From VinKo to AlpiLinK: web-based long-term storage and accessibility of information

In this contribution, we will discuss challenges, solutions and open questions connected with the reusability and therefore persistence of web-based research from the perspective of the AlpiLinK project (https://alpilink.it/en/progetto). AlpiLinK (Alpine Languages in Contact, , a 'project of relevant national interest' [PRIN] financed by the Italian Research Ministry) aims at the collection of oral linguistic data from the Germanic and Romance non-standard and minority languages spoken in alpine Italy. It collects its data online and intends to provide easy access to the collected data and to basic information regarding the varieties and the project itself not just for an academic audience, but also for a general public, including but not limited to the local speech communities (e.g., public-outreach activities involving local high schools like VinKiamo). While most of the publication of the scientific results continue to be paper based or in e-journals with paper-like procedures and standards, long-term storage and accessibility of online data and information for the general public is still in its infancy. AlpiLinK aims to maximize the probability of survival of its data by ensuring the data is stored in a structured format, which is machine- and human-readable, in a CLARIN repository (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8360169) similar to the related datasets VinKo (http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12124/74), and AThEME (http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12124/53). However, the permanent accessibility of the additional information - web pages with sometimes detailed, multimodal and even interactive speech-variety profiles, comparisons of linguistic features across language borders and language change descriptions - remains a challenge. This became especially evident in the transition from our previous VinKo project to AlpiLinK. While all data is securely stored in the above-quoted repository and the alternative data representation via an interactive map (much appreciated by the general public) has been transferred to AlpiLinK's interactive map, the pages of the old deactivated VinKo website with its additional information are no longer accessible.