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Evolving Scholarly References Online: The OED and ODNB Revolution

Explore the transformation of academic references with the OED and ODNB online projects, their business models, content growth, and market reach over the years. Discover the challenges and successes of digitizing scholarly resources to adapt to modern readerships.

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Evolving Scholarly References Online: The OED and ODNB Revolution

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  1. Putting scholarship online Robert Faber Editorial Director, Scholarly and General Reference

  2. OED and ODNB • Competition • OED: none on same scale; lots of free dictionaries • ODNB: none on same scale in British history; lots of low-grade biography • Print, magnetic tape, CD-ROM, online … • Online business model: subscription • Unlimited • Concurrent user • Limited periods … so renewable

  3. Business models • Subscription • Pay-per-view / pay-per-access • Perpetual access (e-books?) • With hosting fee? • From online shops to e-readers (e-books?) • Mobile apps (e-books?) • Free! • Advertising • Market place • Infomediary

  4. OED project • OED first published 1884–1928 • 20-volume print set; text first digitized in 1980s; CD • Complete rewrite now under way • 70 staff • publishing online since March 2000 • currently 260,000 entries, 800,000 senses defined, 2.9 million quotations, 55 million words of text online • 10,000+ revised or new entries a year, in 4 updates • Editing now based around online publication and electronic materials • New search capabilities • By date, language of origin, full text, quotations, usage, region, etc. • Online has brought new readerships

  5. OED Online • Markets: academic and professional libraries • Law, medicine, as well as humanities • But also public libraries and individuals • In 8 years OED has gone from being the 20-volume gorilla of the dictionary world … • Legendary but rarely seen in the flesh • To the most-used Oxford dictionary online • 2,300 to >4,000 subscribers in last 5 years • Up to 2.8 million entries viewed each month • Challenge now to offer content at all levels of use • Language tool-kit a mix of print, PC, and online

  6. OED usage: entries displayed by month • Calendar 2000 • average 160,000/month • peak 320,000 in a month • Now • average >2m/month • peak c2.8m in a month

  7. Oxford DNB project • First published 1885–1901 (63 + 3 vols) • + supplements: total 36,000 lives, 33 vols, 33m words • New DNB project 1992–2004: £25m+ • 55,000 biographies • 10,000 images, 62m words • Written by 10,000 people worldwide • Communication, technology • 50,000 sub-projects made possible by technology • Database prepared for any form of publication

  8. Publish all together • Not the original plan • Shortened timescale: 12 years not 20 • More resources, more risk! • Enabled focus on subsets of content • Became a research project • Mobilize 10,000 contributors • 653 wrote the Victorian DNB (29,000 lives) • Would we do it that way now?

  9. ODNB online • Innovative online features • Highly searchable • by place, occupation, religion, date, images, etc. • Direct links other resources • Online ‘themes’ growing as British history companion • Rapid online sales growth • Driving traffic: biography index

  10. Marketing and positioning • Content relevant to everyone • Generates much interest: word hunts, family and local history • But content can be of the highest standard • Link to OUP’s mission • Brand awareness – and challenging misconceptions • Very large enterprises over very long time-spans • Ideally suited to electronic management • Hubs of online information • Built into the academic network

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