As many of you will recall, the main thrust of the DicoPro is to develop a Java-based, intranet-savvy version of Dico, the dictionary consultation tool developed by ISSCO which has been running at the University of Geneva for some ten years. This tool provides a uniform interface for online access to a number of mono- and bilingual dictionaries. Ancillary, but no less important activities of the DicoPro consortium include the conversion to SGML of several major reference works of several European publishers (HarperCollins (UK) and Hachette (F)), development of licensing schemes, and evaluation and testing of the system by a number of European translation and documentation companies (L&H Mendez (B), Multilingual Technology (UK), and Xynos (GR)).

The project was launched in April, 1998, and is due to run through October, 1999. Owing to organizational reasons, the European Commission's mid-term review was held at month six, slightly earlier than customary, but the reviewers were positive about the progress the project had made and its continuation was approved.

While various technical issues, such as programming language and display representation, have not proven easy to solve in the rapidly-evolving world of Internet software, the most difficult challenge for the consortium has been devising suitable licensing schemes which both protect the significant intellectual property rights of the dictionary publishers and do not overly impede end-user ease and functionality.

In order to access users' needs, a survey was undertaken this past fall, and it has generated some interesting results. A first survey went out to 215 targeted addressees. Of these, 19 were completed and returned, i.e. approx. 9%. An additional 27 were received on the DicoPro Website. Given the high percentage of independent translators replying—a professional group that is not targeted by the DicoPro project—an additional phone survey was launched to 20 companies in France, Belgium and the UK in order to get more input from the corporate market.

The following conclusions are common for both survey rounds:

1. The dictionary market continues to be overwhelmingly dominated by paper dictionaries. CD-ROMs are only used on a small scale (predominantly by independent translators, but also in translation departments of companies).
2. Intranet is not there yet. It is either confused with the Internet (especially in the case of independent translators) or scarcely/not at all available within the company.
3. There is a clear interest in the DicoPro subject, but at the same time some skepticism about its potential to be accepted as an alternative to paper dictionaries.
4. Most respondents do not have a clear idea about acceptable pricing. In general, the current cost of paper dictionaries seems to be the main reference (but there are exceptions).

Obvious differences between independent translators and corporate users, confirmed by the second survey round, are as follows:

1. Preferred licensing method: independent translators prefer individual subscriptions or usage-based pricing, while corporations' preference goes to subscriptions or site licenses, mainly because of budgeting practices.
2. Independent translators are much more interested in specialized dictionaries than in general language dictionaries. Corporate users tend to attach about equal importance to both types, given that not only language professionals would be using the service (although most company respondents mention that the language/translation department would be the prime user community).

The goal of the DicoPro project is to devise and implement a number of viable licensing schemes, based on the above findings, with the hope of creating a "generic" server platform suitable for various kinds of users. The current scope of the project is limited to intranets, largely in order to limit the variety of complex issues to be dealt with, but it is envisaged that the DicoPro software will continue to evolve beyond the 18-month span of the project and eventually become suitable for Internet-based dictionary applications as well.

The consortium plans to have a demonstrable version of the client ready by the beginning of March. The DicoPro web site will have both screenshots as well as a downloadable Java version.

More information about DicoPro can be obtained via:

• http://www.issco.unige.ch/dicopro_public/, or
• e-mail: dicopro@issco.unige.ch