Hidden Resources ― Strategies to Acquire and Exploit Potential Spoken Language Resources in National Archives

Hidden Resources – Strategies to Acquire and Exploit Potential Spoken Language Resources in National Archives Jens Edlund, Joakim Gustafson KTH Spech, Music and Hearing Lindstedtsvägen 24, Stockholm, Sweden E-mail: edlund@speech.kth.se, jocke@speech.kth.se Abstract In 2014, the Swedish government tasked a Swedish agency, The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS), with investigating how to best create and populate an infrastructure for spoken language resources (Ref N2014/2840/ITP). As a part of this work, the department of Speech, Music and Hearing at KTH Royal Institute of Technology have taken inventory of existing potential spoken language resources, mainly in Swedish national archives and other governmental or public institutions. In this position paper, key priorities, perspectives, and strategies that may be of general, rather than Swedish, interest are presented. We discuss broad types of potential spoken language resources available; to what extent these resources are free to use; and thirdly the main contribution: strategies to ensure the continuous acquisition of spoken language resources in a manner that facilitates speech and speech technology research. Keywords: speech, national archives, oral history 1. Introduction This position paper is based on the results of a government issued investigation into potential spoken language resources that are already in existence in Swedish national archives. We focus on key priorities, perspectives, and strategies that may be of general, rather than specifically Swedish, interest. After a brief background we begin with a survey of the broad types of potential spoken language resources that are available, then we move on and talk about the extent to which these resources are free to use and to what extent they are locked up in copyright or by other issues, and finally we end on the main contribution: strategies to ensure the continuous acquisition of spoken language resources in a manner that facilitates speech and speech technology research. The requirements in terms of structure, tools, and methods of maintenance for a spoken language resource infrastructure that can accept the resource influx and make it accessible for research and industry is however outside the scope of this paper. 2. Background Over the past decade or so, several government issued investigations in Sweden have looked for a way to secure the availability of Swedish spoken language resources. The main motivations have been both to ensure a healthy and competitive development of Swedish speech technology and to ensure the availability of the speech technology components needed to provide accessible government, informational and educational materials. The resulting reports have, without exception, made clear the need for such resources, but have at the same time largely lacked viable suggestions as to how they should be acquired and made available (e.g. Ahrenborg et al., 2004; Andréasson et al., 2008; Borin et al., 2008; Språkrådet, 2012; A-focus, 2014), at least as far as speech resources are concerned – text data has often received more complete attention. In 2014, the Swedish government again tasked a Swedish agency, The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS), with investigating how to best create and populate an infrastructure for spoken …

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