The
Problem It is axiomatic
that knowledge is power, and knowledge is based on words. It should be a
goal, therefore, for libraries as repositories of knowledge to help people
increase their word power by making the necessary tools readily available.
With computers and all manner of electronic references, why are electronic
dictionaries, thesauri, and encyclopedias not more easily accessible? My penchant for
eBooks is what brought this question into focus. What attracted me to
eBooks more than any of their manifold virtues was the instant lookup
feature, which allows you merely to tap on a word and the definition pops
right up on the screen, instantly. This realization started an
investigation of electronic lexicons for handheld computers and resulted
in an article published in the July, 2003 issue of PocketPC Magazine.
In that article, I tended to favor those programs that were at the closest
beck and call, and luckily I found that the most accessible ones were also
the ones richest in content. What I began to realize was that the most
useful ones were not just available within eBooks but were always
available in all applications. They were the winners, and I am pleased to
report that since my article, some of these dictionary-type products have
truckled to my suggestions. Desktop
Lexicons Hide Their Content When I turned
my attention to the desktop environment, I realized that the gallimaufry
of electronic word books were way behind those available for handheld
computers in terms of ease of access. Word processors have limited
vocabulary dictionaries and synonym finders without context that may
result in embarrassing usage. Some commercial dictionaries, such as Merriam
Webster, will install an icon on the tool bar of some common
applications in the Microsoft Office Suite. While this may seem a
convenience, it requires tapping on the icon to invoke it, waiting for the
dictionary website to appear, assuming you are already online, and then
copying and pasting the word into the lookup box on the dictionary. Microsoft
Encarta dictionary is available as an icon in Word and Internet
Explorer in Windows XP, and you don’t have to copy and paste.
Just put the cursor on the word and click on the dictionary icon on the
tool bar. This is an improvement to be sure, but not perfection. However, the
vast majority of the dictionary products available for your consideration
are not this readily available. Libraries
Bury the Treasure, Too But, it’s not
just the word books themselves that obscure their contents from potential
users; it’s libraries or inattentive webmasters. Could it be that webmasters
hate words? Are they vocabularily challenged? Or is their velleity masking
the gates, allowing only the most persistent to enter? Actually, some of
my best friends are webmasters, and I would probably even allow my
daughter to marry one. To illustrate
my point though, let me give you a quick, fun assignment. First go to your
own library’s website. See how many clicks it takes you to look up the
word “uxorious.” (My wife made me use that word.) If it takes more
than two clicks, you should have a serious talk with your library
director, your webmaster, and if you’re a married male, your shrink.
Now, just for fun, go visit five other library websites. See which one has
buried the lexical bone the deepest. Do you now believe that you need to
be an archaeologist to excavate through the strata to find the basic
building blocks of knowledge locked away in a tomb deep in the vast abyss
of some obfuscating website? I’m convinced it’s a game, like a
treasure hunt or an Easter egg hunt -- fun, but time-consuming. CD
Solutions Long ago I used
to think CD reference sources were wonderful, and they were, then. But now
that it is possible to be online all the time, CDs are a big bother
considering that they are cumbersome to use, get damaged, and are
relatively expensive when they have to be replaced periodically. Now that
most computers are always online, there really is no reason for CDs
because the information is always available only a few clicks away, often
free and updated. Online
Resources Let’s take a
look at some of the most popular online word references available in
today’s market.
Browsers and Search Engines Remembering
that an Internet browser, whether it be Netscape, Internet
Explorer or some other flavor, is usually at least one or two clicks
away; we have in them a viable access to references. This usually involves
searching for a dictionary and then choosing one from a list of 9.5
million possibilities. Or, if you know the one you want, you could
navigate right to it or even type in its URL or mark it as a favorite.
Once you’ve pulled up the dictionary, you can either type in the word,
if you still remember it, or paste it in, if you had the foresight to copy
it. This is almost as much bother as walking across the room, finding a
dictionary, pulling it off
the shelf, and looking up the word in a tree book.
Google it Tip: in the
search-box of Google, you can type “define: [lookup word]” and
it will give you the definition from Princeton’s Word Net
database. But that’s still a few clicks away, and you could have more
easily gone to Word Net in the first place.
Mywebsearch.com Mywebsearch.com
is a search program that allows you to type in or paste in the word you
seek and then click on various search engines such as Google, Alltheweb,
AltaVista, LookSmart, and Ask Jeeves. The result is
the familiar, endless list of dictionaries, albeit with the page already
pointed to the requested term. This product is free, but the trade off is
that paid-for listings come up first on browser search hits.
YourDictionary.com YourDictionary.com
provides a most comprehensive and authoritative portal for language and
language-related products and services on the Web with more than 1800
dictionaries in more than 250 languages. In excess of 1,500,000 people a
month visit YDC. It’s a lexical supermarket, a WalMart of
words, and for a philologist more fun to visit than Disney World.
Maybe it should, in fact, be renamed “Disney Word.” The good news is
that it’s free, no doubt because it is supported by advertising.
eReference Houghton
Mifflin’s
eReference is a sophisticated search tool software approach that
includes the full version texts of The American Heritage® Dictionary
of the English Language, Fourth Edition, and Roget’s II: The New
Thesaurus. If you’re connected to the Internet, you can get real
voice pronunciations and brilliant color images. It sells for $34.95. Want
to know the meaning of “uxorious” at the same instant you’re reading
it on a Web page or in a Microsoft Office application? Houghton Mifflin eReference
will find the answer after you’ve simply highlighted the word and
clicked on the “A-Z” icon. Want to get a definition of a word, but
you’re not sure of the spelling? Start typing your best guess and eReference will generate a list of possible
matches. How about then getting a synonym or antonym of “efficacy”?
With eReference, you can quickly toggle between
the dictionary and thesaurus. eReference can
be downloaded as a free trial. But be certain you want it before you buy
it because there are no refunds.
Grolier Online Grolier Online from Scholastic
Publishing can enhance a library collection by making available a
multitude of resources for students or patrons doing research—all in one
search operation. Grolier Online is a portal
referencing information from many sources, both print and electronic. It
is an online suite consisting of seven databases and three of the
best-known encyclopedias:
Plus, four more databases can be added
to customize the needs of your library:
Grolier Online can be searched
just like the web, but there is a difference. Your search leads you to
relevant articles from Grolier Online's encyclopedias, which point
you to a rich variety of other resources, both within Grolier Online
and on the World Wide Web.
The
prices for the privilege of installing the service start at $549 and go up
to $1219 for a single school library. Public libraries will pay $929 per
branch for one to five branches and $839 per branch over five. If you want
remote access on top of that, be prepared to come up with another $549 per
branch.
Merriam
Webster Merriam
Webster enters the electronic fray with three options starting with free,
and it escalates from there. For a description of the two paid options
ranging from $14.95 to $39.95 per year, go to http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/collegiate_sub.pl?refr=P_mwol_foot
OneLook Dictionary OneLook
Dictionary is a sponsored, free service that boasts 6,025,862
words indexed in 957 dictionaries. It can be accessed at www.onelook.com,
or by installing an applet on a Webpage, or by bookmarking it as a
favorite. However, it is not available in
applications other than a browser, which gives it limited
accessibility and is, therefore, not the most desirable in our paradigm. Dictionary.com The
Dictionary.com site is certainly a valuable reference tool
featuring dictionaries in several languages, thesaurus.com, and
other useful tools. Free software available on the site includes CleverKeys
and Dictionary.com toolbar. CleverKeys gives instant access
to definitions at Dictionary.com and synonyms at Thesaurus.com
from almost all Windows and MAC applications. Hey, now this is beginning
to sound interesting. Here’s how it works: Just highlight a word in any
application; hit control-L. The definition will eventually appear in your
Web browser. Or, hit control-M for a menu of other options including a
thesaurus lookup, or a search of the web, or shop at Amazon.com. At
least it doesn’t take you to WalMart. This is what
the Dictionary.com toolbar looks like in your browser:
To
gain premium features and eliminate advertisements, it will cost you
$19.95 per year. For the specifics, go to
http://dictionary.reference.com/premium/.
LiLI Database As much as I am
a fan and avid LiLI supporter, I am disappointed at the depths to which it
too has succeeded in burying its limited lexical references, as if the
database architect had set out to design the tomb of an ancient pharaoh to
be protected from grave robbers at all costs over the eons. On the other
hand, it is way too much trouble to log on to LiLI just to look up a
definition, and such resources should be more readily available. Now if
LiLI had access to the Oxford English Dictionary, that might be another
matter worth wading for.
Oxford Reference Online Oxford
Reference Online is available to individuals and institutions, and
access to it can be added to a browser. It enables you to look up words in Oxford Reference Online
from anywhere on the Web by simply downloading the "Add Oxford
Reference Online to your browser" icon (available from the home
page) to your Internet browser toolbar. Then if you're looking at a
foreign language web page, for example, and don't know what a word means,
just highlight the word, click the Search
Oxford button on your browser toolbar, and a new window will open
showing the results of a search for the word in Oxford Reference Online.
This is a blue ribbon feature in my opinion. To find out more, click on
your choice of hyperlinks below:
Licenses
(or should we spell that “licences” because it’s British?) for the
Premium Collection start at $550 per year for a single user and $375 for
the Core Collection. Pricing for concurrent user licenses vary. For
pricing options contact onlinesubscriptions@oup-usa.org
or call 800-334-4249.
Oxford English Dictionary Completely separate
from Oxford Reference Online is the granddaddy of dictionaries, Oxford
English Dictionary, fondly referred to as the OED. First let me offer
some statistics if you haven’t hefted one lately. The print version of
the dictionary occupies more than four feet of shelf space, spans 21,728
pages, and weighs more than 145 pounds. It is also available on CD-ROM and
comes with a powerful search engine to help you sort through the
dictionary's 615,000 words and 2.4 million quotations. Search by word,
etymology, date, author, quotation, and more. All serious
lucubrators trot to these toothsome tomes as the authoritative source for
not only meaning, spelling, and pronunciation, but also for word origin,
history, and usage. The Oxford English Dictionary is more than a
reference you consult out of casual curiosity; it is an essential tool for
serious scholars. The tree book version costs $2750, the CD version $2000
less. The online edition for libraries runs $720 per year and $550 a year
for individuals. If there were
an Academy Award for dictionaries, the OED would be the Lord of the
Rings. But it does tend to remain aloof in its ivory tower without
easy access from all online applications, which puts it in the
worst-dressed category of online references. The
Futility of it All Why the
indolence you say? Are you so lethargic that you can’t deal with a few
clicks of a mouse? It is, after all, far better than physically looking it
up in a tree book. Well, my feeling is
that if it’s possible on a Pocket PC, it ought to be possible on any
desktop or workstation as well. Furthermore, I happen to know from long
experience that it is just too easy to put off looking up a word until
it’s out of mind, sort of like the items on the bottom of a To Do list.
But, if you can look up a word right now, in any application, that’s
instant gratification and instant access to knowledge, and it makes you
more powerful. I can think of
at least three dictionaries that allow a user to accomplish this on a
Pocket PC: WordBook, bDicty, and eDictionary. Of
these, only WordBook is also available for the PC desktop
environment, but you still have to copy and paste the look-up word into
it. So, it has sadly lost its attraction on the desktop. Lest we end
here on a note of hopeless despair in our vision quest for easy access to
the power of words, let me share the solution that I’ve been saving for
last. The
Solution It’s time to
become acquainted with GuruNet, the mentor of the masses, the guide
to genius, and the most valuable player in the word power Super Bowl, for
it fits all the criteria for the perfect word finder. And it’s far more
powerful than a mere word looker-upper. Stay tuned. GuruNet is
so easy to use. In any application, not just a web browser, its power can
be invoked by placing the cursor on a word and tapping the Alt key. Up
pops the definition. You don’t even have to go to all the trouble of
highlighting the word. On the same screen you will have access to a myriad
of other resources including a thesaurus, encyclopedias, and an extensive
knowledge base. Or, should you wish to search the net, a search box is
available for that as well.
Rather than
continue extolling the virtues of GuruNet verbally, here is a
short, animated demonstration of exactly how it works: Click HERE. What does GuruNet
cost? The good news is that it’s free, not just to install and to try,
but to use in a limited version for as long as you wish. You simply will
not have access to all the databases and language translation into twelve
languages. For all the enhanced features to be available, the cost is
$39.95 per year, but multiple user licenses are available at a discount. Maybe tapping
the alt key with the cursor on a look up word is a simple operation, but
it does require the use of the mouse and the keyboard. I would recommend
an easier solution for future versions. My suggestion is to make GuruNet
available as a right click menu item that would come up when you right
click on a word. Even better would be to bring up the word definition by
merely double clicking on it. As a reward for
suffering through this treatise on thesaurial tactility, you can use this
code to receive a discount should you wish to purchase this program and
make it yours. Denouement It seems that,
at the moment, handheld computers are more advanced at reference retrieval
than desktops. The lexicons available for libraries do not appear to have
ease of access in mind in their architecture. And to compound the issue,
most library websites appear to play hide and seek, delighting in how
deeply they can bury the lexical bone. Because words
are the foundation of knowledge, it would behoove libraries as stewards
and dispensers of knowledge to make the process of looking up words more
accessible and convenient. At this time, there appears to be but a single
program that makes look-ups available from within all applications, and
that is GuruNet on which I hereby confer to Golden Word Award. Remember, the
one with the most words wins.
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