OED on-line

nicholmere · #1 01-18-2002, 05:32 PM

Has anyone used the OED's on-line services? When I was at the University of Toronto I did, and I thought it was a wonderful resource. Certainly not the same as stepping into the library and holding a volume in my hand, but that usually led to me reading page after page of words that caught my eye instead of looking up my specific word. Which was quite an enjoyable experience, but did nothing to help me meet deadlines.

I always knew that the U. of T. had access to the OED through a network/multi-user agreement, but today I thought I'd find out if it was available to individuals as well.

It is

For the following price:Cost: £350+VAT/ US$550 per annum.

I'm in favour of paying for some of the on-line services I use, but five hundred and fifty dollars ... a year? That's beyond my price range.

kurt_messick · #2 01-20-2002, 10:34 PM

We have access through my seminary. Anyone with a seminary log-in can use it, even from home.

I would never pay so much for a subscription to the service. I would never use it enough to warrant the charge. I'm sure they charge so much simply because they know many universities, colleges, libraries, etc. will pay the subscription fee.

I have several dictionaries at home that are quite sufficient for 99.9% of what I need. The rest can wait until I get into the office.

**taurusmoon** · #3 01-20-2002, 11:16 PM

I am fortunate enough to have a Compact OED at home. I got it many years ago as a benefit of BOMC membership. (The only reason I joined.)

Way back then I thought the magnifying glass was a nifty toy. These days I have a full appreciation of it as an essential.

The set is one of my treasured possessions and has been for years. But, I would not have paid $550 to own them, let alone access them online.

Sara

**jgibson2**[$] · #4 01-21-2002, 03:28 AM

When I was a student at Duke University, before some of you were born, the East Campus library had a 12 volume set of the OED. They were enormous tomes, each on it's own book stand. The set probably set the university back several thousand dollars even then. It was such a delight to visit that library just to page through the OED. I cannot imagine that a compact set would have even 10% of what was in those books. The print wasn't huge and the books were. I need to find out how to access the OED on-line from this area. I expect that one of the local college libraries has access. I don't know if my local library does.

Time to find out.

**taurusmoon** · #5 01-21-2002, 07:21 AM

The Compact edition is identical to the 12-volume except that the pages are photographically reduced. You get 8 pages squeezed onto one page. The type becomes eensy (which I'm not sure is a word in the OED, I'd have to look it up) but it's all there. And, the price is much, much less expensive because there's so much less paper being consumed.

Sara