Labelling in the pilot

This page is for the crew labelling with Sift in the pilot, and their manager. It covers what you need to get going and what to do when something looks odd. The other pages go into more detail.

If something looks wrong

Don’t discard, start over or reinstall. Take a screenshot, export if Sift offers it, and report it. See When something looks wrong.

1. Install Sift

1. Open the invitation email and accept it (step 2). Then open your organisation’s hub web app in a browser and click Get the app under “Labelling happens in the desktop app”. Or open your hub’s address followed by /download.
2. The download page offers the installer for your computer first.
   • macOS: open the .dmg and drag Sift to Applications.
   • Windows: run the installer. The Windows installer isn’t code-signed yet, so Windows may say “Windows protected your PC”. Choose More info, then Run anyway.
   • Linux: make the AppImage executable (chmod +x) and run it.

More in Install Sift.

2. Sign in and join

1. Accept the invitation. Click the link in the email. Type your Full name, choose a Password, and click Join. The link works once, for 7 days.
2. Sign in from the app. Open Sift. In Organisation hub, type the start of the link in your invitation, for example sift.fathom.operationalecology.io. Type your Work email (the invited address) and your Password, then click Sign in.
3. Don’t choose Use without an organisation. That opens projects on this computer only, and nobody else sees your work.
4. Wait for the first sync. The sidebar may say “(not synced yet)” for a moment. Then the project opens. If it doesn’t, ask your manager to add you to the project.
5. Google Drive. If the recordings are on Google Drive, Sift asks you to sign in to Google the first time you open the dataset. Use the Google account the folder is shared with. Google may warn that the app is unverified: choose Advanced, then go on. See Google Drive datasets.

More in Join an organisation as a labeller.

3. Start labelling

On the project’s Home, click Start checking next to the work assigned to you. Or open the dataset and click Open labeller.

Answer each event with a label (1 to 9), Nothing (0) or Unsure (U). In the Recording view, draw boxes around calls the model missed. Everything saves as you go.

When you stop, open the top bar’s menu (⋯) and choose Done. That lets colleagues take the events you were holding.

Read The labeller in 10 minutes before your first session.

Two people may label the same dataset, even the same recordings, at the same time. Nobody’s answer overwrites anyone else’s. When answers differ, the event shows as disputed and a manager decides.

4. The sync badge

The badge next to the project’s name on its Home says whether your work has reached the hub.

It says	What to do
Synced	Nothing. Your changes are on the hub and you have everyone else’s.
Syncing…, N changes waiting, N to fetch	Nothing. Sift is on it.
Offline	Nothing, if you meant to be offline. Your work is kept and goes when you reconnect.
Anything else	Note exactly what it says (hover over it for the detail line) before doing anything. See below.

The rest of the states, such as blocked, refused, set aside or held here, not on the hub yet, are explained in Check that you are in sync. None of them means your work is lost: Sift keeps it on your computer.

At the end of each day, check that the badge says Synced.

When something looks wrong

1. Don’t discard, start over or reinstall. Don’t choose Discard changes…, Discard, or Start over from the hub…, and don’t delete Sift or its data. Sift keeps work it can’t send on your computer, and nearly every state has a way out that keeps it.
2. Take a screenshot of the exact words on screen. Note the time, what you were doing, and whether you were online.
3. Export if Sift offers it. For example Export changes… on a blocked dataset, Export unsynced… on the Datasets page, Export in Refused changes, or Export the work only this computer holds…. Save the file and keep it.
4. Report it to the person running the pilot, with the screenshot, the notes and any exported file.

Then carry on labelling other work if you can.

Working offline

You can label without a connection, for hours or days.

• Your answers, boxes and notes are saved on your computer and sent when the hub can be reached again. Closing the laptop or quitting Sift loses nothing, even while it says it is sending.
• While you are offline, nobody’s claims apply, so two people may answer the same events. Both answers are kept.
• Requests you send or answer are saved and sent, in order, when you reconnect.
• Work in a Google Drive dataset needs its recordings downloaded first: select them on the Recordings tab and click Make available offline before you go.
• When you are back online, wait until the badge says Synced.

More in Organisations, the hub and sync.

For the manager

• Edit the label set on the Labels page. Labellers see a change after their next sync, once your app has been online. See Labels and label sets.
• Settle disputes, and publish a version from the dataset’s Versions tab. See Published versions and exports.
• At the end of the pilot, publish a version and ask everyone to open the dataset’s Versions tab. It should show Verified here on every computer. That means every computer’s copy matches the published version exactly.
• If a labeller sends you a file of changes, import it with Import a member’s changes…: in Refused changes in the sidebar, or on the organisation’s Datasets page. A preview lists every change before anything is imported. See Import a member’s changes.