1. A future for dictionary publishing? MR, Lexicom 2009

2. The digital future is already here “I like the look and feel of newsprint as much as anyone. But our real business isn't printing on dead trees. It's giving our readers great journalism and great judgment” (Rupert Murdoch) As for news, so for reference resources: content matters more than medium (and new media mean new opportunities)

3. Dictionary publishing: traditional model Lexicographers compile dictionary text Publisher produces printed book Customers buy lots of books Income from books funds the next dictionary

4. New model Lexicographers compile dictionary text … but with a lot of help from machines (how much of the job can machines potentially do?) Publisher makes “dictionary” (or “lexical resources”) available to customers (variety of media) Customer accesses data … But who pays?

5. Consumers’ expectations in the digital age (general) End of ‘one-size-fits-all’ model:  TV, radio, newspapers: e.g. podcasts, ‘on-demand’ TV: your personal selection  music: from album (=record company’s selection) to user’s personal selection Consumer in control: customization And: most things are free

6. Consumers’ expectations (dictionaries) End of ‘one-size-fits-all’ model:  from (e.g.) MED: one dictionary for advanced learners, global, regardless of mother-tongue, regardless of individual needs (e.g. professional, technical, academic)  to collection of lexical resources: user selects and configures to meet individual needs And: most data should still be free

7. Worrying fact Encyclopedia Britannica had sales revenues of $650 million in 1990. Then: Encarta (bundled with Windows) Then Wikipedia …

8. How can traditional dictionary producers compete? Google, dictionary.com, wiktionary … Our strengths :  unlimited language resources, powerful analysis tools, linguistic theory  understanding users’ needs & capabilities – more focussed materials

9. Possible scenarios: (1) “enhanced dictionary” Standard version free (supported by advertising), enhanced (premium) version paid-for User-selected parameters, e.g.:  level of difficulty  language (mono/bilingual, toggle translations according to need)  alternative treatments (e.g. in definitions) Link to additional data, e.g. general, specialized and learner corpora

10. Possible scenarios: (2) “embedded dictionary” Not so much a stand-alone resource More a “service” – available to users within another environment (e.g. online learning platforms)

11. Possible scenarios: (3) not a dictionary at all Why do dictionaries exist? They fulfil certain communicative needs – but what if those needs could be met by other means? e.g.  better translation tools  text enhancement/correction tools Still use lexical resources…but in different ways