[Lexicog] dictionary software

[Wayne Leman]

Thapelo,

I have been using Shoebox for two or three years. I am happy to share my
experiences with you on some of the strengths and weaknesses of Shoebox. I
found it difficult to set up Shoebox to work with my language data. I
probably would not be using Shoebox now were it not for extensive help I
received from Shoebox consultants, some of whom are subscribers to this
discussion list, and who gladly help others with the program. Both Shoebox
and LinguaLinks has a high learning curve, in my opinion. LingualLinks
probably has an even higher learning curve since it is a more complicate
program. I happen to be a member of SIL, the organization which has produced
Shoebox, LinguaLinks, and, most recently, Toolbox. I very much appreciate
the efforts of SIL programmers to create these programs to help people
record, manage, and output their lexical data. However, I have felt for many
years that SIL programs are not sufficiently user-friendly. They often use
non-standard computer interfaces which means that a user must learn new sets
of commands from ones they might already know from standardized programs
that operate on Windows, Macintosh, Unjix, or Linux operating systems.

Fortunately, there are tutorial programs that accompany the SIL software.
And there are workshops held around the world for those who wish to learn to
use SIL's lexicography software. But I do not enjoy using tutorials, and I
prefer to be able to operate a program without having to attend a workshop.
I may be in a minority, but I want a program to be so transparent and
user-friendly that I can basically begin to use it without looking at any
manual or Helps menu, or needing to phone or email a software consultant. I
*am* willing to use a Helps menu for a few uncommon commands or features
that might need to be unique to language software, but I, personally, do not
believe that language software needs to speak a dialect of its own compared
to other commercially available software.

Having said all that, I recognize that Shoebox may be the most widely used
lexicography software today, at least for personal computers. I am not aware
of any commercially available software which can handle lexical databases as
well as Shoebox and LinguaLinks do, but might be more user-friendly.

Shoebox is strong in areas of basic data manipulation, including allowing
for different kinds of data sorts (such as sorting on the vernacular
language lexeme, or sorting on semantic domain names, or national language
glosses, etc.). I wish that Shoebox and similar programs were stronger in
terms of relational database features. One can create fields for Shoebox
which relate lexical entries within the language according to specified
relationships, but Shoebox is not a relational database program. To my mind,
it basically is a sophisticated flat file editor which allows for one to
emulate some features of relational databases, if one creates the fields
necessary for capturing the appropriate relationships. I am still waiting
for the creation of lexicography software which will enable the user to
manage and view associative lexical relationships much more easily. I would
like to be able to click on a button and have the program actually display
grids or semantic set circles or lexical arrow pointers, all of which
indicate important lexical relationships. I want a program that functions
more like the human brain does, I guess. I suspect that the mainframe
computer projects like Fillmore's FrameNet have some of what I want, but I
don't think such powerful features are yet incorporated in software that
operates on personal computers.

On the positive side, Shoebox is fast. It handles my Cheyenne lexical
database of 16,000+ entries very easily and quickly. I can locate lexical
entries in Shoebox essentially instantaneously. If I were using just a word
processor, such as Microsoft Word, it would take much longer to locate
lexical information.

Once a person has learned how to use Shoebox, it is relatively easy to work
with. I just think the program could be designed better for those who are
simply computer users. Instead of having to create special set up files in
Shoebox for each language, I think it would be better if Shoebox had
configuration wizards, similar to the wizards in Microsoft programs, that
allow one to configure things on a computer that are confusing to those who
are just average computer users. Of course, every time we add a wizard or
some other feature to make any program more transparent, we are adding to
the size of the program code and also potentially slowing down the program.

I have shared my feelings with those in SIL who help guide the computer
programmers. The administrators are aware of the tension that there is
between trying to get good programs available to researchers quickly, with
small enough program sizes that they can work on personal computers, and, on
the other hand, user-friendly enough so that those who use the program do
not have to depend on software consultants or workshops so much.

I'm sure others will have different assessments of these programs and I hope
we will hear from them, as well.

Wayne
-----
Wayne Leman
Cheyenne website: http://www.geocities.com/cheyenne_language

> Could people who have used/or are using Lingualinks or
> Shoebox/Toolbox please share their experiences
> concerning their strengths and weaknesses or the
> usability of any other dictionary making software.
>
> With many thanks
> Thapelo
>
> =====
> Thapelo Otlogetswe



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