The Open Language Archives Community: a 20-year update.

PurposeThis paper reports on the first 20 years of the Open Language Archives Community (OLAC), comprehensive infrastructure for indexing and discovering language resources. Design/methodology/approachWe begin with the original vision, assess progress relative to the original requirements, and identify ongoing challenges. FindingsBased on the overview of OLAC history and recent developments and on the analysis of the situation in the language archives area as a whole, the authors propose an agenda for a more sustainable future for open language archiving. Originality/valueThis paper examines the progress of OLAC and discusses improvements in such areas as participation, access, and sustainability.