A digital library to advance interdisciplinary research in singing

Abstract

In 2008, at the ASA/EAA symposium honouring pioneering scientist of singing, Johan Sundberg, the AIRS (Advancing Interdisciplinary Research in Singing) project was introduced as a major collaborative research initiative on singing [Cohen, A.J. (2008) Acoustics 08 Paris, 3177-3182]. Over 70 collaborators around the world were to investigate singing from perspectives of development, education and well-being. A digital library was to facilitate distant team members' work on the same data, such as examples from voice studios around the world, performance stages, playgrounds, public places, solos, groups, classrooms, intergenerational or multicultural choirs, therapeutic settings or new tests of singing skills [Vincent, C., Lane, J. & Cohen, A. (2011) PEVOC9]. Plans also included tools for annotation and analysis along with relevant documents and images. The present progress report on this endeavor describes preliminary prototypes, stages of development, and the current functional implementation. It is noted that although singing is primarily an acoustic and auditory phenomenon, video records of the singer are highly valuable. Their benefit, however, must be weighed against challenges arising from ethical considerations and storage requirements. Issues of ownership and data sharing are also raised as are practical matters of choice of platform, storage, formats, backup, human resources, and long-term preservation.