Open for learning: Gaelic Digital Assistant and Gaelic Collections

National Library of Scotland INSERT TITLE HERE

Open for learningOpen Education Resources 2016, University of Edinburgh

Gaelic collections and theGaelic Digital Apprentice AssistantAndrew McDougall and Gill Hamilton

National Library of ScotlandLeabharlann Niseanta na h-Alba

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Gaelic Digital Assistant?linking our work on youth employabilitywith our commitment to supporting Gaelic cultural heritage and maximising open access to our Gaelic collections

its about .


What lead National Library of Scotland to initiate and establish the role of Gaelic Digital Assistant

But thats institutional speak2

opening not closinggathering not Clearinglearning not losing its about young Scots / Gaels and their place in Scotland

This is what its really about .


Its about opening up our Gaelic culture not closing or hiding it. Not having it locked up inside a National LibraryIts about gathering our Gaelic culture in to a digital space. Its about gathering our Gaelic culture close to us, protecting it, developing it, looking after it, cherishing it, holding on to it not Clearing it out or denying it. Its about learning, giving all citizens opportunities to learn about Gaelic and thereby sustaining the language and cultureIts about young people who are the future citizens and leaders of Scotland getting to grips with their cultural and linguistic history. Working with our language, mixing the past, with the now to create a vibrant future for Gaelic.3

About the National Library

CC-BY-SA https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Kim_Traynorhttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:National_Library_of_Scotland,_Edinburgh.JPGE M B A R G O E D


National Library is about a mile away. A huge building on 15 floors. We have other huge building nearby and are soon to open our first centre in Glasgow at Kelvin Hall.

So Id usually now tell you about the National Library but youll hear that at John Scally (National Librarian) keynote this afternoon. So instead 4

Gaelic = gah-licknot gay-lickits a languageand a culture

the Clearances

58,000 speakers (Census 2011)Government support

About Gaelichttp://digital.nls.uk/80757531CC-BY National Library of Scotland

http://collectons.glasgowmuseums.com/viewimage.html?oid=650&i=390625Copyright CSG CIC The last of the clan, Thomas Faed, 1865


Its the founding language of Scotland perhaps originating from Irish. It came to Scotland in 4-5th Century and by the 10th century was spoken throughout Scotland with the exception of border areas and in and around this part. It was and continues to be a rich oral, written and musical culture with poets, storytellers and song. Most people come across Gaelic culture by way of the Ceilidh, a get together of song, storytelling and dancing an maybe just a little bit of Uisge beatha.

The language went in to gradual decline with the rise of Anglo Saxon and English however it was dealt a near fatal blow when it was suppressed in the late 18th century during the Highland Clearances. When land owners changed the land from farming or crofting as we call it to sheep farming. This lead to the forced displacement of the Gaels and theywwere driven from their land and the language has been in decline every since.

Now only 1.1% of the Scottish population speak it and its in decline. Its also spoken in Nova Scotia, where many Gaels settled having been displaced by the Clearances.

Since re-instatement of the Scottish Parliament in 1997 but has been a renewed supports for the language and it receives much greater recognition and support as part of our culture. Gaelic Language Act 2005 established Bord na Gailhlig,BnG develop Gaelic language plan for country

Its a beautiful, delicate language, sing-song melodic lilt and

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Listen .Murtadh na CeapaichIain Lom (MacDonald) c.1663-5

'S tearc an-diugh mo chis ghire'Teachd nan roidean an iar,'G amharc fonn Inbhir-Lire'S e 'n didh 's a strchdadh le sol;Tha Cheapaich na fsach'S i gun ird oirre 's fiach,Gum faic a Rgh a bhrithreanGur trom am birc oirnn an sgian.

The Keppoch MurderIain Lom MacDonaldc.1663-1665

Little is my source of laughter todayAs I come by western roads,To look upon the land of InverlairAfter it has been harrowed with seed;Keppoch is an empty place,Void of any ready provision,May God behold, oh brothers,How the blade has rent us asunder.

http://digital.nls.uk/learning/gaelic-bards/en/the-keppoch-murder/CC-BY National Library of Scotlandhttp://digital.nls.uk/learning/gaelic-bards/gd/murtadh-na-ceapaich/ CC-BY National Library of Scotland


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Take 5 ingredients and stir

1,200digitised books from the Gaelic collections

1 xMetadata and digital licensing policy

1xPlana Gidhlig(Gaelic language plan)

x generous support from Brd na Gidhlig

1 xcommitment to youthemployability

Gaelic Digital Assistant

http://digital.nls.uk/80757531CC-BY National Library of Scotland


So what of this Digital Gaelic Assistant, how does it come about? Well its really a happy coincidence of several drivers at the Library. 7

Our digitised Gaelic collections

http://digital.nls.uk/75826782CC-BY National Library of ScotlandThe Early Gaelic Books Collectionshttp://digital.nls.uk/early-gaelic-book-collections/

1,200 digitised books in or about Gaelicall our out-of-copyright Gaelic books (we think)


The Library has, we believe, the biggest collection of Gaelic language and manuscripts in the world.

1,200 digitised books in Gaelic and other Celtic languages including works about the Gaels, their languages, literature, culture and history

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Our digital content licensing policy

but that was before!


Until April 2015 we licensed all out-of-copyright digitised content like this unless there were specific obligations or restrictions.9

Our digital content licensing policy

some core metadata that we create

most core metadata that we createall machine generated transcriptionsall digital images up to 1000pxunless obligationsmost everything elseunless other obligations

this is it now


And until last month our books were CC-BY-NC-SA!This, at last, gives us the opportunity to truly share our collections, and allow their use and re-use without limitation. As you know there is some ambiguity around non-commercial in education. What if people are paying to attend a course and the materials on the course are non-commercial. What about the re-selll of materials?10

Our Gaelic Language Plan

Plana Gidhlig Leabharlann Niseanta2012-2017

Air ullachadh a rir earrainn 3 de dhAchd na Gidhlig (Alba) 2005

Air aontachadh le Brd na Gidhlig: 11 Dbhlachd 2012support Gaelic medium education

promote and support Gaelic culture andlanguage

bilingual-ize our name and logo


As a result of the Gaelic Language Act 2005 Bord na Gaidhlig requires all public bodies to prepare Gaelic Language Plans. This provision is designed to ensure that the public sector in Scotland plays its part in creating a sustainable future for Gaelic in Scotland.

This Plan has been prepared in accordance with Section 3 of the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 Date approved by Bord na Gaidhlig: 11 December 2012 11

Brd na Gidhlig

http://www.gaidhlig.org.uk/bord/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/Annual-Report-2014-2015.pdfCC-BY Bord na Gaildigh Annual Report 2014-15

Their visionA sustainable future for Gaelic as a healthy, vibrant language, increasingly used and respected in a modern, multicultural and multilingual Scotland

Gaelic medium educationGLAIFGaelic Language Act Implementation Fund


Central is development of Gaelic medium educaiton that is taught in Gaelic with English as secondary lanaguge

In 1985 this was just 24 pupils and in 2014 was 3,583 pupils with nearly 8,000 more pupils being taught Gaelic in non GMW. Thats still a tiny proportion < 2% but it has increased from virtually none. And theres a particular trendiness to Gaelic at the moment with people learning it not just school pupils.

There are now many Gaelic language schools in the country and Gaelic is taught lots12

Youth employability

Mhairi Lawyoung people +digital+Gaelic =good for them+good for us+ good for Gidhlig


Issues for young people is how to enter employment with little or no experienceThey are super digitially skilled and have different approaches to how we think about information, digital etcIf theyve learned Gaelic how do they sustain it when in employment or away from Gaelic education or communities

The Library has initiatives to bring young people in to work with us. Entry level, no horrid interviews about how much experience they have. We create career destinations for them.

Its good for us we have young people

And its good for Gaelic coz they use it in their job. 13

What they are doing will do

explore our collections

create digital resources

share openly

work on Uicipeid

work with our Screiver

free for all


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Speed bumps

Ooops

fundinghow old is young?recruitmenttimescales

CC-BY-SA https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alligator_teeth.jpg


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Where are we now?

+in recruitment+pilot project

Mhairi Law


Funding secured from Brd na Gidhlig and Ruth Ratcliff Endowment Fund to pay for a one year pilot schemeBut not enough to also cover costs of Modern ApprenticeshipRecruitment of a Gaelic speaking young person currently under way and we expect a person to be in post by June 2016Pilot project will allow data collection in support of further fundraisingAlso further develop our understanding of audience needs and wantsKey outputs for the post will be the enhancement of digital Gaelic collections and the facilitation of new access routes into the collections for Gaelic speakers and learners More Gaelic material onlineMore Gaelic material targeted to the needs of specific audiences:Gaelic Medium EducationAdult learnersFluent speakers16

The expected outputs

more Gaelicopen and free material onlinetargeted atGMEadult learnersfluent speakerspilot projectneedswantsmore

Mhairi Law


Funding secured from Brd na Gidhlig and Ruth Ratcliff Endowment Fund to pay for a one year pilot schemeBut not enough to also cover costs of Modern ApprenticeshipRecruitment of a Gaelic speaking young person currently under way and we expect a person to be in post by June 2016Pilot project will allow data collection in support of further fundraisingAlso further develop our understanding of audience needs and wantsKey outputs for the post will be the enhancement of digital Gaelic collections and the facilitation of new access routes into the collections for Gaelic speakers and learners More Gaelic material onlineMore Gaelic material targeted to the needs of specific audiences:Gaelic Medium EducationAdult learnersFluent speakers17

Invite us back

invite usnext yearand welltell youhow we are getting on


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Gill HamiltonDigital Access [email protected]

NationalLibraryofScotland

@natlibscot@gillhamilton

thank you

Except for images or where otherwise stated this presentation is National Library of Scotland and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/photography Mhairi Law and Sam Wood


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