Over the last fifteen years several bilingual dictionaries on CD-ROM have been
published in Italy, some of which are intended as an alternative to the printed
edition. The purpose of this paper is to assess the degree to which these
dictionaries exploit the possibilities offered by CD-ROMs as regards search
options and inclusion of multimedia content. After a brief discussion of the pros
and cons of electronic dictionaries as opposed to dictionaries in paper form, a
selection of titles is reviewed, consisting of bilingual Italian/English dictionaries
likely to be used by translators, interpreters and trainees for both professions.
Each title is evaluated with particular reference to the following aspects:
differences from the printed version, search options, characteristics of the
graphical interface and presence of multimedia content. The reviews highlight
that some titles do represent a valid alternative to the printed version and
indeed make searching both quicker and more accurate than paper-based
dictionaries.
