text: We propose an approach to index raster images of dictionary pages which in turn would require very little manual effort to enable direct access to the appropriate pages of the dictionary for lookup. Accessibility is further improved by feedback and crowdsourcing that enables highlighting of the specific location on the page where the lookup word is found, annotation, digitization, and fielded searching. This approach is equally applicable on simple scripts as well as complex writing systems. Using our proposed approach, we have built a Web application called "Dictionary Explorer" which supports word indexes in various languages and every language can have multiple dictionaries associated with it. Word lookup gives direct access to appropriate pages of all the dictionaries of that language simultaneously. The application has exploration features like searching, pagination, and navigating the word index through a tree-like interface. The application also supports feedback, annotation, and digitization features. Apart from the scanned images, "Dictionary Explorer" aggregates results from various sources and user contributions in Unicode. We have evaluated the time required for indexing dictionaries of different sizes and complexities in the Urdu language and examined various trade-offs in our implementation. Using our approach, a single person can make a dictionary of 1,000 pages searchable in less than an hour.
  @cite_3: Computing metaphors have become an integral part of information systems design, yet they are deeply rooted in cultural practices. This paper presents an investigation of the cross-cultural use and usability of such metaphors by studying the library metaphor of digital libraries in the cultural context of the Maori, the indigenous population of New Zealand. The ethnographic study examines relevant features of the Maori culture, their form of knowledge transfer and their use of physical and digital libraries. On this basis, the paper points out why and when the library metaphor fails Maori and other indigenous users, and indicates how this knowledge can contribute to the improvement of future designs.
summary: These three libraries are good sources of scanned images of dictionaries. Mirdeghan conducted a survey to compare the interfaces of these three libraries, which shows that the majority of participants preferred Open Library followed by Google Books @cite_3 . Our interface idea is inspired by the Open Library BookReader interface with extra features specific to dictionary exploration.