Supporting Sámi languages in digital services

• Main Authors: Koikkalainen, Riitta, Partanen, Niko
• Format: Lecture
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2022
• Subjects: Session 3: [re]inventing the future: tools and services; Inari; Inari Sámi; Northern Sámi; Sámi; Skolt Sámi
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6807803

Following the guidelines given in UNESCO’s proclamation of an International Decade of Indigenous Languages (IDIL 2022–2032), the National Library of Finland (NatLibFI) has launched a project to improve support for Northern Sámi in its digital services Finna, Finto and Kotoistus. The initiative will last two years, from 2022 to 2023. The project promotes access to resources in Northern Sámi while supporting the linguistic rights and equality of the Sámi languages. At the core of the project are the permanent national infrastructures maintained by NatLibFi: 1) the search service Finna, 2) the terminology and ontology service Finto, and 3) Kotoistus, a service promoting the use of ICT products and services in the native language of the user. The project will start with Northern Sámi, the most commonly spoken Sámi language in Finland and the one with the most resources available. As Finnish and Swedish are the official languages of Finland, digital infrastructures in NatLibFi are maintained mainly for these two languages. To serve international audiences, there is also support for English. Up until now, there has been no support for the three Sámi languages used in Finland despite their status as official regional languages. This ongoing initiative seeks to improve the situation, first with Northern Sámi, and hopefully in years to come, also with Inari Sámi and Skolt Sámi. The overall aim of the project is to extend the national information services to cover the linguistic diversity that exists in Finland, as these services are also widely used in Sámi communities. Creating high-quality service in new languages is a demanding task, and in the context of indigenous, endangered and minority languages such as Sámi, may differ in many ways from similar work with widely supported official languages. This emphasizes the need for planning, collaboration and open discussion before and during the project with experts in the Sámi languages and cultures: the Sámi Parliament of Finland, the Sámi Museum and Nature Centre Siida, ...