Our Services
Further details about the services offered by ELRA are given in the dedicated part, Services around Language Resources. You will find below short descriptions of these services, which provide you with an overview of the main missions and tasks achieved by ELRA.
The actual implementation of these services is undertaken by ELRA’s distribution agency, ELDA.
● The catalogue of Resources: The databases available on the ELRA catalogue are divided into 3 groups: Speech, Written Lexica/Corpora & Terminology. The databases are sold on a pay-per-resource basis and detailed information on the resources can be found both on the ELDA and ELRA Web sites. The resources can be ordered directly from ELDA, by members as well as non-members.
● Identification and distribution of LRs: Apart from the wide range of resources in the catalogue, members can at any time turn to ELRA for information on other databases available or databases being developed. In addition, ELRA members willing to negotiate a resource with a producer or to obtain information on any other contractual or legal matter are offered legal and contractual assistance by a set of co-operating experts.
● Legal assistance: ELRA enjoys close cooperation with legal experts in the field. Assistance can be offered when acquiring or distributing databases, or in negotiations with parties when LRs are involved.
● Production of new LRs on demand: When commissioned by one of its members, ELRA can produce and/or package LRs at favorable pricing conditions. In addition, LRs produced by ELRA, and LRs whose production is commissioned to ELRA, will be exclusively available from ELRA, with substantial price discounts for the ELRA members.
● Evaluation: ELRA participates in evaluation campaigns both by supplying the language resources appropriate for evaluation and testing, and by getting involved in the evaluation process itself (evaluation of tools, systems, applications, etc.). ELRA members can benefit from both LR evaluation packages at discounted prices and HLT evaluation services (including evaluation of member’s technology or system) at favorable pricing conditions.
● Information: The ELRA Newsletter is published on a quarterly basis, with updates on the association activities and articles reflecting subjects from the different HLT areas. An information bulletin, the “Members’ News”, is also distributed in an electronic format to ELRA members every month. Other ELRA publications are also disseminated, including publications on legal and commercial aspects of the distribution of Language Resources and market surveys. ELRA collects information, facts and figures on the HLT/LR markets throughout the world, capitalizing on the experience of the ELRA members, along with that of other sources. Regular market surveys provide useful information on specific topics for members of the organization.
● LREC: Registration to the Language Resources and Evaluation Conference is offered at a discounted price for ELRA members. Other events (workshops, meetings, etc.) organized by ELRA are opened to ELRA members.
● The R&D Catalogue: A subset of the Catalogue of Language Resources is now dedicated to academic research and provides a list of Language Resources, available at very affordable prices, and dedicated to a research use. So as to facilitate the access to this list, the interface and browsing tools are similar to those used in the Catalogue.
● The Universal Catalogue: In addition to the ELRA catalogue of LRs, the Universal Catalogue is a service offered to ELRA members who will be given an early access to browse through all resources identified by ELRA before they become part of the catalogue.
● The HLT Evaluation Portal: This portal aims to offer protocols and packages for language technologies.
● The Language Resources and Evaluation (LRE) Journal: The LRE Journal, published by Springer, is the first publication devoted to the acquisition, creation, annotation, and use of LRs, together with methods for evaluation of resources, technologies, and applications. Special prices are offered to ELRA members.