The article briefly discusses the primary objectives, intended goals, and main content of the planned academic encyclopedias «Volga Bulgaria» and «Golden Horde». These initiatives aim to address the spiritual demands of the progressive part of our society, who are interested in the history and culture of our Homeland and the peoples living here. Moreover, the encyclopedias are designed to provide comprehensive reference material regarding the history, culture, and geography of Volga Bulgaria and the Golden Horde.
The article focuses on approaches to ensuring the reliability of information in open online encyclopedias using the example of the Russian Internet encyclopedia Ruwiki. In an information society where the volume of information is constantly growing, it becomes important to ensure its reliability without compromising openness and freedom of expression.
The online encyclopedia Ruwiki, based on Wikipedia, is distinguished by enhanced measures to ensure the accuracy of the content. Unlike Wikipedia, which relies on anonymous authors and verifiability through authoritative sources, Ruwiki undergoes rigorous editorial review and peer review of its content, making the encyclopedia a trusted resource, especially in demand for educational purposes such as preparing students for state exams.
This review examines the encyclopedic dictionary “Modern History (global and Romanian)”, published in Chisinau in 2023. The reference book contains over 2300 encyclopedia entries dedicated to significant events, phenomena, processes, and prominent figures of the 20th and 21st centuries. The reviewed work rightfully pays significant attention to the history of Bessarabia, the Moldavian ASSR, the Moldavian SSR, and the Republic of Moldova. However, there is a considerable amount of information related to Ukraine. This review delves into the dictionary’s coverage of Ukraine, highlighting encyclopedia entries on the state, key figures, some globally known tragic events, and the country’s complex historical trajectory.
The article explores the use of texts from online encyclopedias, such as Wikipedia and RUWIKI, for training and query processing by artificial neural networks (ANNs) of large language models (LLMs). The focus is on the relevance and quality of training datasets, as well as issues related to the accuracy and bias of generated responses.
ANNs based on the “transformer” architecture exhibit exceptional capabilities in various natural language processing tasks. However, there are several limitations, including hallucination problems, where models generate nonexistent or false statements. These issues can be attributed to the quality of training datasets, model training features, and query processing.
Encyclopedias, especially Wikipedia, are widely used for training ANNs due to their openness and structured information. However, despite their multilingualism and accessibility, Wikipedia articles often exhibit significant quality variability, complicating the training process and increasing the risk of hallucinations.
As a supplement to the existing datasets, the use of RUWIKI, a new online encyclopedia in the languages of the peoples of Russia, is proposed. RUWIKI is being created with the participation of experts and focuses on information accuracy. RUWIKI articles undergo thorough verification and annotation, contributing to improved training dataset quality and reduced risk of hallucinations.
Other projects, such as the “Ark of Knowledge” and the online edition of the Great Russian Encyclopedia (GRE), are also mentioned, aimed at creating accurate and systematic information bases.
The article emphasizes the importance of creating regional online encyclopedias to improve training dataset quality and reduce legal risks when using LLMs. This will enhance the accuracy and relevance of ANN responses, which is especially important for users in various regions and languages.
This article deals with the complexities of possessive pronouns in the Ukrainian language, with a particular emphasis on their practical application in editing, especially for encyclopedia entries. The author conducts a thorough analysis of the semantic and syntactic features of these pronouns, revealing how their meanings can extend beyond the traditional notion of ownership to encompass a wider range of semantic nuances, such as characteristics, properties, and relationships. By examining a variety of linguistic contexts, the study illuminates the versatility of possessive pronouns in Ukrainian and provides valuable insights for editors and language learners alike.
The mastery of English as an international language can be the main key to face some substantial challenges in this era. However, the difficulty in mastering English is such a big problem for learners, some learners still often encounter errors in learning English. One of the factors caused errors in English is a contrast from one language to another in which there are various differences and similarities, especially in the language structures or syntax. Based on the problem, for further studying English grammar needs to analyze its inherent characteristics. This study aims to identify and analyze the similarities and differences between English grammar and Nahwu, as the language structure of Arabic. This study is a qualitative descriptive research. The data was gathered through library research. The instruments used are books, journals, encyclopedias, periodicals, papers, and articles providing data related to the topics of this study. Analysis contrastive was used to evaluate for correctness, applicability, and dependability of the acquired data, which was then described and analyzed to form of conclusions. The finding showed that there are several similarities and differences between 1) part of speech, word classification in English and in Arabic called as kalimah (كلمة). 2) English Tenses and the use of fi’il in Arabic syntax or nahwu. There are eight categories of part of speech in English and three categories of kalimah (كلمة) in Arabic. Part of speech consists of: noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, adjective, preposition, conjunction dan interjection. Then kalimah (كلمة) in Arabic has isim (إسم), fi’il (فعل) and huruf (حرف). Amount of every categories are different due to the different categories used.
Language. Linguistic theory. Comparative grammar, Theory and practice of education
A previous study reported that “kirakira name (both in katakana)” and “DQN name (DQN in capital alphabet and name in katakana)” were the most frequent notations in representative dictionaries and encyclopedias. However, it explored only dictionaries and encyclopedias, which made it unclear whether the same pattern was found in other media. Therefore, this study examined variations of notations and their frequencies of usage in mass media and academic community by analyzing newspapers and academic literature. Results showed that consistent with dictionaries and encyclopedias, “kirakira name (both in katakana)” and “DQN name (DQN in capital alphabet and name in katakana)” were the most frequent notations and similar notations were rarely used. In contrast, in newspapers, to avoid negative nuances, “DQN name (DQN in capital alphabet and name in katakana)” and its similar notations were never used. Moreover, to reduce the numbers of letters and sounds, abbreviated notations of “kirakira name (both in katakana)” were sometimes used. Understanding these differences by medium enables us to clarify the meaning and function of kirakira name and DQN name and efficiently use different methods to search and mention them depending on medium.
There are some studies that analyze definitions of the term “suicide” in academic works, as well as in generalist dictionaries and encyclopedias in several languages, but there still seems to be no investigation focused on specialized dictionaries and encyclopedias (SDEs) on this topic. Hence the general objective of this study was to describe the suicide SDEs available in the literature. To accomplish this purpose, a basic, quantitative, qualitative, descriptive, bibliographical and documental method was used. The 12 criteria proposed by John Humbley in 2018 for the analysis of SDEs were determined as the main theoretical foundation. From 2017 to 2022, through an integrative review in 6 languages and 4 databases, 8 SDEs were excluded. The 4 included ones were 2 dictionaries and 2 encyclopedias published between 2003 and 2016, 3 in English and 1 in Spanish. One of the most relevant findings was the fact that the SDEs examined try to address the various aspects of this object, instead of adopting a reductionist perspective. However, as only 4 books were analyzed, it was not possible to identify a clear pattern about all 12 criteria and all 4 sources. For example, it is not known which terms would be more feasible to include in a work of this nature nor the optimal way to predicate them. Even so, this paper is a relevant contribution to the studies on language and suicide, providing elements for the evolution of dictionaries and encyclopedias specialized on this binomial.
While using the encyclopedia concept as a guide, it has been shown the way in which the increasingly rapid growth of knowledge, created by the worldwide communication, leads to entirely new problems. The science as a collective enterprise is splitting off from the individuals and leveling down their education. There doesnt exist a single scientist, being acquainted with the whole knowledge accumulated in the discipline. The knowledge quantity rate proves that there are problems while carrying out the knowledge overview and systematization. As a result, traditional encyclopedias are becoming increasingly outdated. This process may be understood by the means of Georg Simmels thesis on the alienation of objective and subjective culture. The present article presents some brief reactions to this problem.
<strong>SUMMARY</strong> Based on examples from articles published over more than two centuries in Russian dictionaries and encyclopedias, as well as in documents of a number of international organizations, the gradual evolution of the concept of "botanical garden" (BS) is discussed. The analysis showed that initially the commonly used ("everyday") phrase "botanical garden" entered the circulation and only later it was transformed into the corresponding term, which over time underwent inevitable changes. In contrast to biological diversity, “terminological diversity” significantly slows down the solution of a number of problems, whether it is writing scientific publications, developing international programs or improving environmental legislation. In order to streamline the noted diversity, to identify and clearly outline the distinctive features of seemingly similar objects, we have compiled a classification of gardens and given definitions for each of their groups. So, for BG, the following definition is proposed: Scientific and educational / botanical garden is a land plot used for long-term cultivation (mainly for scientific and / or educational purposes) of documented plant samples placed taking into account their systematic position, geographical origin and / or participation in a particular phytocenosis. Since, however, the ideas about the tasks of the BG in the historical perspective continue to change, the task of improving the terminological "baggage", apparently, will never lose its relevance.
The article considers directions of the agrarian modernization as presented in the four editions of the Soviet agricultural encyclopedia from the mid-1920s to the mid-1950s. On the basis of some historical examples and theoretical concepts, the author explains the scientific, ideological and political significance of encyclopedias in the formation of social knowledge and ideology; shows how during the Stalinist period, the Soviet agricultural encyclopedias passed through several successive great leaps in the representation of agrarian knowledge under the accelerated Soviet modernization; stresses the manipulative way of managing agrarian knowledge and human capital in agriculture - on behalf of the leader and ruling party. The article describes the transition from the first Soviet encyclopedia of the 1920s, which focused on the modernization of peasant Russia, to the encyclopedia of the early 1930s, which denied the importance of the peasantry and praised the projects of large-scale industrial-agricultural production; many authors of the first peasant encyclopedia were repressed. The encyclopedia of the late 1930s reflects the fight against the authors of the previous encyclopedia of the great leap and the purges in the name of the ideology of the planning-management approach in the further modernization of Soviet agriculture. The encyclopedia of the late 1940s - early 1950s reflects the victory of the technocratic-bureaucratic worldview and personnel approach to the agrarian sphere, which prevailed in the agriculture of the USSR until the very end of the Soviet era. The author focuses on the influence of the subjective factor (political leaders, editors-in-chief and anonymous authors) on the ideology, topics and style of encyclopedic articles. In conclusion, the author notes that the strong ideological control and volatile political situation distorted knowledge in the Soviet agrarian encyclopedias, which negatively affected the quality of rural human capital and largely predetermined the stagnation of rural development in the late USSR.
The paper traces the development of digital encyclopedias through four main stages: 1. The age of the first text-based online services; 2. the age of multimedia CD-ROMs, mainly based on the idea of an offline multimedia encyclopedia; 3. the first generation of web encyclopedias, when the web version initially supplemented and then thoroughly replaced CD-ROMs; 4. the age of data oriented, semantic-aware encyclopedias. This chronological framework is used to discuss how different models of encyclopedias and encyclopedism – including the Wikipedia model – have been intertwined with technological developments on the one side, and with the cultural debate on the new digital ecosystem (and on its role for the publishing industry) on the other.
Bibliography. Library science. Information resources
О. Г. Томчаковський, Ю. О. Томчаковська, К. В. Лесневська
The article is devoted to the study of the theoretical premises of studying polycode dictionary entries in English learner’s lexicography. Learning any foreign language is unthinkable without the use of a variety of information resources: textbooks, reference books, encyclopedias and, first of all, dictionaries. The communicative specificity of learner’s dictionaries consists in their targeting to a clear segment of the readership. These are non-native speakers of English, studying it as a foreign language and living outside the area of its functioning, and, therefore, outside the situational context. The features of users to whom learner’s dictionaries are addressed determine the content and presentation of lexicographic material, which is aimed primarily at expanding the vocabulary of the reader and, moreover, familiarizing him more closely with the culture of English-speaking society. Lexicographers note that every user of the dictionary faces three problems: how to find the right information; how to understand it (comprehend) and how to apply what you understood. The history of the creation of educational dictionaries of the English language begins in the middle of the twentieth century. The main task of a lexicographic article in an explanatory dictionary is to provide a certain amount of information necessary for the reader to adequately understand a particular word of interest. To solve this problem, compilers of dictionaries resort to using both typesetting and pictorial non-verbal communication means. A polycode lexicographic article is a combination of two definitions of the same sememe, which are made with signs of two different semiotic systems: symbolic (linguistic) and iconic (pictographic).
Ali asghar Pourezzat, Afsaneh Dehghanpour Farashah, tayyebeh abbasi
Purpose: Ultra-time teams, being capable of conducting great and long-term deeds, have significant impact on the development of production capacity and knowledge management. Correspondingly, encyclopedias are considered valuable knowledge assets due to their influence in education, research, and culture of scientific communities. It is worth noting that composing such large scale and up to date encyclopedias runs beyond one human generation; therefore, utilizing collaborative work group running beyond one generation is necessary for developing a long-living encyclopedia. Hence, this study aims at compiling the prerequisites and qualifications associated with a formal ultra-time team whose purpose would be development of an online, comprehensive, long-standing, reliable, and ultra-time encyclopedia dealing with Imam Ali’s (AS) original life manifestations, personality, speeches and guidance. Methodology: Based on the subject’s nature, the research was carried out in a qualitative manner. Moreover, the research experts’ community comprised individuals who were experienced and well-versed in compilation and publication of encyclopedias and dictionaries or designing work teams. Among the research experts’ community, 12 people were selected in a snowball manner and were interviewed. The texts of the interviews were regularly coded and analyzed by means of Thematic Analysis method. Finally, the related concepts and themes were extracted from them. Findings: The themes obtained from the gathered data were distinguished in terms of 10 main and 50 sub themes and were organized in theme map. Originality: Considering the necessity for compiling an online encyclopedia by means of ultra-time teams, this study enjoys specific novelty.
Information theory, Bibliography. Library science. Information resources
The personological study is dedicated to Kostiantyn Breslavets who is the author of the articles of the Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine and coordinator of this work, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.
Encyclopedias present and contain knowledge, but historically they have also been commercial commodities, produced for sale. In this article, we study the self-presentations of a selection of Norwegian encyclopedias, as these are expressed in the form of commercial images, advertising texts and slogans. We thus present a brief but detailed study of what might be called a number of paratextual matters associated with 20th-century Norwegian encyclopedias, with the aim of identifying the most significant or recurring topoi in the material. Our analysis shows that claims about speed and modernization are among the most conspicuous ingredients in these self-presentations, claims which, we argue, feed into a particular logic of a particular version of 20th-century modernity. The article begins with an analysis of the commercially successful Konversationslexicon, the first Norwegian encyclopedia, published in 1906 and for a long time market leader of the bourgeois tradition. The Konversationslexicon was produced with the explicit aim of providing a source of conversation for the educated classes, a new and expanding group of readers. We also show how the publisher Aschehoug went on to strengthen its own position in this market through a sophisticated process of differentiation. Seen as a contrast to these market leaders, we explore the Norwegian tradition of counter-encyclopaedias, with the radical PaxLeksikon as our main example. This encyclopaedia came into existence as a result of a strong ideological motivation and was run by left-wing idealists. Nevertheless, and perhaps inevitably, it ended up situating itself within the same market mechanisms and the same commercial logic as the bourgeois encyclopaedias. The article ends by a brief consideration of the change from commercial print encyclopaedias to internet-based encyclopaedias, and of the new challenges this poses in a small nation, rhetorically and in the struggle for funding.
Objective – To examine first-year college students’ information seeking behaviours and determine whether their mental models of the search process influence their ability to effectively search for and find scholarly materials.
Design – Mixed methods including contextual inquiry, concept mapping, observation, and interviews.
Setting – University of Baltimore, a public institution in Maryland, United States of America, offering undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees.
Subjects – A total of 21 first-year undergraduate students, ages 16 to 19 years, undertaking research assignments for which they chose to use online resources.
Methods – First-year students were recruited in the fall of 2008 and met with the researcher in a university usability lab for about one hour over a three week period. The researcher observed and videotaped the students as they conducted research in their chosen search engines or article databases. The searches were captured using software, and students were encouraged to think aloud about their research process, search strategies, and anticipated search results. Observation sessions concluded with a 10-question interview incorporating a review of the keywords the student used, the student’s reflection on the success of his or her searches, and possible alternate keywords. The interview also offered prompts to help the researcher learn about students’ conceptualizations of search tools’ utilization of keywords to generate results. The researcher then asked the students to provide a visual diagram of the relationship between their search terms and the items retrieved in the search tool.
Data were analyzed by identifying the 21 different search tools used by the students and categorizing all 210 searches and student diagrams for further analysis. A scheme similar to Guinee, Eagleton, and Hall’s (2003) characterized the student searches into four categories: simple single-term searches, topic plus focus searches, phrase searches, and advanced searches employing multiple Boolean operators. Students’ diagrams were put into three different groups: process view, hierarchical view, and network view. The researcher then analyzed the relationships between the students’ search behaviours and their mental models to develop further conclusions.
Main Results – Analysis revealed that this population of students had a limited mental model of the search process and used narrow sets of fairly simple search strategies for retrieving information online.
Search engines were used for the majority (61.9%) of total searches and 72.3% of those conducted in search engines were in Google. The majority of students (76%) began their search process with a search engine while other students began searching in online encyclopedias (10%) or online databases (14%). Academic Search Premiere was used for 73.8% of the database searches. Some students (5%) also performed searches in individual websites (6.3%), for an overall total of 224 searches conducted.
Students performed four varieties of searches: simple searches using short phrases conveying a single concept (34% of total searches); topic plus focus searches using a single Boolean AND (30%); phrase searches consisting of multiple-word descriptive phrases or sentence fragments (17.4%); and advanced Boolean searches combining two or more distinct concepts (13.8%). Generally, students used the same search terms and structure whether they were in a search engine or database, particularly with phrase searches. Nearly 71% of the advanced Boolean searches were inappropriately formed, particularly when used in the databases. Of the few students employing Boolean logic beyond a single AND, only two used it correctly, and only one with successful results.
Students were unable to recognize or explain why a search failed or why they got the results they did. They made frequent incorrect use of punctuation, spelling, and syntax, leading to limited or no search results. Students assumed that obtaining few results indicated a problem of keyword choices rather than search query structure. When faced with no results in the databases, they assumed there were no articles on their topics and did not re-evaluate their search queries. Those with unsuccessful Boolean searches did not recognize that their errors were due to logic, and instead changed their keywords or began a new search altogether.
Several students understood keywords as concepts versus literal strings of letters, yet thought the search tools determined search results based solely on what was typed into the search box. Of those employing phrase searches, some believed that each word was queried, while others thought only the “primary terms” were queried. Most students (61%) offered analogies to print resources to explain how search engines process queries, and all the students’ descriptions included their ideas about what a search tool contained, rather than how the search tools organized information.
Attempts to expand or narrow searches were haphazard. While most students (57%) employed the strategy of adding keywords to narrow searches, only a few (11%) recognized the function of this technique and used it regularly, while others tended to return to their original broad searches in a different tool. Some had a limited understanding that adding terms narrows and reducing terms broadens the search, but their Boolean errors negated the use of synonyms or alternative terms for those purposes. Other strategies included using the search tool’s “advanced search” features or quotes, although all who used the latter did so incorrectly and some mistakenly thought parentheses served the same purpose.
All subjects drew representations of their views of the relationship between keywords used and search results retrieved, though few were able to clearly visualize how a search engine processes a query, or address ideas such as expanding or narrowing searches or synonym use. Three categories of diagrams emerged: the process view, hierarchical view, and network view. The process view displayed a task flow diagram. These students demonstrated the least formed mental models and experienced the search tool as a “black box” that gives results, showing little understanding of how they are generated. They performed the fewest overall searches (11.6%), the majority (79%) of which were simple or phrase searches with no use of Boolean operators. The hierarchical view displayed a broad subject with subtopics, or results highlighting specific aspects of the subject. These students performed nearly 30% of the total searches, 17% of which included the use of Boolean logic. The network view displayed models of interconnected terms. These students performed the majority of the searches (58.7%), and also constructed the most sophisticated queries. Many of their searches employed Boolean logic (83%), and 65% were either Boolean or topic plus focus searches. Students with this mental model tended to focus more on the queries themselves than the results received.
Students indicated feelings of success in their searching and were comfortable relying on simple searches retrieving large results sets. While not central to the research design or driving questions, students’ evaluation of search results was observed and found to be weak. Students displayed rapid searching, scanning, and evaluation processes which may have played a role in many of their mistakes when repeating or attempting to correct faulty searches.
Conclusion – The results show students did not have strong conceptual models of the search process or how search queries impacted results, and were often unable to recognize or troubleshoot problems with searches in order to improve results. Students displaying stronger mental models used more complex search strategies, but still performed unsuccessful searches and demonstrated challenges in remedying defective searches. Students skimmed search results quickly, rarely looking beyond the first two pages, and did not take time to evaluate them for topic relevance. The findings suggest that librarians should rethink how Millennial students are taught search strategies and evaluation, to focus more on problem solving or critical thinking. They also suggest that database developers should continue developing search algorithms and tools, considering this population’s conceptualizations of search. Further research on Millennials’ information processing, critical thinking, and evaluation skills in the context of academic work is needed.
Bibliography. Library science. Information resources