Learning Resource Metadata for Linguistic & Language Resources

This project is more like a research theme. It started with some felt needs in the SIL International Training Department where I was working. We were seeking to better automate and craft the SIL course catalogue, professional development plans, and course content, while providing instructors clear access to known resources they could use in their learning events. This work involved conceptualizing the course catalogue from both the training and human resources points of view along with supporting resources. SIL’s training events are SIL licensed or implemented under contract at partner institutions of higher education. Often the contracted instruction is done via independent-ish SIL branded organizations often refereed to as SIL Entities e.g., SIL Peru, SIL Philippines, etc. Entities are often a geographical locus of operations and work out their own partnerships and resource management strategies. The SIL Language & Culture Archive maintains specific collections for each SIL entity, one of those collections is usually for training resources. Connecting these resources to competencies is important for understanding the use, value, and re-use capability of the resource. I started looking out at how this connection between resource and competency was solved in the larger professional space. In the process I was introduced to the Learning Resource Metadata Initiative (LRMI) and Learning Object Metadata (LOM) communities. My work in this capacity resulted in a recommendation to SIL to integrate LRMI into the archive for instructional materials dealing with linguistics along with mother-tongue based literacy materials. SIL choose that this was not a corporate priority. However, in the process I realized that the language revitalization community at large also has the same challenges. This project page serves to pull together my actions across these contexts.