The Curation of Language Data as a Distinct Academic Activity: A Call to Action for Researchers, Educators, Funders, and Policymakers

Abstract

This position paper outlines curation as a distinct area of linguistics which supports the assessment of existing linguistic data sets. The starting point of the discussion lies in the work with legacy materials and necessary skills for reviewing them. The discussion of skills and knowledge relevant for this task lays out requirements for training and preparing academics and professionals for curation in ways that creates career options. Due to the importance of properly maintained data sets and the time-consuming nature of curation, this specialisation deserves the same merit as other areas of linguistics and should be treated equally.

Keywords

• legacy materials
• philology
• computer literacy
• documentary linguistics
• data citation
• curriculum development