Hidden Resources ― Strategies to Acquire and Exploit Potential Spoken Language Resources in National Archives

In 2014, the Swedish government tasked a Swedish agency, The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS), with investigating how to best create and populate an infrastructure for spoken language resources (Ref N2014/2840/ITP). As a part of this work, the department of Speech, Music and Hearing at KTH Royal Institute of Technology have taken inventory of existing potential spoken language resources, mainly in Swedish national archives and other governmental or public institutions. In this position paper, key priorities, perspectives, and strategies that may be of general, rather than Swedish, interest are presented. We discuss broad types of potential spoken language resources available; to what extent these resources are free to use; and thirdly the main contribution: strategies to ensure the continuous acquisition of spoken language resources in a manner that facilitates speech and speech technology research.