The development of dictionaries in China is not only a record of history, but also a reflection of knowledge management in different times in China. In the 21st century, under the background of the digital age and the convergence media era, traditional printed-dictionaries are undergoing changes.
Chu Zexiang, deputy director of the Dictionary Compilation Research Center of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that at present, the use of dictionaries has changed greatly with the development of modern information technology. Features such as portability, convenience, fastness, and multi-media are the basic needs of dictionary users. We are about to enter the 5G era characterized by supercomputers, ultra-large-scale storage, and ultra-high-speed connections, which has opened up a window of opportunity for the development of dictionaries in convergence media era.
Li Yuming, president of Chinese Dictionary Society, believes that with the popularity of mobile Internet and the rapid development of language intelligence technology, people's dictionary checking habits have undergone major changes. Printed dictionaries have been unable to meet user needs, and dictionaries in electronic form and convergence media form are the general trend. Its essential characteristics are the integration of different media, the integration between editors and users and the integration of dictionaries and related resources.
Feng Haixia, a professor of Ludong University, said that a series of dictionaries such as "Encyclopedia of China", "Ci Hai", "Xinhua Dictionary", "Modern Chinese Dictionary", and "English-Chinese Dictionary" have been launched or are developing digital version and online version. "Modern Chinese Dictionary" launched an APP on August 22, 2019.
In Li Yuming's view, promoting the development of printed dictionaries to digital dictionaries is the era mission of dictionaries workers, which will also revolutionize the way people use dictionaries. Digital dictionaries can develop "smart check" functions. Multimedia check, automatic translation and other technologies will be applied to smart check, which will revolutionize the appearance of dictionaries.
Li Yuming believes that it is necessary to cultivate talents with international influence, introduce innovative theories with international influence, form the unique concept of the Chinese dictionary, and build a widely accepted theory in the world dictionary theory. It is necessary to implement a large-scale national dictionary project and use it as a cultural carrier and cultural memory for people to share.
Kang Shiyong, deputy president of Ludong University, suggested that the compilation and publication of Chinese dictionaries should be viewed from the perspective of industrial development in the future to promote the development of the dictionary industry
Chu Zexiang emphasized that the compilation of dictionaries must adhere to the correct political direction and academic orientation and reflect cultural confidence. Since dictionary is one of the main supporting points for maintaining the security of the common language of the country, it should be highly sensitive to the ideological issues behind the language. It is necessary to strengthen the academic research on the contents of dictionaries, and at the same time, compile the Chinese learning dictionary for foreign students. This is one of the main tasks urgently needed breakthroughs and achievements. Meanwhile, the application of computer technology should be strengthened in the entire process of dictionary design, compilation and publishing. In addition, the mobility, intelligence, self-sufficiency, and openness of dictionaries in convergence media era should be effectively improved taking modernization and intelligence as the goal.