This document discusses dictionaries and how they are used. It begins by defining dictionaries as listings of words in a language, usually alphabetically ordered, along with their meanings. It then describes how dictionaries are used to find word definitions, etymologies, pronunciations, synonyms, and specialized definitions. The rest of the document summarizes different types of dictionaries, including general dictionaries, specialized dictionaries, thesauruses, and subject-specific dictionaries. It concludes by discussing considerations for acquiring and maintaining dictionary collections.

1. ANSWERING
QUESTIONS ABOUT
WORDS – DICTIONARIES
Prepared and Discussed by:
Ernani A. Agulto
IV-15 BLIS

2. Dictionary
listing of the words of a language, usually
in alphabetical order but sometimes also
by topic, with their meanings or their
equivalents (Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009.
© 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation).

3. How Dictionaries are used
For definitions ranges across many types of
words – simple, archaic, slang, idiomatic,
foreign, literary and technical,
Etymology and usage of a word,
Pronunciation and syllabication of a word,
List classes of words,
Provides synonym,
For visual or illustrated dictionary, provides
text as well as geographical representations,
For dictionary of regionalism, provides
specialized definitions of less universal usage.

4. Questions answered by
Dictionaries
Definition
Orthography- study of correct spelling: the
study of established correct spelling
(Microsoft Encarta)
Pronunciation
Etymology
Grammar
Synonym
Visual
Religionalisms

5. MAJOR DICTIONARIES USED
IN REFERENCE WORK
General Dictionaries
Unabridged dictionaries
 depth and breadth of information is the
prime directive rather than currency of
words.
Are the most scholarly and comprehensive
of all dictionaries, sometimes consisting of
many volumes. They emphasize the history
of words and the variety of their uses.

6. General Dictionaries
Unabridged dictionaries
Are useful when studying a word in
depth, reading or writing about the
literature of another century, or looking
for a quotation containing a particular
word.
Examples: The Oxford English Dictionary,
(20 volumes), The Random House Dictionary
of the English Language, Webster's Third
New International Dictionary of the English
Language.

7. General Dictionaries
Abridged dictionaries
often called desk dictionaries, list 150,000 to
250,000 words and concentrate largely on
fairly common words and meanings. A good
desk dictionary will serve most reference
needs for writing or reading.
Examples: The American Heritage Dictionary,
The Random House Webster's College
Dictionary, Mirriam-Webster's Collegiate
Dictionary, Concise Oxford English Dictionary.

8. Specialized Word Sources
Learners dictionaries
 “less is more” (Dahlin 1999, 33),
The prime directives are not
comprehensiveness and depth of
meaning, but simplicity, ease of use and
frequency of words in daily American
communication.
Examples: Macmillan English Dictionary,
NTC’s American English Learner’s Dictionary.

9. Specialized Word Sources
Visual dictionaries
is designed to help you find the right word
at a glance, is more than a reliable resource
of meticulously labeled images—it innovates
by combining dictionary-scale definitions
with exceptional illustrations (
http://visual.merriam-webster.com/about-visual_
).
Examples: The Firefly Visual Dictionary (has
35, 000 terms), Ultimate Visual Dictionary, The
Firefly Five Language Visual Dictionary (35, 000
words in English, Spanish, French, German and
Italian).

10. Specialized Word Sources
“Gated” word dictionaries
dictionaries of slang, jargon, argot,
regionalisms or idioms.
Dictionaries of slang usually collates
colloquialisms recurring within a group.
Example: the multivolume Random
House Historical Dictionary of American
Slang(has 300, 000 slang words).

11. Specialized Word Sources
Acronyms and Abbreviations
Dictionaries (AAD)
Example: Acronyms, Initialisms, and
Abbreviations Dictionary (Multivolume, Gale
Group).

12. Specialized Word Sources
Rhyming Dictionaries
were created to help poets, song makers,
and verse creators.
Example: The Oxford Rhyming Dictionary
(has 85, 000 words in forty sound group,
but uses British pronunciation).

13. Specialized Word Sources
Metadictionaries
online medium,
Examples: www.onelook.com (host to 6,
257, 269 words from 993 dictionaries),
www.dictionary.com (free and user-
friendly).

14. Thesauri
helps to find the right word, each word is
partnered with strings of synonyms and
antonyms.
Examples: Roget’s International Thesaurus
(6th ed. Has 330, 000 words and phrases),
The Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus
(2004).

15. Quotations
often in dictionaries to establish the
usage of the word.
Examples: Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations
(17th ed., 25, 000 quotations), The Random
House Webster’s Quotationary (has 20, 000
quotations arranged by subject)…

16. Concordances
are an alphabetical enumeration of major
words in a book or a collection of books
by an author, along with the immediate
context of a word, Shakespeare and the
Bible.
Examples: 9 volume compilation, A
Complete and Systematic Concordance to
the Works of Shakespeare, or single-
volume version The Harvard Concordance
to Shakespeare.

17. Style and Usage of Words
words can come alive with the right
grammar and punctuation.
Reference Librarians must be prepared
for 2 types of questions in the field:
Grammar and punctuation,
Style and citation guidance.
Examples: Chicago Manual of Style, MLA
(Modern Language Association) Handbook
for Writers of Research Papers.

18. Children’s dictionaries
reference world of word sources for
children focuses on all-purpose
dictionaries.
Market for children’s dictionaries: school
library, the public library and the family
library.
Examples: A Student’s Dictionary,
Macmillan Dictionary for Children.

19. Bilingual Dictionaries
has variety of unabridged, dual, pocket-
sized, and desk dictionaries.
Examples: Cassell’s Latin Dictionary, The
Oxford Starter series, Albanian-
English/English-Albanian Practical Dictionary.

20. Special Constituency
two major constituencies for whom
authoritative dictionaries are available;
the visual and the hearing impaired.
Examples: The Oxford Large Print
Dictionary, The American Sign Language
Dictionary Unabridged (has more than 7,
000 sign entries accompanied with 12,
000 illustration).

21. Subject dictionaries
medical, legal, business, scientific,
technical, computer, mathematical, etc.
Examples: Harvard Dictionary of Music,
Black’s Law Dictionary, Stedman’s Medical
Dictionary.


22. COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT
AND MAINTENANCE
Selection and Keeping current
Reading professional reviews is the most
standard way.es
Referring to regularly updated reference
works,
Refereeing to subject-specific
monograph,
Subscribing for in-depth look at
dictionary sources,
Individual dictionary update.

23. COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT
AND MAINTENANCE
Evaluating Word Sources
Authority and understandability are the
prime criteria for evaluating a word
source.
Other criteria: currency, cost, format,
scope, comprehensiveness, and value-
added features.

24. FURTHER
CONSIDERATIONS
Acquisition of word sources
Not all book titled “dictionaries” are
really dictionaries.
They are merely alluding to the
alphabetical arrangement of a book.
E.g. A New Dictionary of Irish History
from 1800’s.
Lends little (meaning) of words, (gives) a
great deal of history instead.

25. FURTHER
CONSIDERATIONS
Information referral
Visualizing
Complexity
Depth
Context
Format

26. *end of presentation*