Using a lexicon / encyclopedia on the Cybook

[ashalan]

First post for me, while I have been lurking the forums for quite a while, I never so far felt the need to post anything

Now, however, I consider buying a Cybook Gen3. Its feature-set hits almost everything I am looking for in an eBook reader, yet there is one thing that has kept me from ordering :

How reasonable would be a search within a lexicon on the Cybook?

I am aware that there is no text search feature (hopefully this will one day be added, entering text could easily be done using what I call 'Nintendo' keyboard ... you know, the way you added yourself to the high-score list in computer games of yore).

Now, my idea was to add bookmarks for every letter within the lexicon, which would at least let me navigate to a letter quickly (of course adding even more bookmarks would further narrow down the search). Once I'd navigated to a bookmark, how fast would I be able to leaf to the entry I was looking for?

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by ashalan

First post for me, while I have been lurking the forums for quite a while, I never so far felt the need to post anything

Now, however, I consider buying a Cybook Gen3. Its feature-set hits almost everything I am looking for in an eBook reader, yet there is one thing that has kept me from ordering :

How reasonable would be a search within a lexicon on the Cybook?

I am aware that there is no text search feature (hopefully this will one day be added, entering text could easily be done using what I call 'Nintendo' keyboard ... you know, the way you added yourself to the high-score list in computer games of yore).

Now, my idea was to add bookmarks for every letter within the lexicon, which would at least let me navigate to a letter quickly (of course adding even more bookmarks would further narrow down the search). Once I'd navigated to a bookmark, how fast would I be able to leaf to the entry I was looking for?

If you've turned *OFF* the 'Flash-to-black-between-page-flips' feature, about a quarter second between page turns. Otherwise, a bit slower, call it 4/10s of a second.

Derek

[ashalan]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

If you've turned *OFF* the 'Flash-to-black-between-page-flips' feature, about a quarter second between page turns. Otherwise, a bit slower, call it 4/10s of a second.

Derek

Thanks for the answer Derek.

I fear using a lexicon is out of question then Well, I just hope they will add text search in the near future. Until then I rather wait.

[tompe]

Using a dictionary looking up a word in the text you are reading already works according to the demo video at Bookeen's web page. The question is if any other lookup methods are available?

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by tompe

Using a dictionary looking up a word in the text you are reading already works according to the demo video at Bookeen's web page. The question is if any other lookup methods are available?

I suspect you can also open the dictionary as a book and use the TOC branch to look up some words although I don't have one of these to check it out. Using a TOC or Index with a little browsing can be a good substitute for search.

[ashalan]

Originally Posted by tompe

Using a dictionary looking up a word in the text you are reading already works according to the demo video at Bookeen's web page. The question is if any other lookup methods are available?

Yes I am talking about lexica (not the dictionary). Being the infomaniac I am I always dreamt to be able to carry an encyclopedia with me whereever I go. However, looking up something in an electronic encyclopedia without the possibility to search makes the whole thing pretty pointless

I downloaded the mobipocket reader and the demo version of the Brockhaus Encyclopedia. The reader (as you most certainly know) has a search functionality. That's exactly how I would want it to be

Well, if I understand correctly they only recently added bookmarking to the firmware. That's giving me hope: Who knows, maybe text search is just around the bend. I rummaged Bookeen's web page to find any indication of planned features for future releases of the firmware, but unfortunately couldn't find anything.

[tompe]

I just bought the Concise Oxford English Dictionary so I will test how it works on the Cybook on Monday. But on my Palm I do not see a TOC that contains words.

I realized you can lookup word if you have a page of word and the word you are looking for is missing you just look up a word that you think contains the word you want in the description

[tompe]

Originally Posted by ashalan

Well, if I understand correctly they only recently added bookmarking to the firmware. That's giving me hope: Who knows, maybe text search is just around the bend. I rummaged Bookeen's web page to find any indication of planned features for future releases of the firmware, but unfortunately couldn't find anything.

I suppose we have to compile a wish list here so they have the relevant information collected in one place. I have wikipedia on my Palm so I understand your wish.

[lindemaximilian]

How can you do a text search without an input device? On the old Cybook this was possible with the stylus. (I have the wikepedia in prf format from beans on a 1g storage card and travel happily around with it. This will no longer be possible with the new cybook).
I am also doubtful about the efficacy of the look-up function for language dictionaries; the current dictionaries from mobipocket do usually not contain conjunctions and reflections but only the standard forms of the words which you are looking for. Since you have no stylus or other input device on the Gen3 you cannot do a manual search by trying out different endings or typing in similar words.
Peter

[tompe]

Originally Posted by lindemaximilian

How can you do a text search without an input device? On the old Cybook this was possible with the stylus. (I have the wikepedia in prf format from beans on a 1g storage card and travel happily around with it. This will no longer be possible with the new cybook).
I am also doubtful about the efficacy of the look-up function for language dictionaries; the current dictionaries from mobipocket do usually not contain conjunctions and reflections but only the standard forms of the words which you are looking for. Since you have no stylus or other input device on the Gen3 you cannot do a manual search by trying out different endings or typing in similar words.
Peter

You have the buttons and it is not to hard to come up with schemes for input that will work. I have the 1G Wikipedia on my Palm so I really do not need encyclopedias on the Cybook but I really want to have a dictionary. And I think the problem you point out can be solved. You mark a word and you get a set of hits that you choose from. If you do not get a hit you erase letters from the end until you are happy with the set of word you got. And that should be easy to do with only buttons.

[jbenny]

Originally Posted by tompe

I just bought the Concise Oxford English Dictionary so I will test how it works on the Cybook on Monday. But on my Palm I do not see a TOC that contains words.

I realized you can lookup word if you have a page of word and the word you are looking for is missing you just look up a word that you think contains the word you want in the description

A question that has been asked before, but not answered yet is - can you use the Mobipocket dictionary to lookup a word when you are reading a non-Mobipocket ebook? If the dictionary lookup is restricted to Mobipocket ebooks only, then that kills a lot of the usefulness of a dictionary. I would appreciate it if you can test this and report back.

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by jbenny

A question that has been asked before, but not answered yet is - can you use the Mobipocket dictionary to lookup a word when you are reading a non-Mobipocket ebook? If the dictionary lookup is restricted to Mobipocket ebooks only, then that kills a lot of the usefulness of a dictionary. I would appreciate it if you can test this and report back.

Testing... NOW!!!

Okay. I have an ebook format of a friend's manuscript - which I'd converted to PRC, a purchased Secure Mobi ebook (PRC) and another friend's manuscript which I'd (about a year ago) converted to PDB using eReader's Palm Studio. The Lookup function works on all three without any hesitation. I was using the Oxford Pocket Dictionary from Mobipocket ($18.99).

Hope this information helps.

Derek

[jbenny]

Originally Posted by delphidb96

Testing... NOW!!!

Okay. I have an ebook format of a friend's manuscript - which I'd converted to PRC, a purchased Secure Mobi ebook (PRC) and another friend's manuscript which I'd (about a year ago) converted to PDB using eReader's Palm Studio. The Lookup function works on all three without any hesitation. I was using the Oxford Pocket Dictionary from Mobipocket ($18.99).

Hope this information helps.

Derek

That does help some, thanks. Could you also test in the other supported formats (TXT, HTML, whatever else)? Your feedback it greatly appreciated. I love having word lookup when I am reading. Older texts and modern texts that are set in an earlier historical period frequently use words that the modern human reader is not familiar with.

This is one feature that MS got right with their reader software. It supports using several dictionaries at once. Of course, the drawback of MS Reader is it only supports the LIT format.

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by jbenny

That does help some, thanks. Could you also test in the other supported formats (TXT, HTML, whatever else)? Your feedback it greatly appreciated. I love having word lookup when I am reading. Older texts and modern texts that are set in an earlier historical period frequently use words that the modern human reader is not familiar with.

This is one feature that MS got right with their reader software. It supports using several dictionaries at once. Of course, the drawback of MS Reader is it only supports the LIT format.

Worked for me with an HTML file and a TXT file. Couldn't test it with RTF because it won't open the RTF... And I haven't tried it with PDF.

Derek

[jbenny]

Thanks, Derek. Very much appreciated. I would be surprised if it worked in PDF, although it would be nice. It sounds like the Bookeen folks did a nice job developing their integrated, multi-format software.