[Xerte] Re: Dictionary Web Service

[Alistair McNaught]

This is a road to psychosis and hallucination. Trust me...



From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
[mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Julian Tenney
Sent: 04 February 2011 13:30
To: Xerte discussion list
Subject: [Xerte] Re: Dictionary Web Service



Is there an agreed taxonomy for all words?



From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
[mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Dave Burnett
Sent: 04 February 2011 13:29
To: Xerte list
Subject: [Xerte] Re: Dictionary Web Service




Only way not to make a hash of it.

If the service has an API, could invoke a popup of taxonomy when a word
is selected for application.
Let then pick from the available.
Doesn't exist, let them add it.

________________________________

From: Julian.Tenney at nottingham.ac.uk
To: xerte at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2011 13:22:19 +0000
Subject: [Xerte] Re: Dictionary Web Service

Then you need an agreed taxonomy for all words...



From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
[mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Dave Burnett
Sent: 04 February 2011 13:21
To: Xerte list
Subject: [Xerte] Re: Dictionary Web Service



Maybe the client has to pass or set a global a disambiguation parameter:

programming:constructor

Else they get the whole list.




> From: Julian.Tenney at nottingham.ac.uk
> To: xerte at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
> Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2011 13:11:05 +0000
> Subject: [Xerte] Re: Dictionary Web Service
>
> Quite. You have to do:
>
> Constuctor:
> 1. A man building something
> 2. The function that initiates a class in OOP
>
> Which might render the whole thing useless. Normally my ever-so-simple
ideas don't turn out to be so simple...
>
> The word 'set' for example has 464 definitions...
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
[mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Fred Riley
> Sent: 04 February 2011 12:21
> To: Xerte discussion list
> Subject: [Xerte] Re: Dictionary Web Service
>
> > I don't think the goal ought to be to try and produce a glossary of
> > everything. Relying on existing sources is problematic because often
> > folk want a particular definition, to highlight a particular point,
or
> > to nuance the wording in a particular way. I'm thinking pretty
lo-fi, a
> > database table with maybe as little as two fields 'word' and 'defn'
and
> > some simple methods of adding words and finding defns. Then that
> > content can live outside of the actual content that presents it, and
> > that solves the problem of this stuff living inside pieces of
content,
> > and makes it reusable...
>
> I can see exactly what you're after, but I just don't think it would
be that simple because glossary terms will have different definitions in
different contexts. The term 'constructor', say, means one thing in a
programming sense, another in a built environment sense, and probably
appears in other subjects I know nothing about. Or take 'spin', which
has a specific meaning in quantum physics, another in politics, another
in engineering, and so on. So your database would have to cater for
this. Then you'll have contributors arguing over correct definitions and
you might get 'edit wars' as Wikipedia famously has unless you allow for
multiple definitions by contributor (A says X means Y, but B says X
means Z, etc) and maybe source as you'd not want to not use existing
glossaries. I can see quite a few tables in any database.
>
> I'm not saying it's not feasible, I just don't think it'd be as wash
'n' go as you think. It is desirable, certainly, for the reasons you've
outlined, and as you say would fit in nicely with the uni OER agenda.
>
> Fred
>
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