Running head: Lab 2 – ELDERS Prototype
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Lab 2 – ELDERS Prototype
Team Purple
Tatiana Livingston
CS411W
Professor Janet Brunelle
April 8, 2013
Version: 1
Lab 2 – ELDERS Prototype
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Table of Contents
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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.html
Nottoway 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
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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.
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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:
Dictionaries
Store and view the words in
the Historic Dictionary and
the New Dictionary
Implemented
View the written alphabet
Not Implemented: There is no current
Nottoway Alphabet; once created it will
be easily implemented
Hear the words pronounced
Partially Implemented: Will allow
admins to add audio pronunciations
Lessons to teach the
language
Not Implemented
System to suggest new
words
Implemented
Alphabet
Audio
Pronunciation
Language
Lessons
Word
Proposal
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Certain users can vote for
proposed words, words with
enough votes automatically
get added to the New
Dictionary
Implemented
User login system with
different access levels
Implemented
Notifications
System 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
Able to view the website
from mobile devices
Implemented
Separate mobile
application
Not Implemented
Word
Voting
Access
Control
Mobile
View
Mobile
Application
Table 1 – Side-By-Side Comparison Of The Final Product And The Prototype
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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
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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.
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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.
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A. Appendix
Figure 4 - Entity Relationship Diagram Of The Prototype Database