CIRCA:Revised Letter of Initial Contact

From CIRCA

Revision as of 23:28, 17 February 2011 by MeganSellmer (Talk | contribs)
(diff) ← Older revision | Current revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to: navigation, search
  • I added a timeline of the project.
  • Defined group-sourcing

Information/Consent to Participate in the Ukrainian Folklore Audio Project

Dear _____________________________,

Please consider participating in the Ukrainian Folklore Audio Project. The purpose of this project is two-fold. One is to transcribe and to translate the audio files that exist on the website: http://projects.tapor.ualberta.ca/UkraineAudio/. The other is to study the dynamics of group-sourcing. We hope to see what kinds of people contribute to a project, how much they typically contribute, and what encourages contribution of work.

The researchers involved are Natalie Kononenko, Kule Chair of Ukrainian Ethnography and the person who collected the audio recordings in Ukraine. The other participant is Geoffrey Rockwell of the philosophy department. He is the designer of the Words in the Wild crowdsourcing website. We hope to use the information that we gather from this second part of the project in conference presentations and scholarly articles on crowdsourcing and community participation in academic work.

There is some potential of commercial benefit from the first part of the project. Should we be able to collect a sufficient number of transcriptions of either songs or stories, we might consider publishing them in book form.

Description of research procedures and expected duration and nature of participation

Procedures for purpose one: we will "pull" segments out of the mass of 200 hours of sound that are on the http://projects.tapor.ualberta.ca/UkraineAudio/. These segments will "sit" on a special, password protected website. You will "check out" segments and work on them. You can do either transcription or translation or both. This means that, if you can't write out what is being said or sung in Ukrainian, you can still write the English translation of the text, if you choose to contribute that. While checked out, the segment is visible to you only. Then the segment comes back to me. I will check it for accuracy, correct if necessary, and post for public access. All people who contribute will be credited for their work. This is a way to make a contribution without a big time commitment.

Procedures for purpose two: within the secure website, we will keep track of how often participants log on, how long they stays on line, and how much and what kind of work (transcription or translation) they do. For this part of the work, your identity will be protected. We will not associate the name of the participant with this information. The data will be keyed by number or by the item being worked on, not by the person doing the work. The term group-sourcing is a smaller crowdsourcing project, this lets us monitor the project closely and experiment with academic “group-sourcing.” Dr. Natalie Kononenko coined this term.


Research assistants will not have access to the data collected for purpose 2. Graduate student workers will be used only to prepare the audio clips to be worked on by project participants. Only the principle investigators, both University of Alberta faculty, will have access to this data. Should research assistants be used for purpose 2 in the future, they will comply with the University of Alberta Standards for the Protection of Human Research Participants http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/gfcpolicymanual/policymanualsection66.cfm. All other research person will sign confidentiality agreement forms.

The benefits to you as a participant are pride in contributing to the academic enterprise, to making Ukrainian cultural materials better known nationally and internationally.

Project Timeline Workshop TBA Volunteers will meet to test the website, and make any suggestions for improvement. People unable to make the workshop will be given a technology manual. A questionnaire is handed out at the end of this workshop. This will be filled out and collected before the end of the workshop.

Project participation – TBA to May 14, 2011 Volunteers will transcribe or translate Ukrainian audio recording on a website created specifically for this project.

Final Interview – May 1, 2011 – May 7, 2011 A questionnaire will be distributed via email or telephone. All information is private and kept anonymous for the duration of five years.


Verification/review No transcriptions or translations will be made public until they have been checked for accuracy by the principle researcher. You will not have the embarrassment of a text with errors posted on a public website.

Rights You have the right not to participate in this project. You have the right to withdraw at any time. Should you withdraw and decide that you want to resume participation, you have the right to do so. You have the right to privacy, anonymity and confidentiality. Your contributions will bear your name on the public website only if you so choose.

Data gathered for purpose 2 will be confidential at all times. Data gathered for purpose 2 will be kept on a secure, password protected website and destroyed after 5 years.

You have the right to the disclosure of any conflict of interest on the part of the researchers. You have the right to a copy of the research findings. To request these finding, please write to Natalie Kononenko at: The Kule Centre for Ukrainian and Canadian Folklore 250 Arts Building University of Alberta Edmonton, AB T6R 1L5 Tel. 780-492-6810, cell 780-964-5277 Email: nataliek@ualberta.ca

Informed Consent You will be asked to sign a consent form. In case of any concerns, complaints or consequences please contact Natalie Kononenko at the address above.

Ethics Approval Statement

“The plan for this study has been reviewed for its adherence to ethical guidelines and approved by the Faculties of Education, Extension, Augustana and Campus Saint Jean Research Ethics Board (EEASJ REB) at the University of Alberta. For questions regarding participant rights and ethical conduct of research, contact the Chair of the EEASJ REB c/o (780) 492-2614.”
Personal tools