Australian National Database of Spoken Language (ANDOSL)

What if your data needs are not met by the current holdings?

• Although the first release of the data has been designed to meet the needs of the speech scientist or technologist who wishes to apply further computational processing to model the data in some way, it is entirely possible for the data to be released in other forms if the demand is there and the costs can be met. CDROM audio tracks or even audio cassette could be considered.
• You can apply jointly with the ANDOSL developers for funding to enhance the ANDOSL holdings in a way that is very specific to your needs. Collaborative research and research infrastructure development is very popular with granting bodies and the fact that your data would then be available to the whole community in a form that is technically compatible with a very large body of related data could be very attractive. Certain researchers have already expressed an interest in adding Developmental Speech data, more accented forms of Australian English, Pathological Speech data, regional variants of Australian English, and a collection of Australian Proper Names. Research funding committees at ANU, Sydney University, and Flinders University have already responded positively to this approach and other discussions are proceeding.
• Putting your existing data into an ANDOSL compatible form may enhance your ability to collaborate with colleagues on issues of mutual concern. If you have data which you believe may be significant for our national resource, you could offer it to the ANDOSL project which will examine it and assess whether we have the resources to transform your data into a form that is technically compatible with the ANDOSL standards. It should be noted that the ANDOSL standards relate mostly to standards of data description. High levels of signal quality, although beneficial, are not essential for inclusion if the data meets other criteria of usefulness. One donation of data suitable for speech synthesis research has already been made.