
There are many possible roles to fill in your Digitization (DiGI) project depending on the scope of your digitization and the tasks involved. However, not all roles are necessary given your project goals.
When assigning roles on your team, take people's technical and administrative skills into consideration as well as workload capacity. In some positions, audio editing software experience and proficiency will be assets, while in other roles, organizational skills and any previous history in record-keeping might be equally important.
The following tables below contain brief descriptions of typical roles in a DiGI project and archival work in general. There also are examples of the general responsibilities associated with each of these positions.
These descriptions and responsibilities are broad summaries and can be customized to your specific project needs. In your hiring process, it might also be helpful to refer to this table in writing job descriptions and also in the onboarding of new hires to help them better understand their roles' expectations.
DiGI Technician
Most projects will include at least a DiGI Technician, which is the most general position. Learn more about the role and its responsibilities below:
Role | DiGI Technician (DiGI Tech) |
|---|---|
Description | A DiGI Technician is the most general role in your project and one of the most central. For this reason, there may also be multiple DiGI techs in one project.DiGI Techs will work closely in the digitization process from start to finish. In this role, you will record and edit audio, create files, and document metadata. DiGI techs will work with other team members to ensure that they are aware and have the necessary materials available to them to complete their individual work.Depending on the scope of your project, a DiGI tech might also assume the role of archivist or transcriber or any other combination of positions. |
Responsibilities | DiGI Techs might:
|
Transcriber
If you are only managing and editing pre-existing audio, you might not need a designated transcriber. However, if there are documents associated with your recordings that you want to mobilize, then you might need to hire someone to specifically write and reformat these materials. If you are writing down the contents of recordings, you should consider hiring a transcriber who is familiar with the language:
Roles | Transcriber |
|---|---|
Description | Transcribers take texts or audio recordings and rewrite these materials in the same language as they were originally. As a transcriber, your goal is to repurpose the contents to a editable text format for the future.A Transcriber works to make resources more readable and usable for archive patrons and educators. Transcription work is often used to mobilize materials and have them represented later in contemporary ways.Transcribers might transcribe stories, interviews, or even dialogue. |
Responsibilities | Transcribers might:
|
Translator
If you are interpreting materials from one language to another, than this work is translation-related. Translators need to be able to understand the language to be translated and the target language. Often, Elders take on this role since they may have prior professional experience or life experience speaking multiple languages.
Students can also work alongside Elders to help translate audio and transcriptions, serving as an assistant translator:
Roles | Translator |
|---|---|
Description | Translators take texts and audio recordings and convert their contents into a different language.A translator's role is similar to a transcriber's one. A translator who is also tasked with writing down and reformatting materials would also technically be a transcriber.If your role as a translator is solely to provide a translation or interpretation into another language, then a transcriber should be present and work alongside you to document and record this information. |
Responsibilities | Translators might:
|
Archivist
An archivist is a professional who works with records and collections of materials. Archivists can specialise in physical resources or digital spaces and even on specific formats. A trained archivist or someone with archival experience can fit into many roles of a language project:
Role | Archivist |
|---|---|
Description | An Archivist assesses and catalogues materials, maintains collections, and helps people navigate physical and digital archives. Archivists also generally hold long-term positions in cultural centres or museums.Archivists may play a role in your DiGI project through administration and management. As an archivist, you also might organize and ensure that files can be easily located and accessed before and after they are digitized.This role sometimes requires additional training in data management and librarianship. |
Responsibilities | Archivists might:
|
IT Support
Some organizations do not have a designated IT department or team. IT stands for 'information technology'. While not everyone will have a IT person, software maintenance and attentiveness to one's equipment are crucial in a technology-based project. It will be a shared responsibility for the project team to take care of their technology and seek assistance if there are concerns.
If you do have IT support through your Nation or organization, consider reaching out to these persons to update them on your project needs:
Roles | IT Support |
|---|---|
Description | IT Support is an essential part of any digital or technology-based project.It is important to get know and communicate with your organization's technical support staff. It will be your DiGI team's job to get IT support familiar with your project and also what software and technology you are using in it.These individuals will be your first go-to resource if technical issues arise with your software or general hardware. |
Responsibilities | IT Support might:
|
Roles on FirstVoices
If your Language Technology Program (LTP) project also contains a FirstVoices (FV) component, you may have team members whose responsibilities overlap. An individual could work on both components simultaneously, and the merger between the DiGI program and FV program was meant to make this integration easier.
The three roles that someone can have on a FirstVoices site are:
Assistant
Editor
Language Administrator
For more information on each of these roles, please read this article: Team roles on FirstVoices
Integrating Language Technology Program Roles
It is important to match and align similar workflows if you do work across project areas. For example, if someone is a DiGI technician, this team member might also be an Editor on FirstVoices.com to upload and publish processed recordings online.
The following role combinations are good examples of where workflows may overlap between project components. Use these diagrams as a reference in assigning shared titles and responsibilities:
DiGI Tech & Editor
DiGI technicians have a general role to digitize, edit, and store resources in new digital formats. An Editor is able to not only create and edit entries but also change the visibility of them and delete them on a FirstVoices site. A person in a combination of these roles could potentially work on all stages of the project from recovery of materials, digitization, editing, uploading, and finally publishing entries online.
Translator or Transcriber & Assistant
Translators and transcribers share similar responsibilities in that they work directly with language materials and oftentimes speakers. Assistants are alike in their role as they create and edit content directly on FirstVoices sites. Assistants often must translate and transcribe language with Elders and speakers, so these roles naturally share overlap.
Archivist & Editor
One of an archivist’s jobs is to catalogue and arrange different materials in an archive to be accessible. An Editor has all the capabilities of an Assistant on a language site but can also check and change the visibility of entries for people to view publicly. Both archivists and Editors are responsible for curating information, which can make their everyday tasks comparable.
Archivist & Language Administrator
An archivist’s role in a DiGI project might be largely administrative in a project. Archivists are versed in organizational skills and training and are familiar with using and checking metadata and other records. A Language Administrator on FirstVoices can edit the language site homepage information, create, delete, edit, and change the visibility on entries, and add custom categories. Given the shared level of oversight in these roles, an archivist may also be a good candidate for Language Administrator on your team.
DiGI Tech & Language Administrator
A DiGI technician might have the best understanding of the content and resources from hands-on experience editing and cataloging. A Language Administrator on FirstVoices has access to all language team features and may supervise others’ work. Someone who is both a DiGI technician and Language Administrator would have a good overview of both project components and could support many other team members in combined tasks.
How you integrate team members into different project components is not limited to these examples. You can also create new, even more collaborative positions to fill your needs.
It will be important to balance workload expectations, team members’ time and technical capacities, and your project’s overall aims as you build your project team.
Sample Job Postings
If you are hiring for some of these DiGI roles, feel free to use these general templates to get started on job postings.
These templates are based of real job postings.
The roles outlined in this document include:
Project Assistant (similar to DiGI Tech)
IT Tech & Administrative Assistant (similar to IT Support)
Manager
DiGI Technician
Lead Archivist
Job Posting Templates
