The main task of the given project is the development of a system, which would allow the Internet users to carry out their investigation of archival sound material directly in on-line mode. Because of that a special representation of archival material is necessary. Thus, all sound files should be accompanied by information on their multi-level segmentation, which should allow the user to extract and analyse any its part (segment). Each significant segment of the database is perceived as a potential object of investigation and is supplied by tables of descriptive parameters, mirroring its various characteristics. The list of these parameters for each of the objects in concern is open for further possible extension. The online user observing the orthography of the recording may select any its fragment and receive (or listen to) the corresponding audio file, which is automatically generated by the user’s selection. If his selection coincides with the object previously described in the database, the user may receive all correspondent information from the database (e.g., phonetic, textology, ethnographic, dialectology, or musicology commentaries). The professional version of the system will be distributed on digital compact discs and will give to the user an opportunity to create his/her own comments, and to extend or modify the existing information fields. By means of Internets-technologies the archival material becomes accessible to the researchers of the whole world. Though our system is addressed primarily to researchers of sound archives and collections and because of that its main object is Sound and its parameters, the proposed database ideology and general approach to data representation and access may be further used for creation of similar system for textual or video data, as well as for various multimedia applications. The represented report generalises the results of works spent by the authors within the framework of projects, supported by grants of Russian Foundation for Humanitarian Research (project #99.04-12015v "Regional Variants of the Russian Speech Recordings in the Internet") and Russian Foundation for Fundamental Research (project #00-07-90197 "Web-Collection of Reference Sound Samples of Standard Russian Pronunciation for Researches in the Field of Speech Synthesis and Recognition").

Skrelin Pavel A. - doctor of Science in Philology, Senior Lecturer, Head of the Laboratory of Experimental Phonetics, deputy dean of the Philological faculty of St. Petersburg State University.

Sherstinova Tatiana Y. - candidate of science in Computational Linguistics, certificated specialist in the field of informational systems and Internet-technologies, senior researcher of the Department of Phonetics of St. Petersburg State University.

Talanov Andrei O. - programmer, author of computer systems for sound processing

Tscherbakov Pavel P. - candidate of science in Physics and Mathematics, certificated specialist in the field of informational systems and Internet-technologies, Senior Lecturer of Interdisciplinary Centre for the Advanced Professional Education (ICAPE) of St. Petersburg State University