Using existing metadata standards and tools for a digital language archive: a balancing act

Abstract

Purpose Building a digital language archive requires a number of steps to ensure collecting, describing, preserving and providing access to language data in effective and efficient ways. The purpose of this paper is to describe how the Computational Resource for South Asian Languages (CoRSAL) group has partnered with the University of North Texas (UNT) Digital Library to build a series of interconnected digital collections that leverage existing UNT technical and metadata infrastructure to provide access to data from and for various language communities. Design/methodology/approach This paper introduces the reader to the background of this project and discusses some of the areas important for representing language materials where both University of North Texas Libraries (UNTL) metadata and CoRSAL metadata practices were adapted to better fit the needs of intended audiences. Findings We discuss a workflow for standardized language representation (the Language field), defining roles for persons related to the item (Creator and Contributor fields) and including subject representation for language materials (Subjects and Keywords fields). Practical implications Although further work is needed to improve language data representation in the CoRSAL digital language archive, the model adopted by the team and lessons learned could benefit others in the language archiving community. Originality/value This paper is a significantly extended version of the presentation made at the 1st International Workshop on Digital Language Archives in 2021.

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

“…For example, R and Takhellambam [10] presented the case study of the Sikkim-Darjeeling Himalayas Endangered Language Archive and discussed the collaborative digital language archive development in India. Two studies shared the experiences of the Computational Resource for South Asian Languages (CoRSAL) digital language archive: Dale [7] presented the approaches tested in the development of workflow for mediated archiving while Burke and colleagues [5] discussed the challenges and proposed solutions for name and subject representation in the digital language archive metadata.…”

Metadata Standard for Continuous Preservation, Discovery, and Reuse of Research Data in Repositories by Higher Education Institutions: A Systematic Review

“…Whether the loss occurs by a malicious attempt or an inadvertent mistake, it can be diminishing either personally, machine, or to the institute/company where it occurs. To be useful, metadata need to be standardised [26,32]. This includes agreeing on language, spelling, date format, etc.…”

“…This includes agreeing on language, spelling, date format, etc. [32]. If no metadata standards are used, it can be very difficult to archive, cite, discover, reuse, etc.…”

“…If no metadata standards are used, it can be very difficult to archive, cite, discover, reuse, etc. research data and datasets researchers to create every day [32]. Many HEIs have supported initiatives to formalise the metadata specifications the community deems to be required for data reuse [22,26,[32][33][34].…”

“…research data and datasets researchers to create every day [32]. Many HEIs have supported initiatives to formalise the metadata specifications the community deems to be required for data reuse [22,26,[32][33][34]. Therefore, this systematic review analysed available and open metadata standards to enhance the preservation, discovery, and reuse of research data in repositories in HEIs.…”