1. Language Technology and Data Analysis Laboratory (LADAL)
School-based support infrastructure
for digital humanities research at UQ
Michael Haugh & Martin Schweinberger
This presentation introduces the Language Technology and Data Analysis Laboratory (LADAL) at UQ, and discusses the implications of our experiences to date in establishing it for broader efforts to develop researcher capacity in the digital humanities. The LADAL is school-based support infrastructure for digital humanities researchers. It aims to assist staff and postgraduate students within the UQ School of Languages and Cultures to learn how to use data analytics, digital research tools, and other forms of technology to enhance their existing research programs, as well as offer pathways to new research possibilities. It complements the more generic resources and training in digital humanities methods offered by libraries (e.g. the Digital Scholars Hub at UQ) with the more specialised training/support in particular digital research methods and technologies that are required by researchers working on specific languages and cultures. The LADAL consists of a specialist computing lab for language-based computational and experimental work (the Computational and Experimental Workshop) and an online virtual lab. With respect to the latter, the LADAL website ( offers self-guided study materials and hands-on tutorials on topics relating to digital tools, computational methods for data extraction and processing, data visualization, statistical analyses of language data, and provides links to further resources and short descriptions of digital tools relevant for digital HASS research. In addition, the LADAL offers face-to-face consultations and specialized workshops. SLC researchers are encouraged to contact LADAL staff for advice and guidance on matters relating to digital research tools, data visualization, various statistical procedures, and text analytics. LADAL is also currently involved in the development of national language data commons with support from an ARDC data discovery grant.

2. Who are you & What do you do
Michael Haugh is Professor of Linguistics in the School of Languages and Cultures at the University of Queensland, Australia. His research spans pragmatics (language-in-use), intercultural communication and humour studies. He is a leading proponent of the Australian National Corpus and the recent establishment of the Language Technology and Data Analysis Laboratory (LADAL) and is currently working on a national language data commons initiative.
Martin Schweinberger is a postdoctoral Research Fellow in Language Technologies at UQ. After obtaining his PhD in English linguistics, Martin worked at several German universities and was part of the Language Technology Group at the Computer Science department of Universität Hamburg. Martin specializes in computational approaches to quantitative analyses of language data. In his current role, Martin is one of the leading proponents of LADAL.

3. Humanities and Computing Potential
Vast potential for the humanities by extending computational methods to humanities research
Big Data (e.g. mega corpora)
Multimodal / multipurpose data sets and digital archiving (e.g. Trove)
Mapping (combining data and geographical space)
Real world applications (applying corpus-based research in classrooms)
This presentation introduces the Language Technology and Data Analysis Laboratory (LADAL) at UQ, and discusses the implications of our experiences to date in establishing it for broader efforts to develop researcher capacity in the digital humanities. The LADAL is school-based support infrastructure for digital humanities researchers. It aims to assist staff and postgraduate students within the UQ School of Languages and Cultures to learn how to use data analytics, digital research tools, and other forms of technology to enhance their existing research programs, as well as offer pathways to new research possibilities. It complements the more generic resources and training in digital humanities methods offered by libraries (e.g. the Digital Scholars Hub at UQ) with the more specialised training/support in particular digital research methods and technologies that are required by researchers working on specific languages and cultures. The LADAL consists of a specialist computing lab for language-based computational and experimental work (the Computational and Experimental Workshop) and an online virtual lab. With respect to the latter, the LADAL website ( offers self-guided study materials and hands-on tutorials on topics relating to digital tools, computational methods for data extraction and processing, data visualization, statistical analyses of language data, and provides links to further resources and short descriptions of digital tools relevant for digital HASS research. In addition, the LADAL offers face-to-face consultations and specialized workshops. SLC researchers are encouraged to contact LADAL staff for advice and guidance on matters relating to digital research tools, data visualization, various statistical procedures, and text analytics. LADAL is also currently involved in the development of national language data commons with support from an ARDC data discovery grant.

4. Humanities and Computing Challenges
Global
Increasing demand for training and education in computational approaches and digital tools
Training in the “digital” is essential for research in the humanities to keep pace with other fields of scientific endeavour and for Australian humanities researchers to remain internationally competitive
Training in such skills also increasingly demanded by students of the humanities
This presentation introduces the Language Technology and Data Analysis Laboratory (LADAL) at UQ, and discusses the implications of our experiences to date in establishing it for broader efforts to develop researcher capacity in the digital humanities. The LADAL is school-based support infrastructure for digital humanities researchers. It aims to assist staff and postgraduate students within the UQ School of Languages and Cultures to learn how to use data analytics, digital research tools, and other forms of technology to enhance their existing research programs, as well as offer pathways to new research possibilities. It complements the more generic resources and training in digital humanities methods offered by libraries (e.g. the Digital Scholars Hub at UQ) with the more specialised training/support in particular digital research methods and technologies that are required by researchers working on specific languages and cultures. The LADAL consists of a specialist computing lab for language-based computational and experimental work (the Computational and Experimental Workshop) and an online virtual lab. With respect to the latter, the LADAL website ( offers self-guided study materials and hands-on tutorials on topics relating to digital tools, computational methods for data extraction and processing, data visualization, statistical analyses of language data, and provides links to further resources and short descriptions of digital tools relevant for digital HASS research. In addition, the LADAL offers face-to-face consultations and specialized workshops. SLC researchers are encouraged to contact LADAL staff for advice and guidance on matters relating to digital research tools, data visualization, various statistical procedures, and text analytics. LADAL is also currently involved in the development of national language data commons with support from an ARDC data discovery grant.

5. Humanities and Computing Challenges
Within HASS
Best practices and transparency in research (Access to / sharing of data)
(Over-)reliance on existing (commercial) tools
Unwillingness to give up on accustomed practices
Vastly different needs across disciplines (differences in experience and expectations)
Lack of programs, materials and professional training (both for general and specialized audiences)
This presentation introduces the Language Technology and Data Analysis Laboratory (LADAL) at UQ, and discusses the implications of our experiences to date in establishing it for broader efforts to develop researcher capacity in the digital humanities. The LADAL is school-based support infrastructure for digital humanities researchers. It aims to assist staff and postgraduate students within the UQ School of Languages and Cultures to learn how to use data analytics, digital research tools, and other forms of technology to enhance their existing research programs, as well as offer pathways to new research possibilities. It complements the more generic resources and training in digital humanities methods offered by libraries (e.g. the Digital Scholars Hub at UQ) with the more specialised training/support in particular digital research methods and technologies that are required by researchers working on specific languages and cultures. The LADAL consists of a specialist computing lab for language-based computational and experimental work (the Computational and Experimental Workshop) and an online virtual lab. With respect to the latter, the LADAL website ( offers self-guided study materials and hands-on tutorials on topics relating to digital tools, computational methods for data extraction and processing, data visualization, statistical analyses of language data, and provides links to further resources and short descriptions of digital tools relevant for digital HASS research. In addition, the LADAL offers face-to-face consultations and specialized workshops. SLC researchers are encouraged to contact LADAL staff for advice and guidance on matters relating to digital research tools, data visualization, various statistical procedures, and text analytics. LADAL is also currently involved in the development of national language data commons with support from an ARDC data discovery grant.

6. Humanities and Computing Solutions
Strategic combinations of general purpose and specialised training
at various levels of expertise
designed for different audiences
from general introductions to highly specific methods
This presentation introduces the Language Technology and Data Analysis Laboratory (LADAL) at UQ, and discusses the implications of our experiences to date in establishing it for broader efforts to develop researcher capacity in the digital humanities. The LADAL is school-based support infrastructure for digital humanities researchers. It aims to assist staff and postgraduate students within the UQ School of Languages and Cultures to learn how to use data analytics, digital research tools, and other forms of technology to enhance their existing research programs, as well as offer pathways to new research possibilities. It complements the more generic resources and training in digital humanities methods offered by libraries (e.g. the Digital Scholars Hub at UQ) with the more specialised training/support in particular digital research methods and technologies that are required by researchers working on specific languages and cultures. The LADAL consists of a specialist computing lab for language-based computational and experimental work (the Computational and Experimental Workshop) and an online virtual lab. With respect to the latter, the LADAL website ( offers self-guided study materials and hands-on tutorials on topics relating to digital tools, computational methods for data extraction and processing, data visualization, statistical analyses of language data, and provides links to further resources and short descriptions of digital tools relevant for digital HASS research. In addition, the LADAL offers face-to-face consultations and specialized workshops. SLC researchers are encouraged to contact LADAL staff for advice and guidance on matters relating to digital research tools, data visualization, various statistical procedures, and text analytics. LADAL is also currently involved in the development of national language data commons with support from an ARDC data discovery grant.

7. Language Technology and Data Analysis Laboratory (LADAL)
HASS eResearch support infrastructure for digital HASS the UQ School of Languages and Cultures
Assists in the use of data analytics and digital research tools
Enhances existing research programs
Offers pathways into new research possibilities
Components
Specialist computing lab for language-based computational and experimental work (the Computational and Experimental Workshop)
Online virtual lab (the LADAL website:
This presentation introduces the Language Technology and Data Analysis Laboratory (LADAL) at UQ, and discusses the implications of our experiences to date in establishing it for broader efforts to develop researcher capacity in the digital humanities. The LADAL is school-based support infrastructure for digital humanities researchers. It aims to assist staff and postgraduate students within the UQ School of Languages and Cultures to learn how to use data analytics, digital research tools, and other forms of technology to enhance their existing research programs, as well as offer pathways to new research possibilities. It complements the more generic resources and training in digital humanities methods offered by libraries (e.g. the Digital Scholars Hub at UQ) with the more specialised training/support in particular digital research methods and technologies that are required by researchers working on specific languages and cultures. The LADAL consists of a specialist computing lab for language-based computational and experimental work (the Computational and Experimental Workshop) and an online virtual lab. With respect to the latter, the LADAL website ( offers self-guided study materials and hands-on tutorials on topics relating to digital tools, computational methods for data extraction and processing, data visualization, statistical analyses of language data, and provides links to further resources and short descriptions of digital tools relevant for digital HASS research. In addition, the LADAL offers face-to-face consultations and specialized workshops. SLC researchers are encouraged to contact LADAL staff for advice and guidance on matters relating to digital research tools, data visualization, various statistical procedures, and text analytics. LADAL is also currently involved in the development of national language data commons with support from an ARDC data discovery grant.

8. Language Technology and Data Analysis Laboratory (LADAL)
Enables development of skills in
Digital tools and data management
Computational methods and (basic) programming skills
Data extraction / transformation / processing
Data visualization (including geospatial mapping and interactive web apps)
NLP applications (text analysis) and various statistical procedures (including classification and machine learning)
This presentation introduces the Language Technology and Data Analysis Laboratory (LADAL) at UQ, and discusses the implications of our experiences to date in establishing it for broader efforts to develop researcher capacity in the digital humanities. The LADAL is school-based support infrastructure for digital humanities researchers. It aims to assist staff and postgraduate students within the UQ School of Languages and Cultures to learn how to use data analytics, digital research tools, and other forms of technology to enhance their existing research programs, as well as offer pathways to new research possibilities. It complements the more generic resources and training in digital humanities methods offered by libraries (e.g. the Digital Scholars Hub at UQ) with the more specialised training/support in particular digital research methods and technologies that are required by researchers working on specific languages and cultures. The LADAL consists of a specialist computing lab for language-based computational and experimental work (the Computational and Experimental Workshop) and an online virtual lab. With respect to the latter, the LADAL website ( offers self-guided study materials and hands-on tutorials on topics relating to digital tools, computational methods for data extraction and processing, data visualization, statistical analyses of language data, and provides links to further resources and short descriptions of digital tools relevant for digital HASS research. In addition, the LADAL offers face-to-face consultations and specialized workshops. SLC researchers are encouraged to contact LADAL staff for advice and guidance on matters relating to digital research tools, data visualization, various statistical procedures, and text analytics. LADAL is also currently involved in the development of national language data commons with support from an ARDC data discovery grant.

9. Language Technology and Data Analysis Laboratory (LADAL)
Services
Specialised training/support (workshops) on digital research methods and technologies
Information and self-guided study materials
Hands-on practical tutorials on topics relating to digital tools, computational methods for data extraction and processing, data visualization, and statistical analyses (learning to “code”)
Face-to-face consultations
This presentation introduces the Language Technology and Data Analysis Laboratory (LADAL) at UQ, and discusses the implications of our experiences to date in establishing it for broader efforts to develop researcher capacity in the digital humanities. The LADAL is school-based support infrastructure for digital humanities researchers. It aims to assist staff and postgraduate students within the UQ School of Languages and Cultures to learn how to use data analytics, digital research tools, and other forms of technology to enhance their existing research programs, as well as offer pathways to new research possibilities. It complements the more generic resources and training in digital humanities methods offered by libraries (e.g. the Digital Scholars Hub at UQ) with the more specialised training/support in particular digital research methods and technologies that are required by researchers working on specific languages and cultures. The LADAL consists of a specialist computing lab for language-based computational and experimental work (the Computational and Experimental Workshop) and an online virtual lab. With respect to the latter, the LADAL website ( offers self-guided study materials and hands-on tutorials on topics relating to digital tools, computational methods for data extraction and processing, data visualization, statistical analyses of language data, and provides links to further resources and short descriptions of digital tools relevant for digital HASS research. In addition, the LADAL offers face-to-face consultations and specialized workshops. SLC researchers are encouraged to contact LADAL staff for advice and guidance on matters relating to digital research tools, data visualization, various statistical procedures, and text analytics. LADAL is also currently involved in the development of national language data commons with support from an ARDC data discovery grant.

10. Language Technology and Data Analysis Laboratory (LADAL)

11. What we can do for you Aims of LADAL
Increase quality of research (Best Practice, assure high standards quality and replicabilty)
Allow UQ reseachers to make use of digital methods and big data
Enable researchers to pusue new pathways by using innovative methods and new types of data (social media data, machine learning, etc.)
The LADAL is still in the process of being established and we are looking for input to find out what aspects of data analytics are useful not only for UQ SLC researchers but also with respect to skills in graduates that would render them attractive on the job marked and for Australian companies.

12. Contact Details Professor Michael Haugh | Head of School
School of Languages and Cultures
Dr Martin Schweinberger Postdoctoral Research Fellow In Language Technologies