LD&A 2026

Conference
Berlin, Germany & Online, 9-11 September 2026

Language documentation and archiving are key activities in the effort to preserve and support linguistic and cultural diversity globally. As new technologies emerge and evolve, new opportunities and challenges present themselves for how we record, curate, preserve, and disseminate linguistic and cultural materials. This conference invites documenters, scholars, activists, technologists, and others engaged in language documentation and archiving to present papers and posters exploring new approaches, methods, and technologies for documentation, archiving, and mobilization. We welcome critical and creative perspectives on the politics, practicalities, and possibilities for working with language documentation materials in both academic and community contexts.

Abstract submission open now, until 1 March 2026.

Authors may submit only one abstract as the first author, but they may be collaborators on more than one abstract submission. The conference will be hybrid, with both in-person and online participation.

We especially invite submissions on the following themes in language documentation and archiving:

Relationship & Collaboration

Community-driven and Indigenous-led documentation projects
Navigating differing expectations among community members
Capacity-building and support for local agencies and small cultural centers

Tools & Technology

Advances in documentary tools (remote methods, specialized software, audio/video tech)
Use of 360 cameras, GoPros, and new audiovisual tools
Enhancing annotation, orthography, and translation practices
Development of digital platforms for documentation and revitalization
Using social media and technology to promote minoritized languages

Impact & Outcomes

Archives as models for strengthening language records
Reports on indigenous community use of archives and materials
Move from paper to digital, and qualitative shifts in record-keeping
Educational and artistic initiatives using archival materials
Sustainability: addressing carbon costs of documentation and archiving

Planning, Policy & Future

Updating OLAC metadata and archiving standards for accessibility
Making digital archives more navigable and engaging
Solutions for access in low or no-internet environments
Training sessions, capacity development, and future prospects

Artificial Intelligence: Challenges & Opportunities

Use of AI for description, transcription, OCR, and ASR on records
AI tools to locate and catalog language materials
Debate over using AI for synthetic speech; ethical and legal concerns
Calls to heed critiques like Emily Bender’s about “AI hype”
Balancing innovation with data sovereignty and community consent

Conference Timeline

March 1, 2026

Abstract submission
deadline

April 1, 2026

Notification of acceptance

June 1, 2026

Presenter registration deadline

July 1, 2026

In-person attendee registration deadline

August 1, 2026

Online attendee registration deadline

September 9-11, 2026

Conference dates

on Zoom

and in Berlin, Germany

Plenary Speakers

The challenges of giving access to digital archives for Indigenous communities : a collaborative experience with the Wayana in French Guiana

Digitalized and born-digital collections about endangered languages are often hidden behind or inside digital platforms that are cryptic to non-initiated communities, and hence to the source communities directly concerned by the collections. This talk will open discussion on this issue and the dilemma between large powerful platforms and more native ones, based on a particular collaborative experience of creating with a group of Wayana and Apalai people from French Guyana, a digital platform that attempts to meet their demand for access to linguistic, ethnographic, and ethno-musical collections about them, in a linguistically and culturally appropriate way. A platform that would also allow for the requalification, correction and enrichment of old collections, and the addition of new digital material. Yet some intrinsic difficulties appeared along the way.

Anareo, an interoperable database for the languages of French Polynesia, The case of the Rapa language

Nearly 10 years ago, the Anareo database began to be designed. It is a digital infrastructure dedicated to the languages of French Polynesia, created to support language documentation while keeping in mind the needs of speaking communities. This presentation gives the opportunity, through the particular example of the language of Rapa, to explore the various functionalities of Anareo which permits the storage and analysis of textual and lexical data.

Conference Schedule

ConferenceSchedule_20240903

Access here.

Pre-Conference Trainings and Events

LDA-2024