1. Collecting and glossing words

SIL has developed an innovative method for accomplishing the first step in the Dictionary Development Process in a fraction of the time that has been traditionally required, telescoping years of work into weeks, or even days. For this reason, this method has been dubbed Rapid Word Collection (RWC). The RWC formula, if adhered to in every detail, includes typing the collected words into a FLEx¹ database and results in a minimum of 10,000 lexical items in only two weeks; this includes words, compounds, and idiomatic expressions, some of them in duplicate, since the most common words are associated with multiple semantic domains.

When fully processed, the raw data collected via the RWC methodology yields entries that equal approximately 60-65% of the number of words collected. More details about RWC are available on the website dedicated to it: RapidWords.net.

1 A tool that was commonly used in the past is Toolbox . The Send/Receive feature does not work with Toolbox, and SIL’s Dictionary & Lexicography Services (DLS) team does not support Toolbox. However, DLS has a team of specialists who import Toolbox databases into FLEx, allowing those who began work on a dictionary in Toolbox to continue to enjoy full support of their efforts as they pursue the goal of publication. Here is a link to the form for requesting help.