LaCAS platform

LaCAS is a knowledge base dedicated to the world's geopolitical, cultural and linguistic areas. It is a tool for promoting French research in areal studies to the general public, while meeting the needs of the academic community.

The project

LaCAS is a reference platform for areal studies in France. It centralizes in a single access point all the resources produced on the world's cultural and linguistic areas, documented through a wide variety of formats:

Textual fund: over 85,000 resources (articles, theses, conference proceedings...)
Film fund : over 2000 resources (scientific events, interviews, documentaries...)
Visual fund : more than 50,000 resources (researcher archives, photographs, maps...)
Sound fund : more than 140 resources (scientific events, interviews, podcasts...)

Open science

The LaCAS project uses the data made available by open science to democratize areal studies. As such, it is a structuring element of Inalco's open science policy. The latter relies on digital transformation to disseminate research results without hindrance. LaCAS collects resources deposited in the HAL open archive and the Nakala and Zenodo data warehouses in order to map French research in the field of areal studies.

schema — Chaîne de traitement des données de la recherche © LaCAS 2024‎

The platform

LaCAS is based on the articulation of two complementary interfacesthat enable the processing and enhancement of research data.

LaCAS data

Interface dedicated to the retrieval, structuring, indexing and enrichment of multimodal resources, enhanced by tools at the service of areal studies.

Areal studies thesaurus
Researcher directory
Research team directory

LaCAS publications

Interface dedicated to the editorialization and enhancement of resources available on LaCAS data, through 4 headings:

manuscrit — Manuscrit enluminé © Walters Art Museum‎

Focus

Panorama of a researcher's work

enfants de rue — Enfants de rue, Cambodge © Jean-Pierre Dalbéra‎

Thematics

Dossiers devoted to a field, objects or a research problem

Geographical areas

Mapping languages, cultures and societies of the world's regions

lanternes — Lanternes chinoises © Suki Lee‎

Au fil du temps

Corpus themed around historical events, eras or processes

Content production

Since 2021, LaCAS has been responsible for the production of two audiovisual programs promoting areal studies in all their diversity. Within this framework, more than 150 researchers from all disciplines, affiliated with Inalco and other institutions, have been interviewed.

I-DEA interviews

Presentation of themes studied by a researcher, approached from different angles: issues, fields, methodology, challenges.

PEA interviews

Immerse yourself in a field of study through a long-form interview with an experienced researcher who describes his or her career and research practices.

Letter(s) from LaCAS

Bimonthly, this newsletter aims to promote the content available on the LaCAS platform

A first part,The news according to LaCAS, offers an original perspective on a current topic with the help of a selection of scientific articles.

A second part, The news from LaCAS, informs on the latest advances of the platform and the work done by the LaCAS team to always better promote and enhance research results.

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Subscribe to LaCAS newsletter(s)

News from LaCAS

This first part of the newsletter tackles a topical issue in the diversity of questions it raises, based on articles and filmed interviews selected on purpose. More than just a selection, the letter offers access to the full articles as well as a summary produced by the LaCAS team to provide an easy yet relevant read.

The five sections of L'actualité selon LaCAS aim to study the chosen news theme by deciphering its most publicized aspects, then gradually tackling different and original points of view. The ambition is to renew the gaze cast on phenomena that are omnipresent in public debate, by summoning up what they signify both around the world and over time.

LaCAS news

LaCAS is an innovative knowledge base built every day with and for researchers, to enhance the value of their work for the general public. This second part provides information about the platform's latest publications and documents its evolution, through video and written interviews with members of the LaCAS team, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the project.