Needless to say it is important, before you leave, to inform yourself of the culture and the history of the speakers you will be working with, and of the current political situation of the area you will be in etc. Not only will these factors bear upon the nature of the language you are studying, but a good knowledge of the socio-cultural norms and the local political climate will facilitate good relations with the people you are working with, and will help you avoid stepping on people's toes and thereby jeopardizing your position in the community.

On the linguistic side, it again goes without saying that you should have studied all available literature on the language itself before embarking on your own field trip. It also helps to have some knowledge of related languages (especially if you particular language is very underdescribed), and, especially in the case of isolates, of the other languages in the region. If you are interested in a particular aspect of the language in question, then it pays to work out very carefully what sort of data you are looking for, prior to leaving, and design the best means of eliciting this, in order to capitalize on your time in the field. See our section on links to downloadable questionnaires and surveys.

You should make contact with any linguists who have recently worked in the area to which you are headed. This is useful for logistical matters relating to preparing yourself for the stay, and also in order to set up relations that may be beneficial to all of you later on, in terms of sharing materials and data. It's also a good idea to make contact with any local universities, research institutes and local linguists before you leave, and essential to set up good relations with these groups when you actually reach your destination. This way you can become familiar with ongoing research in your field, and set up valuable communication channels which help to secure ongoing progress in the field.

Gifts

It is a good idea to come prepared with gifts for local universities (linguistics books, e.g by linguists connected with your university are always a good choice), community authorities, your informants and any nearby children. Again, talking to people who have recently been in the area, or are still there, is a good way to determine what is appropriate.

Officialdom

You will generally have to deal with officials at the regional and local level to obtain research clearance. Navigating authorities can be facilitated by bringing with you letters from your university on official letterheads. Stickerbooks or business cards with the official university logo are also a good idea.

Audio Recording Equipment

Some general tips

Always have a backup system in case your primary system fails. The best choice is a professional quality analog cassette recorder, with adjustable recording volume.

Make sure you thoroughly check and clean your recording equipment prior to your field work.

Take spare batteries.

At the beginning of each elicitation session, test to see that the equipment is recording properly.

In choosing your recording equipment you need to weigh up the relative convenience, accuracy and price of the various available devices. Here are some of the standard options. See the links below for more detailed information and advice.

DAT

DAT recorders offer better quality recording than mini disk recorders, but are more expensive, more easily broken and don't perform well in extreme climates. It can be difficult to obtain the DAT tapes. These tapes do not preserve well long term, so if you do choose a DAT device, be sure to transfer the data to a hard drive, CD or DVD regularly.

Minidisks

Many minidisk recorders compress the sound as soon as they record, which results in the instant loss of some of the signal, which obviously isn't ideal if you intend to do acoustic analysis.The newest Sony Hi-MD minidisk recorders do, however, record uncompressed WAV sound data, and some machines record sound direct to CD. Minidisk recorders have the advantage of being small and convenient and are much cheaper than DAT recorders. The minidisks themselves do not preserve well long term, so again, be sure to transfer the data regularly to a more dependable location.

Hard disk recorders

It is now possible to find small USB devices (with quality microphone pre-amps, 24-bit A/D converters, 106 dB dynamic range), which can be used with most PC and Macintosh machines. Recordings obtained with these devices are apparently excellent (see http://www.historicalvoices.org/oralhistory/hdd-rec.html for more information and photos), and are probably not a bad choice if you are in a situation where recording from a laptop is possible.

PC card and CD-R recorders

Marantz has a trustworthy selection of professional quality PC card filed recorders. They record uncompressed PCM 16-bit audio at a sample rate of 44,100 Hz. The data is stored as a Wav audio file. The PC cards are, unfortunately, very expensive however. There is now a new Marantz portable CD recorder on the market, which writes data directly to a CD-R or CD-RW, and looks promising ( see, for example http://www.proaudiosuperstore.com/Marantz-CDR300.html)

Analog Recorders

These are still popular as a primary recording device, and are ideal as a back-up option. Make sure the recorder you choose has a high signal-to-noise and a broad frequency ratio, variable speed playback, automatic shutoff, adjustable volume, and that it is both electric and battery operated. Analog tapes are reasonably durable, especially if you use chrome tape, which stretches less than polyester tape. Tapes will, of course, later need to be digitized if you intend to create archivable files, or for acoustic analysis.

I-Pods

The word on I-Pods seems to be that (currently at least) they are not the best choice for high quality recording in the field. A discussion of their failings and merits can be found at: http://lists.topica.com/lists/phonetics/read/message.html?mid=810319999&sort=d&start=587

Microphones

It is very important to have a high quality external microphone with a good signal-to-noise ration. Internal microphones pick up machine noise so avoid these.

For further information on recording devices, try the following:

Video Recording

Adding the element of video to your fieldwork can mean a new wealth of data, but it also requires some additional considerations. A good summary of the issues surrounding video recording can be found at the "How to Film in the Field" page at emeld.org.

Links

http://www.stanford.edu/~popolvuh/field-checklist.htm

This is the most comprehensive website we've seen so far on tips on what to pack when planning any kind of Linguistic Anthropological Fieldwork. Stanford Professor Jim Fox has covered every potential and necessary packing item you could think of! You won't need everything he lists, but his checklist is sure to keep you from forgetting something possibly crucial to your fieldwork.

Passports

Visas

Immunizations

Government travel warnings

Travel Preparation: Domestic

Immunizations