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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2007
Contact:
, Austin Public Library, (512) 974-7528
Fax: (512) 974-7442
Featured Database
Oxford English Dictionary
The last word on words is available online
through the Austin Public Library!
www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/databases.htm
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has been documenting the history of the English language since 1857. It’s been online since 2000 and it is available for searching through the Austin Public Library databases. The OED offers much more than your standard desk dictionary – the print version contains more than 22 volumes! The online version contains more than 615,000 words and is updated quarterly with more than 1,800 new and revised words.
Use it like any dictionary to look up the meaning of words and to check spelling. You don’t even have to know the exact spelling of a word to look it up – use the wildcard symbol ? for a single unknown letter and * to represent any number of letters.
In addition to a definition, each word entry gives the pronunciation based on the International Phonetic Alphabet, current British and U.S. spellings and historical spellings, the etymology or history of the word and when it entered the English language, quotations that illustrate the use of the word through time, including the first known use of the word in written English, and a date chart illustrating the usage.
The full text of the Dictionary is also searchable allowing you to search by definition – use it as a thesaurus or for those times when you just can’t remember a word. You can also search by language of origin. The Japanese language has contributed 552 words to English -- from shogun, first documented in 1615, to sudoku, documented in 2000. You can limit your search to quotations from a specific year, author, or work; to first cited dates, and to words with a particular part of speech. The advanced search option offers additional search limiters. Results can be printed and emailed.
Puzzle aficionados take note: not only can you search by definition but the OED allows the use of wildcards. Next time you’re stuck on a word try typing the letters you know in the quick search box and use question marks for the unknown letters: z????y turns up five words. Take an online quiz http://dictionary.oed.com/learning/quizzes.html
for fun and to learn how to use the OED.
Sign up to receive OED’s Word of the Day feature by e-mail or RSS feed.
APL Cardholders can access the Oxford English Dictionary from their home and office computers 24 hours a day. It is available to everyone at all Library locations. To find out more call 974-7400 or stop by and ask any of your neighborhood librarians for more information.
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