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Death of the published dictionary: Oxford English Dictionary to exist solely online
The Daily Mail (U.K.) / Various ^ | August 29, 2010 | Paul Sims

Posted on 08/29/2010 5:09:06 PM PDT by Stoat

It was first published 126 years ago and is respected the world over.

But the Oxford English Dictionary will never appear in print again, its owners have announced.

Instead, the 80 lexicographers who have been working on the third edition for the past 21 years have been told the fruits of their labour will exist solely online.

 

The OED has been available on the internet for the past ten years and receives two million hits a month from subscribers who pay £205 a year, plus VAT, to access it.

Oxford University Press says the dominance of the internet means the latest update to the definitive record of the English language - currently 28 per cent complete - will never be published in print.

'The print dictionary market is just disappearing - it is falling away by tens of per cent a year,' said Nigel Portwood, 44, chief executive of OUP.

'Our primary purpose - and this takes a bit of adjusting to - is not profit, it is the dissemination of knowledge,' he said.

'Print is still pretty important round here but, wherever possible, if there is an opportunity, we are moving out of it.'

The printed dictionary has a shelf life of another 30 years, he predicts.

The third edition is only expected to be completed by 2037. The OUP has already stopped producing illustrated reference books because of the growing popularity of the Wikipedia website.

R

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: books; dictionary; english; language; oed; oxford; tech; techping
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To: yarddog
If you like encyclopedias try to find the 1913 edition of the EB. It was considered the gold standard in scholarship for decades, and for historical entries, probably still should be. Just think, all that pre-PC erudition...a record fit for an Empire!
21 posted on 08/29/2010 5:40:44 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard
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To: abb

I did get a set of “World Book” for free. I asked a clerk at a local Salvation Army type store how much they were and he said I could just have them.

World Book is really a pretty good encyclopedia.

I have a Nephew who is a Jag Colonel and possibly the smartest person I have ever known. He told me he plans on getting a set of used Britannica before long as he also likes the book format.


22 posted on 08/29/2010 5:45:46 PM PDT by yarddog
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To: Ghost of Philip Marlowe
Glad I have my compact edition...and the magnifying glass!!

Have you noticed they're making print smaller than they did when we were younger?
:)
23 posted on 08/29/2010 5:47:13 PM PDT by MaryFromMichigan
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To: hinckley buzzard

I doubt I will ever run across a 1913 copy but even the 1960’s era one is surprisingly non PC.


24 posted on 08/29/2010 5:48:01 PM PDT by yarddog
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To: yarddog

My sister got me started going to these used book sales. Four of us are going to the big Centenary Book Sale in a couple of weeks.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20100828/NEWS01/8280322/Centenary-College-s-giant-book-sale-to-return-for-24th-year
Centenary College’s giant book sale to return for 24th year


25 posted on 08/29/2010 5:48:37 PM PDT by abb ("What ISN'T in the news is often more important than what IS." Ed Biersmith, 1942 -)
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To: Linda Frances
What was that movie where books were banned or words in papers were changed?

Books were banned in Fahrenheit 451

 

Fahrenheit 451 (1966)

And for the work that featured words that would be changed in order to 'adjust' history, you 'may' be thinking of George Orwell's 1984

 

 

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)

26 posted on 08/29/2010 5:49:13 PM PDT by Stoat (If you want a vision of the future, imagine a Birkenstock stamping on a human face... forever)
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To: yarddog

My parents bought a New Standard for me in about 1960; it was published in 1945. Used it a few times. We continued purchasing the annual updates for about 40 years.
In 1966 my mom started buying the Funk and Wagnals in the grocery store. One volume a week. Took the set to recyling a few weeks ago. Still subscribe to the annual update (starting in 1962)


27 posted on 08/29/2010 5:51:19 PM PDT by Maine Mariner
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To: MaryFromMichigan

Yep. Cram more words into fewer pages then charge more. Just trying to increase profit.

Fortunately, most of the books I buy are 19th century through the first half of the 20th century. The only contemporary books I buy are hardcover current events and the novels of those writers I like. The hard covers are usually printed fairly well.


28 posted on 08/29/2010 5:53:24 PM PDT by Ghost of Philip Marlowe (Prepare for survival.)
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To: stylecouncilor

I use Webster´s New World Dictionary 1957 almost exclusively.


29 posted on 08/29/2010 5:53:47 PM PDT by onedoug
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To: Stoat
The OUP has already stopped producing illustrated reference books because of the growing popularity of the Wikipedia website.

OUP throws in the towel, in favor of WIKIPEDIA!?!

This is like discontinuing Grey's Anatomy in favor of The Visible Man/Woman models. /sarc> ...maybe.

30 posted on 08/29/2010 5:54:52 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (Islam: A Satanicaly Transmitted Disease spread by unprotected intimate contact with the Koranus)
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To: Stoat

I guess this means I can’t sell my vintage ~1970 World Books? Dang, and it’s a complete set!


31 posted on 08/29/2010 5:55:17 PM PDT by GnuHere
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To: Stoat

One could always print it out.


32 posted on 08/29/2010 5:58:20 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: Stoat

Very sad but understandable. I have 2 of the short versions, which I have not consulted more than 5 times in the last 10 years. Same with my excellent encyclopedia set. It’s all there on the Internet now.

I read a book last year about the publication of the first edition of the OED. Fascinating.


33 posted on 08/29/2010 5:58:24 PM PDT by Bigg Red (Palin/Hunter 2012 -- Bolton their Secretary of State)
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To: MrEdd
From my point of view, they get the better end of the deal.

Until the battery dies, while sitting in the outhouse at deer camp.

34 posted on 08/29/2010 5:59:15 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (Islam: A Satanicaly Transmitted Disease spread by unprotected intimate contact with the Koranus)
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To: abb

The local library had a book sale in which they were clearly just trying to get rid of a bunch. You could fill a large shopping bag full for a dollar.

I got a couple of bags full. It took quite a bit of looking but I got some surprisingly good ones including one which was full of 11X14 lithographs of famous paintings. They were all suitable for framing.


35 posted on 08/29/2010 5:59:21 PM PDT by yarddog
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To: Mercat

I read that book last winter.


36 posted on 08/29/2010 6:00:16 PM PDT by Bigg Red (Palin/Hunter 2012 -- Bolton their Secretary of State)
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To: MrEdd
I disagree. To spend time browsing through a used bookstore or to thin out your own library is pleasure. There is nothing like holding and reading a printed book. Technology will never be able to replace that joy.

I once saw an episode of Star Trek Next Generation where Captain Picard enjoyed reading a printed book while drinking a cup of tea. I repeat: Technology will never be able to replace that joy.

37 posted on 08/29/2010 6:00:59 PM PDT by proudofthesouth (It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible - President George Washington)
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To: ApplegateRanch

My battery lasts three weeks. Some new units that will be on the market by Christmas have solar rechargers. They will never need to be plugged in.


38 posted on 08/29/2010 6:04:43 PM PDT by MrEdd (Heck? Geewhiz Cripes, thats the place where people who don't believe in Gosh think they aint going.)
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To: Maine Mariner

When I was around 12 the local Piggly Wiggly started selling Funk and Wagnals. I bought the first volume for a quarter. That is the only one I got. I didn’t know they weren’t all a quarter.


39 posted on 08/29/2010 6:05:38 PM PDT by yarddog
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To: proudofthesouth
Then younger generations will never know the absolute pleasure of spending an hour or two browsing through a bookstore or library and curling up on a comfy sofa or chair with a good printed book. I feel so very sorry for them.

I'm about as techie as they get, and I agree wholeheartedly. Bookstores and libraries evoke that kid-on-Christmas-morning feeling in me.

40 posted on 08/29/2010 6:06:47 PM PDT by Riley (The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column.)
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