Corpus-Based Word Information Systems for the German Language on the Internet: Aspects of Usability and Applicability in the Focus of Scholarly Needs

In this paper I will describe usage possibilities of two major lexicological resources for the German language on the internet. The two databases in my focus will be the elexiko-project by the IdS (=Institute for the German Language), Mannheim, and the DWDS-project by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Letters & Sciences. Both items are corpus-based and by self-definition claim to be comprehensive word information systems of German. Eventually, I would like to put the user perspective on a scholarly level and I will try to pursue the view of a professional user – in this case a linguist and/or German philologist. I will apply two fairly simple and straightforward search-queries derived from linguistic research to both resources. Thereby, first, I will try to show what kind of material and information can be obtained from both databases in their present state. Second, an attempt to summarize the specifics to be fulfilled in order to meet the needs of a professional in like databases will be made and a conclusion in the form of some statements will be given of what can be expected from web-based word-information-systems, what can – and what should – be provided to embrace the needs of the professional user. Hitherto, aspects of the (professional) usability of web-based lexicographical/lexicological databases have not been examined widely; I will stress on the importance of the anticipation of user-needs and the application of user typology for the design and concept of such projects.