| Abstract: |
At the University of Trier the three most important dictionaries of Middle High German are currently being digitalized in order to be published on CD-ROM as well as in the Internet in the near future. Hyperlinks will provide the potential user with instant access to all articles by reference to a single headword that covers all three dictionaries. An essentially new research feature will be the option of searching for lexicographical information via database, which offers greater flexibility than a simple headword search would do.
Achieving this objective requires the specific encoding of all lexicographically relevant elements within every single entry. In some cases, this process asks for elaborate manual mark-up because certain types of information are implicitly understood by human beings alone, but not by computers. Only then can queries put to a database produce reliable and exhausive answers. In anticipation of potential users' more complex needs, the electronic dictionary will provide a sophisticated classification of all citation-sources according to geographical provenance, chronology and genre. These advanced query-options will provide essentially new insights for those involved in vocabulary studies, metalexicography, and the composition of a new Middle High German dictionary. |