AVAnnotate Frequently Asked Questions

What do I need to use AVAnnotate?

To use AVAnnotate, you will need: a GitHub account; a direct link to the .mp3 or .mp4 file of your audio or video or a IIIF manifest for the recording; and spreadsheets containing information about the project’s Events, Tags, and Annotations.

Many libraries, archives, and museums provide IIIF manifests for digitized audio and video recordings. The Internet Archive is another great resource for finding direct links to audio and video recordings.

How do I get started creating annotations?

These templates are designed to help you get started. Make a copy of each spreadsheet template (one for Events, Tags, and Annotations, respectively) and get ready to start annotating and inputting time stamps. Time stamps may be “point annotations” (the same in and out time), or intervals of time.

Does each cell on my Annotations, Events, and Tags spreadsheet have to be filled out?

On annotation spreadsheets, start time, end time, and annotation are all required. If you’re using column headers, these also need to be filled in, so you can’t leave one header blank and fill in the rest. Other cells are not required.

I’ve successfully added my Tags and Events, but can’t “save” my project after uploading my Annotations spreadsheet. What should I do?

This likely means there’s an issue with your Annotations spreadsheet (e.g., an empty cell, or a missing start/end time on a given timestamp). Double check that you’ve correctly filled out every cell corresponding to your annotations, and try importing the spreadsheet again.

How do I format multiple tags on a single annotation?

Tags and their corresponding categories need to be separated with a vertical bar, like this: Category: Tag | Category 2: Tag 2, and so on. (If you’re encountering the “save” issue with your annotations, it may also be because the tag column in your Annotation spreadsheet isn’t properly formatted.) See example below:

I got an email from GitHub that says “Run failed: Deploy main branch to GitHub Pages.” What should I do?

Nothing. This email is automatically generated by GitHub when an event is interrupted, but many activities are interrupted in the process of generating an AVAnnotate project. If your project still works, please ignore these emails!

Can I change the media player I selected when building a project later?

Yes – go to Project Settings and switch players.