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Running head: Lab 2 – ELDERS Prototype1

Lab 2 – ELDERS Prototype

Team Purple

Tatiana Livingston

CS411W

Professor Janet Brunelle

April 8, 2013

Version: 1

Table of Content

Lab 2 – ELDERS Prototype2

s

1 Introduction...................................................................................................................................4

1.1 Purpose...................................................................................................................................4

1.2 Scope......................................................................................................................................5

1.3 Definitions, Acronyms, and Abbreviations............................................................................5

1.4 References..............................................................................................................................6

1.5 Overview................................................................................................................................7

2 General Description......................................................................................................................8

2.1 Prototype Architecture Description.......................................................................................8

2.2 Prototype Functional Description........................................................................................12

2.3 External Interfaces...............................................................................................................13

2.3.1 Hardware Interfaces......................................................................................................13

2.3.2 Software Interfaces........................................................................................................13

2.3.3 User Interfaces...............................................................................................................13

2.3.4 Communication Protocols and Interfaces.....................................................................14

A. Appendix................................................................................................................................15


List of Figures

Figure 1 - Prototype Major Functional Component Diagram.........................................................9

Figure 2 – Word Proposal and Voting Processes..........................................................................12

Figure 3 - Sitemap.........................................................................................................................14

Figure 4 - Entity Relationship Diagram Of The Prototype Database............................................15

List of Tables

Table 1 – Side-By-Side Comparison Of The Final Product And The Prototype..........................11


1 Introduction

There are approximately seven thousand languages worldwide, half of which are expected to

die within the next century ("Endangered Languages"). Losing a language results in the loss a

large part of a community’s cultural heritage. Language is what ties a community together.

Documents, stories, and songs may all be lost when the language is lost. Many communities will

benefit immensely from regaining their dead language. It is also imperative to protect the

languages in danger of dying out.

There are some languages, both endangered and extinct, that have been successfully

revitalized (e.g. the endangered Navajo language and the extinct Hebrew language). However,

the process used to revitalize such languages required resources and conditions not available to

all languages suffering a similar fate. It currently consists of a devoted linguist going through

countless obscure documents to recreate the closest approximation to the dead language. This is

clearly impossible for languages with minimal documentation and with no access to a

professional linguist.

1.1 Purpose

ELDERS is a product that gives communities the ability to revitalize endangered and

extinct languages. It focuses mainly on documenting the existing language, expanding it, and

then teaching it. The original language will be documented in an online database. It will then be

made accessible by providing a website interface. The community itself will decide what words

are added through a word suggestion and approval process, and thus they will be the ones who


create the new language. ELDERS will also provide access to the history of the community and

various language teaching tools.

1.2 Scope

The prototype will be tailored to the Nottoway language and community. It will attempt

to provide the most functionality in the time allotted and given the current limitations of the

Nottoway language. The prototype will focus on documenting and archiving the language as it

currently exists and on the features necessary to enable language expansion. It will also provide

cultural information and features to encourage and facilitate communal participation. The

prototype will be built with user access and restrictions in place so as to allow the community to

protect their privacy and ensure that only permitted members have the ability to make changes

and decisions about the Nottoway language. The dictionary feature will have the basic

functionalities required for recording and displaying the Nottoway language, as well as minimal

implementation of the Nottoway’s grammar and idiomatic phrases.

1.3 Definitions, Acronyms, and Abbreviations

ELDERS: Endangered Languages Documentation Extension and Revival System

Historical Dictionary: Only contains the original Nottoway words

New Dictionary: Contains all of the new words approved by the Nottoway

LAMP: Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP

Registered User: Lowest access level; a user with this access level is either not a member of the community or a user whose Community Member status has not yet been approved.

Community Member: Second lowest access level; a user with this access level is a member of the community that the language belongs to.


Language Committee Member: Second highest access level; a user with this access level has been selected by the community to be responsible for voting and suggesting new words.

Graphical User Interface (GUI): How the end user will interact with the application

Linux: A free, widely-available open-source operating system

MySQL: the world’s most used RDBMS

Structured Query Language (SQL): Used to make queries to a database server

Tables: Logical collections of data stored on a database server

RDBMS: Relational Database Management System

1.4 References

Lewis, J. D. (2007). Carolana Explorers – Edward Bland. Carolana. Retrieved on November 13, 2012, from http://www.carolana.com/Carolina/Explorers/edwardbland.htmlNottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia (2011). History. Nottoway Indians. Retrieved October 8, 2012, from www.nottowayindians.org.

Parramore, T.C. (1978). In Southampton County, Virginia (pp. 1-5). Charlottesville, VA: UP of Virginia.

Peterson, M.D. (1986). In Thomas Jefferson: A Reference Biography (pp. 69, 168). United States: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

The Week Staff (2012, June 22). Google’s next mission: Save dying languages – The Week. The Week Magazine: Political News and Cartoons, Current Events and Entertainment Online. Retrieved October 8, 2012, from http://theweek.com/article/index/229695/googles-next-mission-save-dying-languages

Lab 1 -- ELDERS Product Description. Version 2. (2013, March). Endangered Languages Documentation Extension and Revival System. Purple Team. CS411W: Tatiana Livingston


1.5 Overview

This product specification provides the hardware and software configuration, external

interfaces, capabilities and features of the ELDERS prototype. The information provided in the

remaining sections of this document includes a detailed description of the hardware, software,

and external interface architecture of the ELDERS prototype. It also includes the key features of

the prototype. The parameters that will be used to control, manage, or establish these features

and their performance characteristics in terms of outputs, displays, and user interaction will also

be described.

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2 General Description

The ELDERS prototype will focus on the innovative design of a centralized

storage of the Nottoway language in a website. This will allow larger access to the language and

will give the Nottoway community the ability to rebuild their language. The aspects that would

make the prototype usable for other languages, such as customizable grammar rules and editable

Historic Dictionary, will not be included due to time and budget constraints.

2.1 Prototype Architecture Description

The ELDERS prototype will be comprised of multiple open source software components:

Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP. These components are collectively referred to as a LAMP

stack. The Linux operating system, Ubuntu, will be used to access the server. Apache will be

used as the web server, MySQL will be the database management system, and PHP will be the

scripting language used to develop the prototype website.

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Figure 1 - Prototype Major Functional Component Diagram

As illustrated in Figure 1, the prototype will consist of two major functional hardware

components: a client and a server. The client will be accessible by any device with a web

browser, including mobile devices. The server will be hosted by a third party. The server’s

minimal recommended specifications are four gigabytes of RAM and at least 20 gigabytes of

hard drive space.

Access control is a key part of ELDERS. It is vital to protect the original language and to

make sure only the community is making additions to the language. There will be a tiered

account system that limits the access of different users depending on their rank. Besides the

website administrators (who will have full back-end access), the access levels, in order from least

amount of access to highest amount of access, are: Registered Users, Community Members, and

Language Committee Members.


There will be a database containing separate tables for the Historic Dictionary and the

New Dictionary. The website will allow users to view the information stored in each of these

tables. Users will also be able to view the grammatical rules of the Nottoway language. It will

also allow members of the Language Committee to add to the New Dictionary through the word

proposal and voting processes. There will be educational aspects of the website which will

consist of a section for educational games (the games themselves will not be included in the

prototype) and the community’s history. Users with the appropriate access level will be notified

of any changes made to the New Dictionary. Table 1 summarizes the differences between the

ELDERS final product and the prototype discussed above.

Functionality: Final Product: Prototype:

DictionariesStore and view the words in the Historic Dictionary and

the New DictionaryImplemented

Alphabet View the written alphabetNot Implemented: There is no current

Nottoway Alphabet; once created it will be easily implemented

Audio

PronunciationHear the words pronounced Partially Implemented: Will allow

admins to add audio pronunciations

Language

Lessons

Lessons to teach the language Not Implemented

Word

Proposal

System to suggest new words Implemented

Word Certain users can vote for Implemented


Voting

proposed words, words with enough votes automatically

get added to the New Dictionary

Access

Control

User login system with different access levels Implemented

NotificationsSystem to notify users when

changes are made to the New Dictionary

Implemented

Games Section containing educational games

Not Implemented: Future groups will design them, the prototype will make it easy to implement the games when they

do

History Section for the community’s history Implemented

Mobile

View

Able to view the website from mobile devices Implemented

Mobile

Application

Separate mobile application Not Implemented

Table 1 – Side-By-Side Comparison Of The Final Product And The Prototype


2.2 Prototype Functional Description

The major functional components are shown in Figure 1 above. Any user will be able to

browse and search the both dictionaries simultaneously (their dictionary of origin will be noted).

Figure 2 illustrates the combined word proposal and voting processes. If a suggested word

already exists in either dictionary, then there will be a note and a link to the already existing

word. Thus, words will be capable of having multiple meanings, but the Language Committee

Members will be aware of it before voting.

Figure 2 – Word Proposal and Voting Processes


2.3 External Interfaces

The external interfaces will be limited to standard PC hardware and software. The

website will be the only customized interface.

2.3.1 Hardware Interfaces

There will be no hardware interfaces used for this prototype. An ODU virtual machine

running Ubuntu 12.04 will be used to host the databases and web-based content.

2.3.2 Software Interfaces

The prototype will use PHP to interface with the MySQL databases.

2.3.3 User Interfaces

Users will be able to interface using any of the current web-browser, such as Mozilla

Firefox or Google Chrome. There will be a tiered account system that limits the access of

different users depending on which rank they are. The access levels, in order from least amount

of access to highest amount of access, are Registered Users, Community Members, Language

Committee Members, and website administrators. The structure of the user interface is shown in

Figure 3.


Figure 3 - Sitemap

2.3.4 Communication Protocols and Interfaces

An Ethernet cable or wireless connection will be required to connect to the internet. The

graphic display will be rendered through HTTP. The rest of ELDERS will use PHP to

communicate.


A. Appendix

Figure 4 - Entity Relationship Diagram Of The Prototype Database