Docs/Annotation Types

Select (Dropdown)

Single selection from a dropdown menu for longer option lists.

The select type provides a dropdown menu for single selection. Best for longer lists of options (5+) where radio buttons would be visually overwhelming.

Basic Configuration

yaml

annotation_schemes:
  - name: "category"
    description: "Select the document category"
    annotation_type: "select"
    labels:
      - name: "news"
      - name: "opinion"
      - name: "tutorial"
      - name: "review"
      - name: "other"

Configuration Options

Field	Type	Required	Description
`name`	string	Yes	Unique identifier for the annotation
`description`	string	Yes	Instructions shown to annotators
`annotation_type`	string	Yes	Must be `"select"`
`labels`	array	Yes	List of options to choose from
`default`	string	No	Default selected option
`required`	boolean	No	Whether selection is required

Examples

Document Classification

yaml

- name: "document_type"
  description: "What type of document is this?"
  annotation_type: "select"
  labels:
    - name: "Research Paper"
    - name: "News Article"
    - name: "Blog Post"
    - name: "Technical Documentation"
    - name: "Legal Document"
    - name: "Marketing Material"
    - name: "Personal Communication"
    - name: "Other"
  required: true

Language Selection

yaml

- name: "language"
  description: "What language is this text written in?"
  annotation_type: "select"
  labels:
    - name: "English"
    - name: "Spanish"
    - name: "French"
    - name: "German"
    - name: "Chinese"
    - name: "Japanese"
    - name: "Other"
  default: "English"

With Tooltips

yaml

- name: "genre"
  description: "Select the genre of this text"
  annotation_type: "select"
  labels:
    - name: "Fiction"
      tooltip: "Made-up stories and narratives"
    - name: "Non-fiction"
      tooltip: "Factual content based on real events"
    - name: "Poetry"
      tooltip: "Verse and poetic forms"
    - name: "Drama"
      tooltip: "Scripts and theatrical works"

Output Format

The select annotation outputs the selected option name:

json

{
  "id": "item_1",
  "annotations": {
    "category": "tutorial"
  }
}

When to Use Select vs Radio

Use Select	Use Radio
5+ options	2-5 options
Options are well-known to annotators	Need to see all options at once
Space is limited	Keyboard shortcuts are important
Long option labels	Quick visual scanning needed

Best Practices

Order options logically - Alphabetically, by frequency, or by semantic grouping
Include "Other" option - When the list might not be exhaustive
Use clear, distinct labels - Avoid ambiguous or overlapping categories
Set sensible defaults - If one option is most common, consider making it the default

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Select (Dropdown)

Select (Dropdown) Annotation

Basic Configuration

Configuration Options

Examples

Document Classification

Language Selection

With Tooltips

Output Format

When to Use Select vs Radio

Best Practices