SIL International Media Release

SIL FieldWorks 5.0—Language and Cultural Research Software

Dictionary View

Tools to edit multiple lexical entries in a single operation

Data Notebook

(January 2008) SIL FieldWorks is a software suite that helps researchers to manage language and cultural data from the initial collection stage to the publication of dictionaries, text collections and grammars. Acclaimed by field researchers, FieldWorks is currently being used in small- to medium-sized dictionary projects at several universities. The new release, version 5.0, improves existing features and pioneers new features not found in other software.

Innovative features

a mode to enter vocabulary organized according to semantic domain
tools to edit multiple lexical entries in a single operation

New with version 5.0

ability to produce stem-based and root-based dictionaries from a single database
ability to interlinearize phrases
ability to filter a text corpus
partial French interface
Windows Vista compatibility

Improved features

expanded concordance capabilities
more export formats
ability to tailor the display of data in many available views

Contents of FieldWorks 5.0 suite

Language Explorer 2.0, a major application for analyzing language data and managing a lexicon and text corpus
Data Notebook 2.8, a data management application for cultural field work
WorldPad 2.8, a simple text editor using the Graphite rendering engine for complex scripts

The goal of FieldWorks development has been to combine the best features of previous software by designing applications that are easy to learn and yet have the power to support professional research and publication. Distributed as freeware, FieldWorks supports Unicode 5.0, complex scripts, multi-user networking, custom fields and views of the lexicon as a dictionary or as a semantic domain classified index. A morphological grammar sketch can be produced with one click; assimilating data from the lexicon and grammar areas of the relational database.