Documentation and Archiving of Endangered
Languages and Oral Tradition:
Researches and Interdisciplinary Approaches
May 19-20, 2011

 Reflection on Data Collection and Digitalization for China Ethnic Minority Oral Traditions

　　Yin Hubin

　　Scholars from the Institute of Ethnic Literatures has been engaged in the collection and classification of Chinese ethnic oral literature materials, a substantial quantity of materials being recorded as audios, videos, photoes and texts. The project “China Ethnic Literature Archive” was launched in 2000, and the archive has experienced great developments in the past decade, which went through traditional physical preservation, a more commonly used database tools and internet, to professional management system of media assets. It has been preserving and managing in digital forms a considerable quantity of oral tradition materials, laying the basis of data management for the recording and preservation of field work results in the future. The Institute of Ethnic Literature coordinated field work, archive and network construction, focusing on the local resources of three grand epics. It displays the multi-media materials with a thematic page on the internet, which serves for both academic studies and public promotion. The IEL shall pay continuous efforts in facilitating the digital archive of the “assets” and “heritages” of oral tradition to better serve the diverse communities and to meet various needs.