The Linguist's Shoebox

Integrated data management and analysis for the field linguist

Tip

Data links are special jump paths that are similar to hypertext links.

Jumping is a way to integrate various kinds of data and make it quickly available. If a jump path is similar to a hypertext link, it can be set up as a data link in Shoebox. Lexical and anthropology databases contain data fields that cross-reference related records (just as dictionaries and encyclopedias include See also references to related entries). Category fields in observation databases should be linked to topic records in analysis databases (so that you can jump from observations to relevant analyses—and easily check whether they need to be revised). However, there are useful jump paths that should not be data links (e.g., from inflected words in text databases to the corresponding lexemes in lexical databases—because the destination data is not always expected to exist). Here are some examples of data link sources and destinations:

Source		Destination
database	field	database	field
Anthropology notes	\anth Anthropology category	Anthropology analysis	\anth Anthropology topic
	\cf Cross-reference	Anthropology notes	\date Date observed
	\srce Source	Biographies	\name Name
Lexicon	\cf Cross-reference	Lexicon	\lx Lexeme
	\lv Lexical function value
	\mn Main entry cross-reference
	\th Thesaurus
	\rf Reference	Text	\ref Reference number

For more information about these data field markers, read pages 3–6 in the Application Guide for Anthropology and Appendix A in Making Dictionaries.

Index of tips: categories, linking to topics; cross-references; data links; fields, source and destination; jump paths
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