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<div>I would encourage you to persevere with Shoebox, and to look at
Toolbox, the newer version, available for free from the SIL website.
They also have training modules available at the same website which
are well worth reading. This is very good dictionary software that
gives you many ready-made functions that do not exist in
ordinary database software like FileMaker Pro.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>There are some websites that may help too:</div>
<div><font
color="#000000"
>http://www.linguistics.unimelb.edu.au/thieberger/RNLD/RNLDfaq.html#6</font
></div>
<div><font
color="#000000"
>http://www.linguistics.unimelb.edu.au/thieberger/CALW/Shoebox5.htm</font
></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>A database program can be a good data entry form, depending on
how complex you want your dictionary entries to be. A database program
is limited because you may want some entries to be brief while others
may need lots of subentries and senses of the headword together with
examples. But when you want to produce a neat looking dictionary, both
on paper and on the web, for example, Toolbox will do that as part of
its inbuilt functions, and a database program will not.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Can you find a linguist who uses Toolbox locally who can give you
some help? Once you are over the first learning curve it is a great
way to organise your dictionary.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Nick Thieberger</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Verdana"
size="-1">Dear Sirs</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Verdana" size="-1">I found
your contact in the Internet. Sorry for the disturbance. I am
a linguist and I am currently working on a dictionary
for an african language with the program Shoebox of the SIL. I am
having some troubles. So I wonder if you could tell me how to import
my data into an alternative software, for instance the File Maker (for
Windows). I would be very grateful if you had any hints for
me because Shoebox is not very user friendly.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> </blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Verdana" size="-1">Thanks in
advance.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> </blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Verdana" size="-1">Kind
regards. </font></blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
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<div><font color="#19261D">Project Manager</font></div>
<div><font color="#19261D">PARADISEC</font></div>
<div><font color="#19261D">Department of Linguistics and Applied
Linguistics</font></div>
<div><font color="#19261D">University of Melbourne, Vic
3010</font></div>
<div><font color="#19261D">Australia</font></div>
<div><font color="#19261D"><br></font></div>
<div><font
color="#19261D">nicholas.thieberger@paradisec.org.au</font></div>
<div><font color="#19261D">Ph 61 (0)3 8344 5185</font></div>
<div><font color="#19261D"><br></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">PARADISEC</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">Pacific And Regional Archive for Digital
Sources in Endangered Cultures</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">http://paradisec.org.au</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br></font></div>
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