What Is CLARIN and How Can Researchers Use Its Language Data and Tools?

Updated

CLARIN ERIC is a digital research infrastructure that provides access to language data, tools, and services for research in the humanities and social sciences. It is not a single database you log into once; it is a federation whose operations, services, and centres are provided and funded by national consortia in countries that have joined CLARIN ERIC, together with associated centres. You can use it if you need written, spoken, or multimodal language data, processing software, or expert guidance on a specific language or topic. Start at the CLARIN homepage and choose the entry point that matches your need: a national consortium, the Language Resources catalogue, a Knowledge Centre, or a project.

The four entry points and what each is for

Entry point What it gives you Use it when
National Consortia The national nodes that fund and operate CLARIN services and centres You need local access, support, or services in a specific country
Language Resources Digital language data — written and spoken corpora, lexica, multi-modal resources, databases — plus software tools and services to process the data You are looking for a dataset or a tool to analyse it
Knowledge Centres (K-centres) Expertise and guidance on specific topics or languages, and support for researchers and educators You know what you want to study but not which resource or method fits
CLARIN Projects Flagship projects that add new tools, resources, and applications, plus participation in EU-funded strategic projects You want to see what has been built with the infrastructure or find reusable applications

Finding and using language data and tools

The Language Resources section is the practical starting point for most research tasks. CLARIN describes its holdings as a wide range of digital language data, including written and spoken corpora, lexica, multi-modal resources, and databases, alongside software tools and services to process that data.

A realistic workflow looks like this:

  1. Define the data type you need. Decide whether your question requires written text, speech recordings, or multimodal material, and whether you need a corpus, a lexicon, or a database.
  2. Search the Language Resources entry point for that data type and your language. Expect results to be distributed across national and associated centres rather than held in one place.
  3. Check the tooling. If the resource needs annotation, transcription, or processing, look for the software tools and services offered alongside the data rather than assuming you must build a pipeline yourself.
  4. Verify access conditions with the holding centre. Because services are provided by national consortia and associated centres, the terms and procedures for a given resource are set at that level. Confirm them before planning your analysis around a specific dataset.

For example, a researcher studying spoken interaction in a less-resourced language would first check whether a spoken corpus exists in Language Resources, then look for transcription or annotation tools, and finally confirm access with the centre that holds the corpus.

When to contact a Knowledge Centre

Knowledge Centres exist precisely for the case where you have a research question but lack certainty about which resources, languages, or methods apply. CLARIN describes them as sharing knowledge and expertise on language resources and supporting researchers and educators across disciplines in using language data and technologies for research and teaching.

Contact a K-centre when:

  • your topic or language is specialised and you are unsure whether suitable data exists;
  • you need methodological guidance on using language data in teaching or research;
  • you want training rather than a one-off dataset.

The Learning Hub complements this with full online training modules, materials for designing university courses, best practices for developing learning content, and workshops. Use it if you need to build skills before starting a project, rather than just locate a resource.

How the infrastructure is organised — and why it matters for you

CLARIN ERIC's role is coordination and infrastructure; the actual operations, services, and centres come from the national consortia of member countries and from associated centres. This has two practical consequences:

  • Access is federated. The route to a dataset or service runs through the relevant national or associated centre, so the country and centre matter, not just the topic.
  • Coverage varies by country and language. What is available for your language depends on which consortia and centres are active in that area.

CLARIN also participates in strategic EU-funded projects, mostly under Horizon Europe, and runs Flagship Projects that provide the community with new tools, resources, and applications. These are worth checking if you want to reuse an existing application instead of building one.

A quick decision guide

  • You need a corpus or lexicon: go to Language Resources, filter by data type and language, then confirm access with the holding centre.
  • You need a tool to process data you already have: check the software tools and services listed with Language Resources.
  • You need advice on a language or topic: contact a Knowledge Centre.
  • You need training or course material: use the Learning Hub.
  • You need services in your own country: start with your National Consortium.

The homepage also carries current news, including centre news and announcements, which is useful for spotting new resources or service changes that affect your plans.