Domain-driven documentation: The case of landscape

Abstract

It is becoming increasingly evident that the field of language documentation and the documentary multimedia resources it produces rely on expanding their relevance and usability to disciplines beyond linguistics in order to increase their chances of being sustainable in the long term. This paper argues that more attention should be paid to the needs and interests of such disciplines in language documentation schemes. One way of doing so is to set out from fundamental domains of human experience in designing documentation programs, domains which are of immediate concern to disciplines such as geography, biology, history, anthropology, and so on. Particular focus is placed on the domain of landscape, explored in two documentation programs coordinated by the author. In addition to providing clear interdisciplinary arenas of inquiry, such domain-driven approaches also offer excellent opportunities for efficient collection and construction of the comprehensive records of linguistic practices stipulated by current documentation initiatives.