Language Archiving Training: A Case Study of a Metadata Course in Library and Information Science Graduate Program, 2020 - 2023

Abstract

Since the early 21st century, funding agencies have been continuously supporting efforts aimed at language preservation and revitalization. This includes providing online access to unique and valuable collections of language data, which often originates from Indigenous and endangered language communities. Language materials are organized and represented in digital archives mostly by information professionals in the library, museum, and archival fields. However, a gap exists between the way these materials are organized and represented and the understanding of that data – and expectations towards the more functional ways of its organization and representation – by language preservation and revitalization researchers, and by members of language communities. Information resources collected by language archives have unique attributes of importance to their target user groups, and these attributes and their representation are not currently widely addressed by the formal training provided to information professionals. Similarly, specifics of these collections end-users’ information needs are not currently examined in this training. In this case study, we present the project that seeks to address this training gap and evaluate its preliminary results.