Recent Developments in CLARIN-NL

Jan OdijkP11

LREC, Istanbul, May 23, 2012

1

Overview

• Recommendations [3-5]• CLARIN Infrastructure [6-8]• Recent Developments in CLARIN-NL [9-14]• About CLARIN-NL [15-16]

2

Recommendations

• Organize national CLARIN activities as mix between project and programme– Implementation technical infrastructure as a

tightly structured project with selected experts [9, 10]

– Resource curation and demonstrator projects via calls [11, 12]

– Best way to ensure realization of the infrastructure and involvement of the targeted users

• Require that the targeted users be a partner or even coordinator of data curation / demonstrator projects [11, 12]

3

Recommendations

• Organize open calls but also closed calls to ensure a proper distribution over various disciplines [12]

• Set up dedicated virtual centres / teams for specific topics– Semantic interoperability [see paper]– Metadata [see paper]– Data curation [13]

• Reserve funds for cooperation with other national CLARIN projects [see paper]

4

Recommendations

• Increase access to relevant data and sustainability by involving existing libraries, archives, data centres [14]

• Initiate a project to integrate all individual pieces of the infrastructure [10]– To test their compatibility– To identify gaps– To create visibility to the user community

5

CLARIN Infrastructure

• An technical research infrastructure in which a humanities researcher who works with language-related resources– Can find all data relevant for the research– Can find all tools relevant for the research– Can apply the tools to the data without any

technical background or ad-hoc adaptations– Can store data resulting from the research– Can store tools resulting from the research

via one portal

6

CLARIN Infrastructure

• An technical research infrastructure in which a humanities researcher who works with language-related resources– Can find all data relevant for the research– Can find all tools relevant for the research– Can apply the tools to the data without any

technical background or ad-hoc adaptations– Can store data resulting from the research– Can store tools resulting from the research

via one portal

7

CLARIN Infrastructure

• Visibility of Resources through metadata in metadata registries that offer browsing, searching and selection functionality

• Accessibility of Resources through CLARIN Centres

• Reliably referable through persistent identifiers

• Interoperability of Resources by using standard formats and explicit semantics

• Processing via web services in a work flow running on dedicated centres

8

Recent Developments

• Implementation of basic infrastructure functionality– setting up authentication and authorizations systems– several registries (e.g. ISOCAT, RELCAT, Metadata Registry)– various other infrastructure services

• Search Facilities– In resource descriptions (`metadata’)

• Centralized after metadata harvesting– In the data themselves

• Via federated search

• Vocabulary Service – Use multiple vocabulary services (next to ISOCAT) through one

interface– Facilitate fuzzy matching

9

Recent Developments

• Integration– Integrate all isolated pieces and resources– Make them accessible through a single portal

• Using Web services in Workflow systems– Cooperation with Flanders– Based on work done in the STEVIN-programme– (as a severe test for interoperability)

10

Recent Developments

• Resource curation projects– Curate an existing resource

• Demonstrator projects– Curate an existing tool and supply a

demonstration scenario• In both– Apply standards and best practices– Use the suggested CLARIN architecture– In order to understand their limitations

• #subprojects: 30, 9 just started in 2012

11

Recent Developments

• Resource Curation and Demonstrator projects– Awarded after open calls• Evaluated for quality and in competition

– Or selected via closed calls• On invitation only• Evaluated for quality but not in competition

• Three Calls have been issued • Fourth Call (2012) is being prepared• Call mechanism is an excellent way to involve

new players from the targeted users (humanities researchers)

12

Recent Developments

• Data Curation Service– Offers the service of curating existing data

• Where curation includes– Documentation, Visibility, Referability, Accessibility, Long

Term Preservation, Interoperability• See dedicated presentation in Workshop

W121 Challenges in the Management of Large Corpora (Tuesday, May 22)

13

Recent Developments

• CLARIN Data Providers– Existing centres– Make data available as part of their core mission– Of great importance to humanities researchers

• Examples– Royal Library, Institute for Sound and Vision,

National Archive, Digital Library for the Dutch Literature, university libraries, etc.

– Are now working to make part of their collection available in the CLARIN infrastructure

14

CLARIN-NL (1)

• CLARIN-NL • National project in the Netherlands• 2009-2015• Budget: 9.01 m euro• Funding by NWO (National Roadmap Large

Scale Infrastructures)• Coordinated by Utrecht University• 26 partners (universities, royal academy

institutes, independent institutes, libraries, etc.)

15

CLARIN-NL (2)

• Dutch National contribution to the Europe-wide CLARIN infrastructure

• Prepared by CLARIN preparatory project (2008-2011)– Also coordinated by Utrecht University

• From Dec 2011 to be coordinated by the CLARIN-ERIC– ERIC: a legal entity at the European level

specifically for research infrastructures

16