1995 > THE INTERNET DICTIONARY PROJECT
[Summary] Tyler Chambers first created the Human-Languages Page (H-LP) in May 1994 as an index of language-related internet resources in a number of languages. In 1995, Tyler launched a second project, the Internet Dictionary Project (IDP), as a collaborative project to create free online dictionaries from English to other languages (French, German, Italian, Latin, Portuguese, Spanish). As explained in 1998 on the project's website: "The Internet Dictionary Project's goal is to create royalty-free translating dictionaries through the help of the internet's citizens. This site allows individuals from all over the world to visit and assist in the translation of English words into other languages. The resulting lists of English words and their translated counterparts are then made available through this site to anyone, with no restrictions on their use."
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In 1995, Tyler Chambers launched the Internet Dictionary Project
(IDP) as a collaborative project to create free online
dictionaries from English to other languages (French, German,
Italian, Latin, Portuguese, Spanish).
Before launching the Internet Dictionary Project, Tyler created the Human-Languages Page (H-LP) in May 1994 as an index of linguistic internet resources. In 1998, there were 1,800 language- related resources in 100 languages, with six subject listings (languages and literature, schools and institutions, linguistics resources, products and services, organizations, jobs and internships) and two category listings (dictionaries, language lessons).
What exactly was the Internet Dictionary Project? As explained in 1998 on the project's website: "The Internet Dictionary Project's goal is to create royalty-free translating dictionaries through the help of the internet's citizens. This site allows individuals from all over the world to visit and assist in the translation of English words into other languages. The resulting lists of English words and their translated counterparts are then made available through this site to anyone, with no restrictions on their use. (…)
The Internet Dictionary Project began in 1995 in an effort to provide a noticeably lacking resource to the internet community and to computing in general — free translating dictionaries. Not only is it helpful to the online community to have access to dictionary searches at their fingertips via the World Wide Web, it also sponsors the growth of computer software which can benefit from such dictionaries — from translating programs to spelling- checkers to language-education guides and more. By facilitating the creation of these dictionaries online by thousands of anonymous volunteers all over the internet, and by providing the results free-of-charge to anyone, the Internet Dictionary Project hopes to leave its mark on the internet and to inspire others to create projects which will benefit more than a corporation's gross income."
Tyler wrote in September 1998 in an email interview: "Multilingualism on the web was inevitable even before the medium 'took off', so to speak. 1994 was the year I was really introduced to the web, which was a little while after its christening but long before it was mainstream. That was also the year I began my first multilingual web project, and there was already a significant number of language-related resources online. This was back before Netscape even existed — Mosaic was almost the only web browser, and webpages were little more than hyperlinked text documents. As browsers and users mature, I don't think there will be any currently spoken language that won't have a niche on the web, from Native American languages to Middle Eastern dialects, as well as a plethora of 'dead' languages that will have a chance to find a new audience with scholars and others alike online. (…)
While I'm not multilingual, nor even bilingual, myself, I see an importance to language and multilingualism that I see in very few other areas. (…) Overall, I think that the web has been great for language awareness and cultural issues — where else can you randomly browse for 20 minutes and run across three or more different languages with information you might potentially want to know? (…)
To say that the internet is spurring multilingualism is a bit of a misconception, in my opinion — it is communication that is spurring multilingualism and cross-cultural exchange, the internet is only the latest mode of communication which has made its way down to the (more-or-less) common person. (…) Language will become even more important than it already is when the entire planet can communicate with everyone else (via the web, chat, games, email, and whatever future applications haven't even been invented yet)."