[Tibeto-burman-linguistics] CfP: First workshop on Data Models, Citation, Access, and Re-usability impacting Historical Linguistic Datasets

[Hugh Paterson III]

This workshop proposes to provide a forum to discuss the structures and
models of information resources in historical-comparative linguistic
research outputs through the integration of informatic models from library
science and archivy. We want to address pertinent issues impacting the
indexing (for citation) and interoperability of datasets (for
sustainability).

*WS Title*: First workshop on Data Models, Citation, Access, and
Re-usability impacting Historical Linguistic Datasets Workshop at ICHL27,
Santiago de Chile, 18-22 August 2025
*Workshop Type*: in-person
*Organizers*: Hugh Paterson III & Oksana Zavalina
*Abstract Deadline*: October 18th
*Abstract Details*: up to 800 words excluding references.
*Submission*: Email PDF of abstracts to both i at hp3.me and
oksana.zavalina at unt.edu with [ICHL27 w8] in the subject line.
*Note*: Workshops are in most cases restricted to 6 papers; all other
papers, if accepted, will be given as part of the ICHL general sessions.
Should there be sufficient interest for an extended workshop (up to 12
papers), we will lobby the local organizers to permit this format.
*Workshop Website*:
https://hughandbecky.us/Hugh-CV/project/2025-ichl27-historical-linguistic-data-structures

*Conference Website*: https://ichl27santiago.cl
*PDF of **Workshop** abstract*:
https://hughandbecky.us/Hugh-CV/project/2025-ichl27-historical-linguistic-data-structures/Citation-Access-and-Reusability-in-Historical-Linguistic-Data-Sets.pdf
*Publication*: We are pursuing publication via edited volume post-workshop.


*Goal & Questions*
The role of library models (e.g., IFLA-LRM: Riva, Le Bœuf, and Žumer 2017)
and archival practice (e.g., lifecycle management: Higgins 2012) is
under-explored in relation to the construction and reuse of Historical
Linguistic Information Sources. This workshop proposes to provide a forum
to discuss the structures and models of information resources in
historical-comparative linguistic research outputs through the integration
of informatic models from library science and archivy.

We invite papers describing the information models used for assembling
large corpora (including wordlists) used in historical linguistics,
highlighting assumptions for citation, referencing, segmentation, and
reusability of the assembled collection of texts and their digital
surrogates. We encourage papers which present typologies of use cases,
categories of tracked information, provenance of data content, citability
of aggregate content, and the identifiers-for and permanence-of
user-generated datasets on research platforms.


   - What are the design patterns within datasets?
   - What are the categories used? and what are their scopes?
   - What are the kinds of objects subsumed into datasets?

*Background*
Significant advances have been made in historical linguistics through the
use of large compiled datasets (e.g., Kamholz et al. 2024; Tresoldi 2023;
Arora et al. 2023; Dellert et al. 2020; Greenhill 2015; Segerer and Flavier
2013; Mielke 2008; Greenhill, Blust, and Gray 2008). While not precluding
the contributions of single historical manuscripts and traditional
manuscript consultation methods, the use of and creation of datasets
(including corpora) has become the defacto way of generating new hypotheses
(Wichmann and Saunders 2007; Steiner, Cysouw, and Stadler 2011; Segerer
2015). Datasets in historical linguistics generally do two things: (1)
record critical researcher-created information such as reconstructed forms,
cognacy judgments, confidence levels, along with contextual notes; and (2)
contain foundational content from sources not created by the dataset
compiler. Such source material often include historically published and
unpublished resources including: maps (Hessle and Kirk 2020), language
specific lexicons and published reconstructions (Kamholz et al. 2024),
wordlists (Forkel et al. 2024; Segerer and Flavier 2013), transcriptions of
manuscripts and texts (Weber et al. 2023; Genee and Junker 2018; Kytö
2011), and even reconstructions by other scholars, etc.

Interactional platform-tools such as RefLex (Segerer and Flavier 2013) or
OUTOFPAPUA (Kamholz et al. 2024) allow users to create custom datasets
based on specific selected resources available to the platform. They do
this without requiring users to interact with the complete set of
underlying resources and/or the platforms allow users to create new
derivative aggregate collections (reconstructed forms and cognacy
relations) independent of other platform users. Citing, referencing, and
redistributing these custom datasets is challenging and impacts the
verifiability of claims.

It is broadly accepted across linguistic research that scholarly
work—including evidence— should be citable, accessable, and reusable (Bird
and Simons 2003). Together these issues impact reproducibility, an
important tenet in scholarship often overlooked in linguistics
(Berez-Kroeker et al. 2018). However, it is also well acknowledged that the
citation and reference of original source material for linguistic evidence
is lacking across the field (Gawne et al. 2017). More specifically in
historical-comparative linguistics, the context of citation and referencing
of the evidentiary record along with current dataset assemblage and
distribution practices generally do not support fine-grained or
Work-oriented citation and referencing. This often means that specific and
necessary details in comparative linguistics are not retrievable.
Therefore, the data models embedded within historical comparative datasets
become all the more important for the reproducibility of work and the
testing, verification, and refinement of hypotheses (Bakro-Nagy 2010).

With the exception of leading work around Cross-Linguistic Data Formats
(CLDF) use with historical-comparative data (Forkel et al. 2018; Forkel,
Swanson, and Moran 2024) and approaches using linked data in linguistics
(Kesäniemi et al. 2018; Tittel, Gillis-Webber, and Nannini 2020), the
literature has been silent about the storage formats for
historical-comparative data. Undiscussed are the information categories
represented in historical comparative linguistic datasets. The informatic
arrangement and description of compiled datasets has generally been ad-hoc
and served the needs of individually-funded projects. This has resulted in
a proliferation of divergent data categories mitigating against
ease-of-reuse.

We set out to ignite discussion around compilations of manuscripts,
wordlists, and other derivative resources which have become mainstream
tools in hypothesis generation related to the language evolution. We
explore the heretofore unapproached contribution that models such as
Work-Expression-Manifestation-Item (WEMI), illustrated in figure 1, from
library and information science (Coyle 2023; Riva, Le Bœuf, and Žumer 2017;
IFLA, 1998) can offer those who compile, and cite/reference aggregate
linguistic resources. Specifically, clarifying linking relationships
between the literature and datasets, including dataset portions.

We invite papers describing the information models used for assembling
large corpora (including wordlists) used in historical linguistics,
highlighting assumptions for citation, referencing, segmentation, and
reusability of the assembled collection of texts and their digital
surrogates. We encourage papers which present typologies of use cases,
categories of tracked information, provenance of data content, citability
of aggregate content, and the identifiers-for and permanence-of
user-generated datasets on research platforms.


Figure 1. Is available at the workshop website and the abstract in PDF form.

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