3. Methodologies

General comments:

Please note: We are intentionally not including a great deal of technical detail in this section. The primary reason for this has to do with the speed of software advances in this domain, as well as the fact that access to that technology is sure to differ radically from one replicator to another. As a result, methodologies used for one Scenarios archive will very likely bear little resemblance with those of another. Our comments in this section are general in nature.
At this point, we_d like to make two suggestions that relate to all aspects of how the archives might be used:
C For everything that has to do with the use of archival materials, including possible publication of the scenarios in various forms, be sure to look into the legal ramifications of citing the young authors_ names. It is our perception that this particular issue is dealt with in dramatically different ways depending on the existent legal culture (particularly relating to child protection) in various regions of the world.
C Our experience tells us that if you want to ensure that the archive is utilized to the greatest extent possible, you will need to advertise it well (your now well-established media contacts could help out) and also take the time to explain it to potential users. We have the feeling that the archives are often perceived by first-time users in a similar manner as the Internet: there is an intrigued sense of the potential value, but getting started seems dauntingly complicated.

a. Methodologies: Archive establishment / data entry

Location.
It is important to take plenty of time to choose the best possible site for the Scenarios archives. The site should be easily accessible to interested individuals and have the requisite space and technological facilities. Ideally, the archives will enhance and complement an existing documentation center. If all goes well, the archives will draw people to the documentation center, and those visiting the documentation center will discover the archives.
Timing
Try to get started on establishing the archive as quickly as you can after the selection process has concluded. At that point in time, you will be riding a wave of momentum; and interest in the archives _ perhaps especially among the jurors and their organizations _ will be extremely high.
Setting up the archive can coincide with preparations for film production. The immediate post-selection process could, therefore, be a time in which the Scenarios team is concurrently busy on two different fronts.

Methods
As you go about designing the archives and carrying out data-entry activities, it is essential that those activities should be shaped by all the subsequent uses, including research and evaluation activities, which you have determined for the archival materials and data base. The starting point should always be the questions you want to find answers to.
Your decisions will also be influenced by the availability of resources. You may have the means to word-process all the word-based scenarios and to use the latest textual analysis software to code them; you may decide to use a basic data-base software to catalogue the scenarios by keywords so that researchers can easily locate the relevant hard copies; you may decide to data process only the questionnaires and have researchers locate scenarios by means of the data they provide (country, age, number from the list of suggestions, NGO from which they received the entry form, etc.).
If resources are available to allow the electronic cataloguing of the archive by keyword, we would make the following recommendations.

The first step in determining those keywords should be in-depth consideration of the questions that the research will seek to address. You may have requested your jurors_ input into this process during the selection process; you may also want to solicit input from researchers around the world to ensure that the pursuit of as many potential research questions as possible is facilitated. This generation of questions should be continued by a multidisciplinary team, working together intensively over a period of several days and reading a portion of the scenarios. These questions will generate the keywords that will provide some of the architecture of your archive. The research team might also find it useful to refer to the lists of keywords used by conferences in the field of AIDS and to draw some keywords from the texts themselves.

You will need to use narrow categories. These can always be collapsed into broader categories but not vice versa. If, for example, you find out later that you need something more specific, say condom negotiation or abstinence negotiation rather than just _negotiation_, the data processors will need to go back and reread and recode. If you strive for narrow keywords in the first place, you will not encounter this problem. Terms such as negotiation are too broad unless they have a system where keywords such as _condoms_ and _negotiation_ can be easily combined.
It is also an advantage if the keywords are clustered, for example,

Condom
Advantages
Negotiation

Purchase
Quality
Reliability

You may find it useful to include information on the protagonists of the scenarios or on the type of scenario (cartoon strip, song, poem, etc.).

Don_t forget to make use of write-protect functions and spell-checks.

While a résumé of each scenario would be an interesting addition to your archive, it is not essential. A well-designed system of keywords, rigorously applied, can provide more information and greater ease of analysis.

Ideally, those who undertake the cataloguing of the keywords should be key members of the research team and well aware of the vital importance of rigor in cataloguing. It is essential that they should be extremely well-informed about the research.

Whatever methods you choose, make sure every single member of the team follows identical, detailed guidelines to the letter. Even slight divergences during the archiving process or data entry can create major problems later on.
Make sure that the entire team conducts an exhaustive pre-test of the selected methodologies before starting the archiving process or data-entry in earnest. Data entry in particular can be complex and can involve a number of judgment calls; it is essential that everyone make the same call. The pre-test phase should be designed so as to ensure that all subsequent archive elements work smoothly, i.e., it should be easy for a visitor to find selected scenarios, and data analysis and cross-analysis should be problem-free. In the course of your pre-testing, carry out actual practice runs for all of those activities.
A good way to ensure the necessary level of standardization at this stage is to conduct archiving and data-entry in one intense, concentrated block of time with as few distractions as possible, with one team of individuals who have received the same training and instructions. It is not advisable to approach this task with the attitude of doing a little bit at a time when a given colleague is available, an hour or so at the end of every workday, etc.
Recall that there are a couple of opportunities to foster project continuity here: partners involved in carrying out the contest and/or who served as jurors could be part of the archiving and data-entry teams; members of those teams could be involved in subsequent data-analysis and text-based research activities.