March 2002 newsletter

The contribution made by members of the public to the revision of the OED is something for which we professional lexicographers never cease to be grateful. The First Edition of the Dictionary benefited enormously from the willingness of private individuals to carry out local research which would otherwise have been impossible; an example of this research is described by Jenny McMorris in the latest of her fascinating reports from the OED archives, this time in relation to Charles Kingsley's use of the puzzling word ochidore. The OED in its electronic incarnation is now able to incorporate such voluntary contributions even after the revised version of an entry has been published, as Juliet Field explains in her article. Finally, Jane Windebank sheds light on the tricky business of displaying exotic and unusual symbols in OED Online - an aspect of the publication process to which I would imagine few readers had given much thought, but something which we must get exactly right if the OED is to present its information clearly and accurately.

This is perhaps a convenient point to mention that users of OED Online have just been given better access than ever to the information in the Dictionary: a wide range of enhancements have been made to the user interface, so that it is now possible to ask far more sophisticated questions of the Dictionary. (For example: which words of Hindi origin, and relating to food, entered English before 1900? Which verbs introduced into English since 1800 rhyme with joust?) The new interface for advanced searching has been developed in response to extensive feedback from users; so that the appearance of the Dictionary, like its content, is something to which everyone can make a contribution.

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