The effect of online resources, crowdsourcing and social media influence on language will be debated at the University of Sussex as the latest School of English Colloquium examines the future of the dictionary.
‘Who Needs Dictionaries in 2016?’ will be held in Jubilee 144 on Wednesday 7 December at 5pm and the guest speaker will be Michael Rundell, lexicographer, linguist and editor-in-chief of macmillandictionary.com. The event is free to attend and does not require a ticket.
Michael will be addressing how dictionaries can still be relevant in the digital age, and how lexicographers can harness a better understanding of language and technological innovation to ensure that the dictionaries of tomorrow are more accurate than ever before.
“Thanks to our increased understanding of how language works and our access to powerful new technologies, we are now able to describe languages more fully and more accurately than ever before”, says Michael.
“If dictionaries are to remain relevant, we need to consider such vital questions as how we decide what goes into the dictionary if online space is unlimited; who will pay for the upkeep of dictionaries if they are free to access; and what part crowdsourcing, data visualisation and language technology might play in future.”
A dictionary editor since 1980, Michael is a leader in the field of English pedagogical dictionaries. Before his role at Macmillan Dictionaries, he was Managing Editor at Longman Dictionaries (1984–97) and Editorial Director of the Database of Analysed Texts in English (DANTE) project (2007–10).