The ILLA and its predecessor Runasimipi.org has republished over two dozen dictionaries of native languages online and formated those dictionaries for use in StarDict and GoldenDict (which are electronic dictionary applications for Windows, Linux and Mac) and in SimiDic (which is a mobile dictionary app for Android and iOS which we helped create with KetanoLab). The process of republishing a native language dictionary is a very challenging task, which involves more work and tribulations that might be expected.
The first challenge is trying to obtain legal permission to republish a dictionary. In some cases, we haven’t been able to contact the authors of the dictionaries. In some cases the authors are dead or nobody knows how to contact them. At the ILLA, we try to respect the wishes of living authors. If we are able to contact the author of a dictionary and he/she does not want the dictionary to be published on our website, we do not publish it. Read more