Lesson 10
Laura Buszard-Welcher
Synopsis
How do we move human knowledge into the future? As linguists, this problem should sit squarely in our bailiwick since humans encode, express and transmit knowledge over vast lengths of time through our languages and cultures. This is a primary reason why data collected through language documentation projects matter, and why archiving linguistic data for the future is a critical part of the forward migration of knowledge. But how do we preserve meaning with the data we take such pains to archive? If we avoid this question, we potentially undermine any long-term archiving effort. This chapter takes a look at language archives of the deep past, near past and present in an effort to better frame this question, and contemplates how language archives of the future could be better equipped to carry meaning forward not just as language archives per se, but as archives of human knowledge.
Core concepts & keywords
LOCKSS: Lots of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe, see also Lesson 6.
Parallel Text: The same content written in multiple languages, as in the Rosetta Stone or Interlinear Glossed Text.
Future Stakeholders in Archives: Linguists, heritage language community members, humanity.
Activities
Exercises - Practice what you've learned
Consider the following questions, posed by Buszard-Welcher in her conclusion (section 5). If possible, discuss your thoughts with a peer.
What is the role of archived linguistic data?
Can we enrich our data or archives so they are better repositories of knowledge?
Could archives be critical infrastructure for lived languages?
Can we make archives part of lived culture itself?
Implement these practices in your career
Consider the points of this chapter in terms of your own research data. How will your data remain discoverable and meaningful in the long term. If you have stored or plan to store your data in an archive, how will the archive ensure the future discoverability and meaningfulness of your data?
Quiz - Test yourself!
Relevant data management use cases
Managing phonological data in a perception experiment by Rory Turnbull
Data management at the Ottawa sociolinguistics laboratory by Shana Poplack
Managing AUTOTYP Data: Design Principles and Implementation by Alena Witzlack-Makarevich, Johanna Nichols, Kristine A. Hildebrandt, Taras Zakharko, and Balthasar Bickel
Related readings
The Long Now Foundation. n.d. Accessed October 18, 2021. https://longnow.org/.
The Rosetta Project Interactive Disk. n.d. The Rosetta Project: Building an archive of all documented human languages. Accessed October 18, 2021. http://rosettaproject.org/disk/interactive/.
Share your thoughts on this article or topic
Use #LingData #LongTermArchiving #LongView on your favorite social media platform!
About the author:
Laura Buszard-Welcher is Director of Operations and The Long Now Library at The Long Now Foundation. Her research interests include endangered language documentation and description, language revitalization, language archiving, the future of human communication, and how it will be mediated by technology.
Citations
Cite this chapter:
Buszard-Welcher, Laura. 2022. Linguistic data in the long view. In The Open Handbook of Linguistic Data Management, edited by Andrea L. Berez-Kroeker, Bradley McDonnell, Eve Koller, and Lauren B. Collister, 129-142. doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/12200.003.0014. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press Open.
Cite this online lesson:
Gabber, Shirley, Danielle Yarbrough, Andrea L. Berez-Kroeker, Bradley McDonnell, Eve Koller, Lauren B. Collister, and Laura Buszard-Welcher. 2022. "Lesson 10." Linguistic Data Management: Online companion course to The Open Handbook of Linguistic Data Management. Website: https://sites.google.com/hawaii.edu/linguisticdatamanagement/course-lessons/10-linguistic-data-in-the-long-view [Date accessed].