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vernetziko is an assistive software tool primarily designed for managing cross-references in XML-based electronic dictionaries. In its current form it has been developed as an integral part of the lexicographic editing environment for the German monolingual dictionary elexiko developed and compiled at the Institut für Deutsche Sprache, Mannheim. This paper first briefly outlines how vernetziko fits into the XML-based dictionary editing technology of elexiko. Then vernetziko’s core functionality and some of the auxiliary tools integrated into the program are presented from both a practical and a technological point of view. The concluding sections discuss some software engineering aspects of extending the tool to handle cross-references between multiple resources and point out some of the advantages of vernetziko vis-à-vis corresponding features of proprietary dictionary writing systems. The software can be adapted to interconnect off-the-shelf components (database management systems and editors), thus providing a tailor-made lexicographical workbench for a wide range of XML-based dictionaries without vendor lock-in.
Compared with printed dictionaries, online dictionaries provide a number of unique possibilities for the presentation and processing of lexicographical information. However, in Müller-Spitzer/Koplenig/Töpel (2011) we show that – on average - users tend to rate the special characteristics of online dictionaries (e.g. multimedia, adaptability) as (partly) unimportant. This result conflicts somewhat with the lexicographical request both for the development of a user-adaptive interface and the incorporation of multimedia elements. This contribution seeks to explain this discrepancy, by arguing that when potential users are fully informed about the benefits of possible innovative features of online dictionaries, they will come to judge these characteristics to be more useful than users that do not have this kind of information. This argument is supported by empirical evidence presented in this paper.
Digital or electronic lexicography has gained in importance in the last few years. This can be seen in the increasing number of online dictionaries and publications focusing on this field. OBELEX (http://www.owid.de) - one of the bibliographic projects of the Institute for German Language in Mannheim - takes this development into account and makes both online dictionaries and research contribulions available in a bibliographical database searchable by different criteria. The idea for OBELEX originated in the context of the dictionary portal OWID, which incorporates several dictionaries from the Institute for German Language (http://www.owid.de). OBELEX has been available online free of Charge since December 2008. As of 2011, OBELEX includes two search options: a search for research literature and (as a completely new feature) a search for online dictionaries, a Service which is unique in the world.
The planning of a dictionary should consider both theoretical and empiric aspects, either for its macro- and microstructure: this is true also for Online Specialized Dictionaries of Linguistics. In particular the microstructure should be standardized and structured so as to fit with the primary and secondary functions of a dictionary. Unfortunately, empirical studies that investigate Online Specialized Dictionaries of Linguistics are rare, making it unclear which microstructural elements are obligatory and which are facultative. This article will present and comment upon the results of an investigation into a corpus of Online Specialized Dictionaries of Linguistics, focusing attention on these aspects and also the most important theoretical issues. An example taken from DIL, a German-Italian Online Dictionary of Linguistics, will end the article.
An interactive, dynamic electronic dictionary aimed at text production should guide the user in innovative ways, especially in respect of difficult, complicated or confusing issues. This paper proposes a design for bilingual dictionaries intended to guide users in text production; we focus on complex phenomena of the interaction between lexis and grammar. It will be argued that a dictionary aimed at guiding the user in lexical selection should implement a type of “decision algorithm”. In addition, it should flag incorrect solutions and should warn against possible wrong generalisations of (foreign) language learners. Our proposals will be illustrated with examples from several languages, as the design principles are generally applicable. The copulative construction which is regarded as the most complicated grammatical structure in Northern Sotho will be analyzed in more detail and presented as a case in point.