Stewardship of digital language archives: training development and testing through collaboration of information scientists, linguists, and communities

Abstract

Introduction. Specialized repositories aggregating digital data that focus on languages (of indigenous groups, refugees, etc.) are known as digital language archives (DLA). DLA rapid growth is galvanized by language documentation efforts supported by funding agencies. Recent studies examine DLA user needs and explore support of these needs in digital repositories. Training of LAM professionals in curating and managing DLA to support user needs is emerging, with no research yet into its effectiveness. Method. Our federally funded interdisciplinary project creates and tests the 1st US LAM graduate course with DLA focus. The curriculum development builds on team’s experience with DLA, available DLA user studies, and collaborations of LAM and linguistics researchers with language communities. We report on the current state of curriculum development, discuss analysis results and future steps. Analysis. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of data collected through course-level and module-level surveys, and content analysis. Results. Overall, the project-developed training materials are effective in developing learning objectives. Areas for improvement are identified. Conclusions. The team is refining the LAM curriculum and developing language community DLA training workshops based on student evaluation results, collecting community feedback for future analysis. The project is expected to positively impact LAM education and DLA users’ experiences.

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