8.0070 Workshop: The Future of the Dictionary (1/199)
Elaine Brennan (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Tue, 21 Jun 1994 22:59:35 EDT
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 8, No. 0070. Tuesday, 21 Jun 1994.
Date: Fri, 17 Jun 1994 11:22:44 --100
From: Ted.Briscoe@xerox.fr (Ted Briscoe)
Subject: Workshop Anouncement
`THE FUTURE OF THE DICTIONARY'
A workshop co-sponsored by Rank Xerox European Research
Centre (Grenoble) and ESPRIT BR Project Acquilex-II.
17-19 October 1994
Grand Hotel
Uriage-les-Bains
Nr. Grenoble, France
CALL FOR PAPERS, SOFTWARE/PRODUCT DEMONSTRATIONS AND PARTICIPATION
With the widespread introduction of computational techniques in
traditional lexicography and the growing development in lexical tools
for computational applications, the "dictionary" is becoming an
increasingly heterogeneous notion. The object of this conference is to
try to discern some pattern in the various visions of the dictionary
of the future that are beginning to emerge. How will the conventional
dictionary be changed through the use of computerized textual corpora,
lexical databases, and other new compiling tools? How will it respond
to new forms of publication that technology makes available: CD-ROM,
handheld devices (e.g. PDAs), vastly expanded electronic networking
infrastructure (the information `superhighway'), and so forth, which
make possible new ways of displaying, distributing, and updating
lexical information?
At the same time, we want to know how the notion of the dictionary
will change once it is thought of, not primarily as a reference tool
in which users can look up meanings or other kinds of lexical
information, but as a tool to aid in systems developed for
machine-aided translation, information retrieval, software
"localization," spelling and grammar checkers, and so on. At present,
the use of machine-readable versions of conventional printed
dictionaries in the development of these systems seems to imply that
many people think of them as extensions or emendations of the
conventional dictionary, but it is fair to ask whether over the course
of time these lexical tools may develop in ways that make them wholly
different from the human user-oriented works that have shaped the
concept of the dictionary. At the limit, we may ask whether "the
dictionary" has any future at all as a coherent category, or whether
we will wind up with an array of distinct tools and texts that have
little more than the name "dictionary" in common.
To address these questions, this workshop aims to bring together
lexicographers, linguists and computing professionals from both
industry and academia, including people working in (computational)
lexicography, (computational) linguistics and artificial intelligence,
as well as in the commercial production of conventional and
`electronic' dictionaries, and of machine-aided translation and other
software systems containing a natural language processing
component. We are asking participants to provide not simply a report
of current research and development or market conditions that may bear
on dictionaries or lexical tools, but an articulated vision of how
continuing developments will shape the future of these tools, and what
steps we must take to realize these visions. We ask participants, too,
to speak to the question of what relations there will be among the
various "dictionaries" that are likely to emerge, as well as between
practictioners in the various fields -- lexicography, linguistics,
computer science, and so forth -- who will be engaged in making them.
The workshop will attempt to provide participants with an up-to-date
survey of the both research and commercial activity uniting
lexicography and dictionary-making with linguistic software
development and research through six (1 hour) presentations, and via
papers and software demonstrations selected from those proposed by
prospective participants.
*********
Preliminary Programme and Schedule:
Monday (17 Oct)
9.00 Opening (5min) +
Geoff Nunberg (Research Scientist, Xerox Palo Alto Research Center)
Title: The Past and Future of the Dictionary
10.15 -11.15 Outside papers
Coffee break
11.30
Paul Procter (Senior Lexicographer CUP)
Title: The Cambridge Language Survey
12.15 Lunch break
14.00 -- 14.30 Outside Paper
14.30
Session: Representing Information about Words
Bran Boguraev (Manager NLP Lab, Apple Computers)
Title: Lexical Semantics via Knowledge Representation
Ted Briscoe (Advanced Research Fellow, University of Cambridge)
Title: From Lexical Database to Lexical Knowledge Base
16.15 Tea Break
16.45 -- 18.15 3 Outside Papers
18.15 -- 19.30 Software Demonstrations
20.30 Dinner
Tuesday (18 Oct)
9.00 -11.00 4 Outside papers
Coffee break
11.30
Jean Veronis (Universite de Provence)
Title: From dictionaries to knowledge bases... and back.
12.15 Lunch break
14.00 -- 14.30 Outside Paper
14.30
Session: Multilingual Aspects of Lexical Database Development
Annie Zaenen (Area Manager MLTT, Rank Xerox Research Centre)
Title: The Compass Project
[Speaker to be confirmed]
16.15 Tea Break
16.30 -- 18.30 4 Outside Papers
18.30 -- 19.30 Software Demonstrations
20.30 Dinner
Wednesday (19th Oct)
9.00 -- 12.30 Acquilex-II Project Review Presentations (all welcome)
14.00 -- 16.00 Acquilex-II Project Formal Review (Closed Session)
14.00 -- 16.00 Round Table / Open Discussion (Organiser, Annie
Zaenen): `Future of Collaboration on Dictionary Development'
16.00 -- 17.30 Site Visit and Software Demonstration (RXRC, Grenoble
Laboratory)
End of workshop
***********************
IF YOU WISH TO PARTICIPATE, PLEASE SEND US A FEW LINES OUTLINING YOUR
EXPERIENCE, OR SEND US A 1000-2000 WORD ABSTRACT FOR A TALK, OR SEND US
A SIMILAR LENGTH DESCRIPTION OF A SOFTWARE / PRODUCT DEMONSTRATION YOU
WOULD LIKE TO OFFER. DEADLINE 19th AUGUST 1994.
(Please indicate the resources you would require for presentations.)
CONTRIBUTORS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO WRITE AN ABSTRACT OF
APPROXIMATELY 1000 WORDS IF THEIR PAPER IS ACCEPTED AND TO PRODUCE A
WRITTEN VERSION OF THEIR PAPERS AFTER THE WORKSHOP FOR SUBSEQUENT
PUBLICATION IN AN EDITED VOLUME.
ENGLISH WILL BE THE LANGUAGE OF THE WORKSHOP.
**********************
There is no registration fee. All participants will receive a book of
abstracts. The cost of the accommodation and all meals will be 2200
FF. (Sunday night until Wednesday afternoon inclusive.) Contributors'
accommodation and meals will be paid for by the co-sponsors.
Participants will be invited by the organising committee on a
`first-come-first-served' basis up to the workshop limit of 35,
subject to appropriate experience and research interests.
Contributions will be selected by the organising committee on the
basis of the quality and relevance of the submitted abstracts and
contributors will be notified by 31st August 1994 and asked to submit
an extended abstract by 30th September 1994.
THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE
Sue Atkins
Ted Briscoe
Nicoletta Calzolari
Jean Veronis
Annie Zaenen
PLEASE SEND RESPONSES TO: briscoe@xerox.fr