Language Repository of Switzerland (LaRS)

LaRS@SWISSUbase is a FAIR compliant national platform for the publication and long-term archiving of linguistic research data on Swiss servers. It uses SWISSUbase as its repository system.

LaRS collaborates with LiRI to provide long-term data archiving services (such as, data processing and conversion, compilation of datasets for archiving, anonymization, metadata). The services are free for the CLARIN-CH community.

Go to LaRS@SWISSUbase

The Language Repository of Switzerland (LaRS) has recently been awarded the CoreTrustSeal certification, a globally recognized standard for trustworthy data repositories. This is an important step in the process of establishing a certified B-center within CLARIN-CH.

Read the following news article to learn more: LaRS is now a certified CoreTrustSeal data repository

  • LaRS is a FAIR compliant national repository for language data
  • LaRS uses a linguistic metadata scheme
  • The data is curated by the data service unit (DSU) at UB Zürich
  • Data ownership always remains with the researchers
  • LaRS is being harvested by the CLARIN Virtual Language Observatory
  • LaRS is a free repository

All resources about using LaRS@SWISSUbase for archiving language data can be found here.

To publish data on LaRS@SWISSUbase, users first log in using their SWITCH edu-ID or CLARIN Federated Identity and select the “Linguistics” domain. They then create a new project, enter the project metadata, and add one or more datasets, including files and domain-specific metadata. Depending on their needs, users can choose either an open license or restricted access for each dataset. Once these steps are completed, users submit the project and dataset(s) in separate steps. LaRS curators then review the submissions for completeness, metadata quality, and format compliance. Once approved, the dataset is published and assigned a DOI.

More detailed information, as well as a link to the LaRS policy, can be found in the LaRSuser guide.

Despite offering a discipline-specific metadata schema, the currently available metadata fields on SWISSUbase may not be sufficient to fully describe complex datasets. To ensure all important or necessary information is included, users are encouraged to upload supplementary documentation or metadata files. This ensures that all relevant information is accessible, even if it cannot be entered directly into the platform. Before uploading, users should ensure that the additional files are clearly labeled and structured to support understanding and reuse by other researchers.

The following steps are part of the data curation process:

  1. The researcher (= data depositor) uploads their data to LaRS@SWISSUbase
  2. The DSU receives a notification and selects two data curators
  3. The data is revised based on standard guidelines and in close collaboration with the data depositor
  4. The dataset and the study are published

Starting in 2024, the Language Repository of Switzerland (LaRS) is connected to CLARIN Europe, enabling researchers outside Switzerland to log in to LaRS@SWISSUbase via CLARIN. 

In addition, linguistic projects are accessible via the CLARIN Virtual Language Observatory (VLO), enabling greater collaboration across Europe.

🔎 Read the news item