The motivations for presenting this material in a digital format can be broadly grouped into two concerns: those that are conceptual, having to do with the content, and those that are philosophical or methodological. 

Conceptual reasons

• Saluang is an oral tradition: the music is not notated and the poetry rarely is. Singers are expected to memorize verses or compose them anew in appropriate poetic form during performance. There are no published collections of saluang texts though singers might notate them when learning and/or reference a book, or more recently a cell phone. To my knowledge there are no extensive studies of saluang texts in any language. It is important, then, to present these texts in the medium most proximate to their original presentation: audio recordings as a representation of live performance. I am not able to provide transcriptions of all song texts--there is simply too much here--but when written texts are presented they include the Minangkabau original, along with Indonesian and English translations. Texts are further annotated with notes to help users understand the subtext. 
• To represent the multimedia riches of ethnographic research on performance, rather than relying on the written word. Being able to incorporate images, audio, and video brings user closer to the experience of saluang performance. 
• To map the geographic imaginary, the way Minangkabau people conceptualize place in and through song titles, texts, and even stage names. The interactive maps included reveal the ways in which the Minangkabau homeland is sung into being. 

Philosophical reasons

These philosophical reasons are responsive to changing demands, concerns, and circumstances of academia, including the shift towards research that is more collaborative and better serves the community. The digital platform is attractive for the following reasons:

• Accessibility 
  • Free
  • Version 2.0 will include Indonesian language sections
• Multimodal: representing knowledge in different formats for different kinds of users
• Collaborative & Polyvocal
• Non-linear structure
• Affordances of the digital
  • Interactive Maps
  • Interactive timelines
  • Annotations
    • Song Structures
    • Content in Images
    • Texts
  • Tagging which enables cross-referencing of material, allowing builders to reveal connections between items and users easy access to definitions of terms and context of linked material
  • Visualizations: allow users to see the connections between data, but also offering pathways to explore material.