The Linguist's Shoebox

You will get better results from the time you spend on the computer, if you carefully file your data as you enter it.

• Categorizing data items is a fundamental part of analysis—determining whether things are considered the same or different within the scope under scrutiny. Well-organized categories are also an essential part of effective data management. Researchers should continually refine the categories as they grow in their understanding of the language and culture.
• Indexing provides additional ways to retrieve data items and to discover patterns in the data. For example, the traditional way to index the books in a library is by author, title, and subject.
• Cross-referencing links data items that are closely related. For example, dictionaries and encyclopedias include See also references to related entries.

Of course, these activities are not mutually exclusive—they will blend together naturally as you use the computer to manage and analyze field data. Here are some field markers that you can use in three kinds of Shoebox databases:

	Categorize	Index	Cross-reference
Anthropology	\anth Anthropology category \type Type of data	\date Date observed \loc Location \rscr Researcher \srce Source	\cf Cross-reference
Lexicon	\anth Anthropology category \pd Paradigm (e.g., noun class) \ps, \pn Part of speech \sd Semantic domain \th Thesaurus	\bw Borrowed word (loan) \ge, \gn, \gr Gloss \lf Lexical function label \re, \rn, \rr "Reversal" (finderlist)	\cf Cross-reference \lv Lexical function value \mn Main entry cross-reference \mr Morphology \rf Reference (to text example)
Text	\anth Anthropology category \p Part of speech	\g Gloss	\m "Morpheme breaks"