Open Dictionary
Dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge

Properties in the Open Dictionary

In a dictionary entry, there may be any number properties associated with each URL. There are also properties associated with each KEY (or synonyms group). See the dictionary submission info page for examples of the syntax.

The eventual purpose of properties is to improve search results at the Open Dictionary. For example, one will be able specify the search to cover only "books", or only materials marked as suitable for undergraduate students. Property-based searching is planned for the next release of the Open Dictionary.

Below are the properties currently supported in the Open Dictionary database:

URL Properties

• TTL (TITLE) - normally the title of the page addressed by the URL. This property is filled in automatically by the server during URL validation, so there is never any need to set it, unless you want to override the site's title.
• DSC (DESCRIPTION) - a summary of the contents of the destination website. If omitted, a sort of description is also generated automatically from the first website page during URL validation. However, much better results are obtained if you provide a description when submitting the URL.
• LVL (LEVEL) - the nominal educational level of the material at the URL. Numbers between 1 and 100 are encouraged.
• LV1 (MIN LEVEL) - the rough minimum level of education addressed by the content at the URL. This number should be 1 or greater. There is no default, and if omitted, there is no assumed minimum level for the URL.
• LV2 (MAX LEVEL) - the rough maximum level of education addressed by the content at the URL. This number should be greater than or equal to LV1, and not larger than 100.

  Note that large "context hubs", or "concept home pages" will normally cover a large range of educational levels. Typically, they will provide a list of links at the outset which visitors can use to route themselves to the appropriate level for their interests.

• TYP (TYPE) - a type classification for the content at the URL. The type is presently arbitrary, and any text is accepted in the dictionary file. Suggested types include:
  • Home Page - for sites giving a top-down, wide-ranging treatment of the context.
  • Links Page - a site offering a comprehensive set of related links.
  • Overview - or perhaps "Summary".
  • Abstract - an unfortunately common case for conference papers and journal articles.
  • Conference Paper - for web (HTML) versions of conference papers.
  • Conference Paper [.PDF] - for downloadable PDF versions of conference papers.
    In general, if the format of the resource is not HTML, such as PDF or PostScript, please include the format type in brackets, as done for the PDF example above. Common format types include:
    • .HTML - Assumed - no need to mention it.
    • .PDF - Adobe's Page Description Format - getting very popular.
    • .PS - PostScript Format - gradually being replaced by PDF.
    • .PS.GZ - Gzip-compressed PostScript Format - gradually being replaced by PDF.
    • .ZIP - Zip Format - often used on Windows machines.
    • .WAV - Soundfile Format - perhaps a recorded lecture?
    • .AVI - Windows "Media Player" Format - perhaps a videotaped lecture?

    There are too many formats to list here, but it is nice to be able to see at a glance the format of the resource. The great majority of resources reachable from the Open Dictionary are standard Web pages in HTML format.

  • Conference Paper Abstract
  • Journal Article Preprint - for web (HTML) versions of articles to be published.
  • Journal Article Preprint [.PDF]
  • Journal Article Abstract
  • Talk Overheads - many authors put their PowerPoint slides on the Web, for example.
  • Course Overheads - many instructors have their course lecture overheads freely available on the Web.
  • Reader - online course reader.
  • Tutorial - online tutorial.
  • Unpublished Article.
  • Book [price] - for a link to a web page selling a book, such as found at amazon.com).
    If you don't know the price, or don't want to specify it, we suggest using the notation [$] to indicate "some price".
  • Out-of-Print Book - for a link to a web page describing a book that is out of print. Information on ordering out-of-print books may be found at this URL at Amazon.com.
  • Online Book - these are rare at present, but they do exist.
  • Short Course [price] - for a link to an online short-course on the context. If you know the price, please include it, e.g., "Short Course ($25USD)".
  • Course [price] - for a link to an online course on the context.
  • Product Description [price] - for a commercial product.
  • RTG (RATING) - a quality rating from 1 to 10. If this property is specified, the definition (URL) is installed with this rating and one vote (yours). Over time, this property becomes an average of all ratings provided by users.
  • ONM (OWNER NAME) - name of the person submitting the URL as a definition.
  • OID (OWNER ID) - email address of the person submitting the URL as a definition. The email address is a required property. However, there is never any need to set it in a dictionary file since the return address in your email will be used.

  KEY Properties

  • REL (RELATED) - a related key. There can be any number of REL statements associated with the same KEY. These are listed as "related contexts" at the bottom of the definition page for the key. (They are not considered to be "definitions" or "synonyms" --- only related.) If the related key is specified without a path, then the path of the current KEY is assumed.
  • The PATH of a KEY is really a property of the KEY, although it may be specified as part of the KEY, as shown in the examples. If the PATH is specified separately, it must appear before the KEY, rather than after it.

  The following URL properties are maintained internally by the Open Dictionary and cannot be set explicitly:

  • Date - the date the URL was submitted to the Open Dictionary.
  • Hits - an internal tally of the number of hits on the URL from the Open Dictionary.
  • isNew - an internal 'new' designation based on the Date of submission.
  • isPopular - an internal 'popularity' designation based on Hits.
  • Rating - the average rating of the URL. (The initial rating may be set on submission.)
  • Votes - the number of votes used in computing the average Rating.
  • Owner - the email address of the person submitting the URL.

  A dictionary file has the following structure:

      KEY = [KEY1]
      [KEY1 properties]
      URL = [URL11]
      [URL11 properties]
      URL = [URL12]
      [URL12 properties]
      [KEY1 properties also ok here]
  
      KEY = [KEY2]
      [KEY2 properties]
      URL = [URL21]
      [URL21 properties]
      URL = [URL22]
      [URL22 properties]
  
      ...
  

  Thus, a property is associated with the latest KEY or URL seen in the dictionary file.