[Lexicog] Re: Jos=?UTF-8?Q?=C3=A9_?=Aguirre's metalexicography

[Michael Beijer]

Hi Gilles-Maurice,

I am fully in the digital corner myself. 

I am a translator, and the sooner we move everything to digital the better. 
You have *no* idea how I wish I could somehow get my entire bookshelf of 
quickly aging specialist bilingual dictionaries into my CAT tool 
(translation software). I have piles of dictionaries that still contain 
very good content, but which is basically locked away in their paper pages 
and will soon just be lost. I am thinking of, e.g., my 4 volume 
Dutch-English 'Jansonius' from the 70s, my *Dictionary of Building and 
Civil Engineering *by* *S.N. Korchomkin et al. (Kluwer, 1985), and my *Illustrated 
Dictionary of Mechanical Engineering* by V.V. Schwartz et al. (1984) – all 
of which I hardly use because they aren't as readily accessible as my 
computer resources. 

On the other hand, I am subscribed to several online dictionaries, and this 
is where the future of lexicography should be headed if you ask me as a 
translator. Graham P Oxtoby's amazing *Comprehensive Dictionary of Industry 
& Technology <http://translex.co.uk/GWIT.html>*, and Aart van den End's *Juridisch-Economisch 
Lexicon <http://gatewaywoordenboeken.nl/184.html>* & *Onroerend Goed Lexicon<http://gatewaywoordenboeken.nl/onroerend-goed-lexicon.html>
 *can be seen as examples of how to successfully operate a dictionary in 
the digital age. They are full of great content, are updated daily, and you 
can email their authors term questions and will almost always receive an 
answer within 20 minutes. Another success story is the *Oxford Dictionaries 
Pro <http://english.oxforddictionaries.com/>* (formerly *Oxford 
Dictionaries Online*). This is another dictionary I am more than happy to 
pay my annual subscription for, as it has become a one-stop shop for all of 
my English-language dictionary needs. Incidentally, I might be buying 
myself a hard copy of Graham's *Comprehensive Dictionary of Industry & 
Technology* as a Christmas present when it comes out in December 2012 (2
volumes, 3600 pages!!!), but mostly just for fun. On a daily basis, I will 
be accessing it online as I translate.

There are also various interesting free online multilingual dictionaries 
popping up like mushrooms, which allow users to add words, such as Leo<http://dict.leo.org/>
, Dict.cc <http://ennl.dict.cc/?s=h.o.h.>, bab.la<http://en.bab.la/user_ranking.php>
, interglot <http://www.interglot.com/>, and the Proz.com KudoZ 
glossaries/term forums <http://www.proz.com/about/overview/terminology/>, 
but what I am waiting for is a site that manages to engender the feeling of 
community of the Proz.com term forums with the professional approach of say 
the Oxford Dictionaries Pro site. Now *that* would be a truly modern 
dictionary!

Michael

*Michael Beijer*
Translator & Terminologist
(Dutch/Flemish into English)
46 Priory Street, Lewes, 
East Sussex BN7 1HJ, 
United Kingdom.
Tel. +44 (0)1273 483881
Mob.+44 (0)797 093 5608
michael at wordbook.nl
Skype/Twitter: michaelbeijer
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