The demands of users and the publishing world: printed or online, free or paid for?

International audienc

Online dictionaries: expectations and demands

This chapter presents empirical findings on the question which criteria are making a good online dictionary using data on expectations and demands collected in the first study (N=684), completed with additional results from the second study (N=390) which examined more closely whether the respondents had differentiated views on individual aspects of the criteria rated in the first study. Our results show that the classical criteria of reference books (e.g. reliability, clarity) were rated highest by our participants, whereas the unique characteristics of online dictionaries (e.g. multimedia, adaptability) were rated and ranked as (partly) unimportant. To verify whether or not the poor rating of these innovative features was a result of the fact that the subjects are not used to online dictionaries incorporating those features, we integrated an experiment into the second study. Our results revealed a learning effect: Participants in the learning-effect condition, i. e. respondents who were first presented with examples of possible innovative features of online dictionaries,judged adaptability and multimedia to be more useful than participants who did not have this information. Thus, our data point to the conclusion that developing innovative features is worthwhile but that it is necessary to be aware of the fact that users can only be convinced of its benefits gradually

From e-Lexicography to Electronic Lexicography. A Joint Review

Two recently published books outline the main issues of the current debate on lexi­cography. The first, e-Lexicography edited by Fuertes-Olivera and Bergenholtz in 2011, presents the standpoints of the lexicographical function theory on the future developments of dictionaries, while, in some chapters, current innovative tools are described, tools which allow customizations according to the user's type of need. The second volume, Electronic Lexicography edited by Granger and Paquot in 2012, presents different opposing views on what the dictionaries of the future will look like, such as the linguistic-oriented stance of Hanks and that of Tarp concerning theoretical lexi­cography. The dictionary projects that are described within these pages offer an interesting basis of comparison with those developed by the representatives of the function theory. Keywords: computer assisted language learning (call), corpus lin­guis­tics, customization, databases, dictionary survey, dictionary use, effi­cacy, efficiency, electronic lexicography, information science, lan­guages for special purposes, lexicographical function theory, linguistic theory, monofunctional diction­ary, p-dictionaries, practical lexicog­raphy, usability testin