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ARENA Project: a Multilingual Portal for Archaeology. Irina Oberländer-T â rnoveanu CIMEC – Institute for Cultural Memor y. Greetings. Good afternoon (EN) B on giorno (IT) Bonj o ur (FR) Bună ziua (RO) From a simple greeting we can notice:
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ARENA Project: a Multilingual Portal for Archaeology Irina Oberländer-Târnoveanu CIMEC – Institute for Cultural Memory
Greetings Good afternoon(EN) Bon giorno(IT) Bonjour(FR) Bună ziua(RO) From a simple greeting we can notice: • What languages belong to the same family (Italian, French and Romanian as Romance) • Some languages use diacritical characters which indicate the pronunciation and may change the meaning (see ă): ‘Bună’ = good but ‘Buna’ = also granny
Why does language matter? • Language is related to identity, culture, and memory. • Loss of language could mean loss of valuable culture and irreplaceable knowledge. • Therefore diversity of languages is a value in itself, similar to biodiversity. It should be protected like endangered species.
Cultural heritage is especially sensitive to language issues because: • Terminology is less standardised; • Terms may have different meanings from one language to another; • Names of historical periods cover different chronological limits (starting and ending dates), depending on geographical area; • Terms from one language may have no equivalence in another; • Professional vocabulary is often not included in general language dictionaries.
One or many languages? • The diversity of languages is a strong reality. We cannot speak all the same language. • Languages are vivid organisms that always survive, transform themselves, assimilate and transmit. • We think, write and read in our native languages, for a specific language community. • English – the modern ‘lingua franca.’
Why English? • 'A language does not become a global language because of its intrinsic structural properties, or because of the size of its vocabulary, or because it has been of a great literature in the past, or because it was once associated with a great culture or religion… A language becomes an international language for one chief reason: the political power of its people - especially their military power. The explanation is the same throughout history.’ (Crystal 1997)
One or many languages? • In humanities, most of the scientific information is still written in national languages (including databases and other large cultural heritage resources). • There is no easy way to improve access and communication among languages.
Getting access to knowledge • By learning others' languages • By translating from one language to another • By using a common international language Scientific vocabulary – easier to understand
Clues for content • Scientific text is accompanied by many representations non-linguistic in character: maps, plans, charts, diagrams, drawings and photographs. • Therefore, it is easier understood by specialists in a field than any literary text in the same languages.
Small languages and translation • Small languages remain isolated from the great fluxes of scientific literature. Few people in the world would understand Norwegian, Polish or Romanian. • The only scientific information cited abroad is that available in largely spread languages.
The Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights, Barcelona, 1996 • the right to be recognized as a member of a language community; • the right to the use of one's own language both in private and in public; • the right to the use of one's own name; • the right to interrelate and associate with other members of one's language community of origin; • the right to maintain and develop one's own culture.
Languages on the WebSource: Global Internet Statistics (http://global-reach.biz/globstats/index.php3) • 50.4 % of Web users speak a native language other than English; • 43 % of Web users do not speak English at all • only 35.8 % from the almost 80% a couple of years ago.
ARENA - Archaeological Records of Europe Networked Access • European Project (2001 - 2004) • Culture 2000 Programme (ref. no. 430 CLT2001) • Extending online access and digital preservation of European archaeological archives • Website: http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/arena/
ARENA - Participants • United Kingdom - Archaeology Data Service (ADS), York University – project coordinator • Denmark - National Agency for Cultural Heritage, Copenhagen • Iceland - The Institute of Archaeology [Fornleifastofnun lslands - FSÍ], Reykjavík
ARENA - Participants • Norway - Museum Documentation Project, University of Oslo • Poland - Poznan Archaeological Museum • Romania - cIMeC - Institute for Cultural Memory, Bucharest
Main results on-line: • ARENA Portal for Archaeological Archives • ARENA Portal for Sites and Monuments Records
Multilingual access interface: why and how • To allow the first contact in the language most familiar to potential visitors of the site • to facilitate access, translation and reading of archaeological information in the languages of the participating countries • To provide the basic information and search terms (periods, site categories, location) in several languages.
ARENA Multilingual Approach • User interface, introduction and search index in six languages (Danish, English, Icelandic, Polish, Norwegian and Romanian) • Content in the language of each country (for the records of sites and monuments and the archaeological archives made available on-line by the partner organisations).
Is the language option just a courtesy for our public? • A tool to facilitate access to multilingual archaeological information • Not just a simple translation from the English version in five other languages; we had to • Understand each other • Index our digital records using common terms • Find the right equivalencies for archaeological realities described in several languages • Explain the concepts behind the words.
Search for sites and monuments • You can choose to search for sites within a certain period range. • Choose a type of monument/site from a list of archaeological themes. • Using a map of Europe choose the area you would like to search.
ARENA - List of Archives • Dankirke, Denmark • Hjelm, Denmark • Vorbasse, Denmark • Hofstaðir, Iceland • Egge, Norway • The Archaeological Repertory of Romania: Archive Digitisation Project • The Chronicle of the Archaeological Researches in Romania (1983 - 2002) • Cottam, United Kingdom. • Danebury, Hampshire, United Kingdom • Ager Tarraconensis, Spain • Kowalewko, Poland • Biskupin archaeological reserve, Poland
Danish excavation archive: Dankirke (in Danish, with English summary)
Polish archives: Kowalewko cemetery 1st - 3rd centuries A.D.
British archives: Cottam: an Anglian and Anglo-Scandinavian Settlement in East Yorkshire
Icelandic archives: Viking pagan temple at Hofstaðir, in NE Iceland
Multilingual approach limited to • multilingual main search screens; • a short list of general sites and monuments categories, accompanied by short definitions; • a restricted list of historical periods and • short introductions to archaeological archives.
Work behind the scene • Each of the six partners had to assign hundreds of sites types in the national records to common categories. • A chart of historical periods, showing chronological covering in each country and area, was designed. • Translations from original version to other languages using Excel spreadsheets and • Lots of e-mails and discussions.
Benefits for the users • This analytical process 'behind the scene' is to the benefit of the users: their time and effort to put together records in many languages and establish the equivalencies in each case will be spared in part. • Access in a familiar language favours longer visits, deeper understanding, and more satisfactory results.
