Before the Internet, people had to rely on thick books such as dictionaries and thesaurus for reference. Of course, there is nothing wrong with relying on printed materials; after all, they have and they still are good sources of information. But books such as dictionaries have certain limitations. For one, the information on a book is only good up to a certain point. Hence, reference materials are always updated and always republished year after year. So once a new edition of an atlas, for example, is printed, the previous edition can be obsolete. In a few years time, a reference material will become completely useless.

This is many are currently relying Internet-based tools such as online dictionaries. Besides the convenience, online dictionaries instantly eliminate the limitations of printed reference materials. Many users think that they do not need to update their dictionaries often, since the meaning of words does not change. However, words and their meanings are dynamic. In fact, language itself, regardless what the language is, ever changing. And this is a characteristic of language printed dictionaries cannot accommodate; hence the need for online dictionaries.

But how does this work?

First, online dictionaries are auto-updated. In fact, this is the main advantage of online dictionaries over printed ones. An online dictionar can be updated easily. This means every new word or terminology can be added in the database of the online dictionar. For example, one of the newest words to be accepted in the dictionar is the term ?meh,? which is similar to the colloquial meaning of the word ?whatever.? This word is very recent, so obviously any earlier editions will not contain this word. If a person uses these previous editions as a reference (considering he is unaware that ?meh? is officially a word now), he will not see ?meh,? and will therefore conclude that it is not an actual word. So imagine the error that can ensue due to this misinformation.

Besides new words, a number of online dictionar includes informal words and definitions. For example, the term ?whatever,? while not exactly recent, can mean ?doesn't matter what.? But early editions do not have this definition; instead, it will probably define ?whatever? as ?anything? (its first formal definition). An online dictionar can help people acquaint themselves with such terms. Old terms can also have new definitions, and it is very difficult to keep up with these linguistic evolutions. An online dictionar can fill this void.

One of the best features of an online dictionar is the translation feature. For example, an online dictionar can translate an English word into Italian, and vice versa. This can be a very efficient tool to use when learning a foreign language. Of course, there are similar printed dictionaries available, but these are often difficult to use. One of the advantages of online dictionaries is the convenience. Simply input a word and the website's search engine will do all the work; no more spending time looking for the correct term and the correct meaning, which could be daunting especially if this involves an unfamiliar language.

One of the criticism regarding online dictionar is the reliability of the source. An online dictionar is a great sources of information, especially if one knows how to distinguish a good online dictionar from a bad one. Also, many view online dictionar as a supplement to printed dictionaries, and not a replacement. Still, a number of online dictionar are very reliable; some of them can even match the quality of printed dictionaries.

Nonetheless, it remains a fact that online dictionaries are advantageous. Many may be wary when it comes to using this due to its nature, but let the millions who use this innovation be the indicator: online dictionaries can be as good as the real thing.