Dear all, This semester I will be teaching a seminar on research methodologies for the study of computer-mediated discourse. The seminar is part of an MA program on language and communication, so the focus is on language use - the students all come from linguistics departments. As part of the seminar, I want to introduce students to a free software program which enables annotation/coding of data, so we can conduct a small workshop in which they get their hands dirty annotating/coding data and so that we can subsequently discuss dis/advantages depending on the types of data they are working with, their research questions, etc. Do you know of any free programs you would recommend? I am not an expert on this matter and I am overwhelmed by all the programs (one could purchase). Further, do you have any tips on reading materials which address different types of software for the annotating/tagging of (linguistic) data, which we could read in class before working with a program? Thanks so much for your help. Kind regards, Brook Bolander (research and teaching assistant, University of Basel, Switzerland)