Chapter 27 - Organizing Dictionary Projects

Summary

This chapter examines how to manage a dictionary project, beginning with the vital preparatory tasks needed before the project proper can commence: budget approval, headword selection, entry structure and style guide preparation, staff recruitment and more. It then looks at the main phases in a typical dictionary project – entry compilation, translation if applicable, editing and publication – and at how these phases can be translated into a work plan. The latter involves categorizing and grouping the entries, creating work batches, accurately estimating the work effort involved, setting target dates and building the team. The chapter then looks at how the project progress can be monitored, in terms of both quantitative output and quality. An important aspect of this is maximizing efficiency through the use of software tools, statistical analysis, and entry layouts. Finally the chapter looks at select other tasks in a dictionary project: testing the apps, adapting to changing technologies and user behavior, and planning dictionary maintenance.