How to link a record on Lanfrica
Follow this step-by-step guide to "link" a record to the Lanfrica platform.
In order to link a record, you need to be signed in. This tutorial assumes you are already signed in to your Lanfrica account. For a guide on creating an account, refer here.
1. Access the “Link Record” Page
Click the "Link Record" button from either your Dashboard or your "My records" page. If using a mobile device, then it is the "+" icon at the bottom of the page. Clicking it launches the platform for adding/linking your record. It is meant to be a simple, quick process.
Main URL
The first metadata required of the record you are adding is the main URL that points to the record. When you input this, we will first check whether Lanfrica already has the record, before moving to the next steps.
In addition to the main URL, you can add more URLs that describe the record.
2. Input Record Metadata
Here, you put the following information. Feel free to copy and paste the information from where the record is hosted:
Title: Provide a title for your record.
Short Description (or abstract): Give a brief overview or summary of the record. For research papers, you can paste the abstract here.
Click “Continue” to move on.
3. Organizing the record
A significant value of Lanfrica is that it has structured, organized information about the record — this detailed information enables analysis and better understanding of the record.
Type of Resource
This field identifies one or more categories that best describe a given record. Although a record may span multiple types, select the category or categories that most accurately represent its primary nature. Available record types include:
Dataset
describes records that are machine learning or artificial intelligence datasets in raw or processed forms.
Paper
describes records that are papers. This includes research papers and books.
Software
describes records that are software packages.
Project
describes projects in their different stages (from ideation to completion). For example, GitHub repositories typically fit this category.
Poster
describes records that are posters. This includes research posters. A good example are the Deep Learning Indaba posters.
Policy
refers to policy documents of any kind. Usually we want policy documents that pertain to the African continent.
Language assessment:
this is a rare type that refers to records that are platforms for assessing language skills.
Media
describes media records. These could be media articles, newspapers, etc.
Tools
describes records that are tools, including linguistic tools (like keyboards and dictionaries), as well as other tools (physical or digital).
We aim to accommodate a broad spectrum of record types. If you believe an important category is missing, please let us know at [email protected].
Domain
Choose the domain that is the best category for your record. The full list of our domains and their meanings can be found here. Available domains include:
Language:
Agriculture
Health
Finance
Natural language processing
Climate
Modality
The Modality field specifies the forms of content contained in the record — particularly important for datasets. It answers the question: What type of data is contained in this record?
Supported modalities:
Text
Speech
Video
Image
African Language
This field applies when you have selected Language or Natural Language Processing as a record type. Here, list the language(s) that the record addresses or analyzes. Note that this refers to the subject language(s) under discussion—not necessarily the language in which the record is written.
Example: A research paper on Xhosa–English machine translation, though authored in English, would identify Xhosa (and/or English, if both are studied) in this section.
Note: If the language you want isn’t listed, contact us to [email protected] to add it.
There are two ways to add the language:
One-by-One
Click the language dropdown.
Search for your desired language.
Click to select it.
Repeat these steps to add additional languages individually.
Bulk Addition Sometimes, the number of languages covered by a record are too many to conveniently add one by one. For this scenario, we provide a way to add multiple languages in bulk.
Click the Add Multiple Languages icon to open the bulk-entry dialog.
Paste your list of ISO codes or language names into the text box.
Choose the appropriate delimiter (for example, select Comma if your entries are comma-separated).
Click Extract. The system will parse your input, match each entry against our available languages, and populate the dropdown.
Review and refine the results (e.g., add any languages that were missed).
NLP Tasks
Specify the natural language processing task(s) relevant to this record (for example, Machine Translation, Sentiment Analysis, Named Entity Recognition, etc.). This only applies to natural language processing resources.
License
Select the license that governs this record. There are two ways to specify the license:
Write just the name of the license. This makes sense if it is a well-known license (e.g., CC-BY, MIT, GPL)
Write the URL to your license. This allows for custom licenses, or if you prefer, to provide a link.
Tags
Tags are keywords that help other users find your record. Add words that describe what your record is about or what it's used for - the more relevant tags you add, the easier it will be for others to discover your content.
4. Need Help?
If you run into any issues or have questions:
Reach out to our support team at [email protected]__.
By linking records, you're connecting African innovators, researchers, and communities to the resources they need to create technology that truly serves them. Together, we're moving beyond being consumers to becoming architects of our own digital world — where African languages, knowledge, and innovation drive the technologies that shape our communities
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