A Community-Based Social Media Approach for Preserving Endangered Languages and Culture

In this paper we discuss a collaboration set in a cultural community, driven by a local information technology company using ubiquitous internet technology, and augmented by cutting edge semantic middleware originally developed for e-science. Together, we are creating technology that both enhances community goals for language and heritage preservation and also promises to transform the scientific study of endangered languages. The community based web site uses social media technology to create a unique environment for sharing, teaching, and learning an endangered language and culture which can contribute to the survival and strengthening of these local communities and extend the life of endangered languages and cultures. In addition, we believe the community-driven, social computing approach will enable and motivate the creation of new and novel collections of language samples and documentation of language and heritage. We will describe the communities and the technology and show how we are collaborating.