It is not an archive, and it will never be done: Building the Coeur d’Alene Online Language Resource Center

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2025-02

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University of Hawaii Press

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1

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72

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96

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Abstract

For language workers in Indigenous communities, language documentation done by outsiders, materials created by previous generations of workers, and even materials created contemporaneously, can all be useful tools for language teachers and learners. Workers may, however, lack appropriate access to these materials, some materials may be stored in vulnerable locations, or in obsolete formats. One approach to these issues can be the development of online language resources that could provide both appropriate access to and safe storage of these valuable materials. In the Coeur d’Alene community, the choice was made in 2009 to begin the process of developing a website that would hold much of the documentation that had previously been held in external collections, on paper and in various now-archaic electronic formats. The current result of that effort can be seen at https://thecolrc.org, which is a web application that is still being expanded and improved with the goals of providing both appropriate access and safe storage to a variety of language materials. In this paper we discuss the partnerships and collaborations that have been necessary to ensure the longevity of this project, the advantages and disadvantages associated with the choices we’ve made, and the technical infrastructure and resources required to develop this application. We take the position that even though the work focuses on safe storage and appropriate access, there are structural reasons that it is not an archive; and that the decision to use digitization and application development for this purpose means that the work will never be completed.

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Vincent, Audra, Alice Kwak, Shannon T. Bischoff, Amy Fountain, & John Ivens. 2025. It is not an archive, and it will never be done: Building the Coeur d’Alene Online Language Resource Center [Indigenous Language Rights & Realities. 1: 72-96]. Language Documentation & Conservation.

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25

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International

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