Dictionaries | Encyclopædias and other reference works | Concordances | Literary prize winners | Proofreading symbols
Suggestions for additions are always welcome!
Dictionaries
- Oxford English Dictionary (OED) Online
- The Web-based new edition of the OED. Click on the 'SIGN IN' button to use the dictionary.
The online Dictionary contains the complete A to Z sequence of the Second Edition, its three-volume Additions Series, and also draft material from the revision programme, which represents the latest progress towards the Third Edition. Provides etymology, definition, part of speech, date of origination, pronunciation, quotation and cross references.
You need to be a member of the Adelaide University community, and connected to the Adelaide University computer network, to be able to use OED Online.
To find out more about this marvellous project, have a look at About the OED project for interesting features on: History of the Dictionary; The revision program; Guide to the Dictionary; Dictionary milestones; Dictionary facts.
You can keep up with developments by subscribing to Oxford English Dictionary News. A newsletter designed to keep OED users abreast of current research and developments on the OED, it includes articles by editors, researchers, and contributors on their work for the OED, as well as regular updates on the overall progress of the revision programme, and reports on other items, both interesting and entertaining, that the editors come across in the course of their research. Each issue also contains an Appeals List, consisting of words and phrases for which entries are currently being drafted or revised, and for which further evidence is needed.
There's a review of OED Online: ''The world's greatest dictionary' goes online' in issue number 23 of Ariadne.
-
Roget's Thesaurus
- Search the headwords or full text of Roget's Thesaurus version 1.02 (supplemented: July 1991).
-
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus
- Rogetıs II: The New Thesaurus (1995) contains 35,000 synonyms, in an easy-to-use format that eschews the traditionally classified or category-indexed thesaurus of old. It also contains succinct definitions as well as synonyms, and numerous cross-references.
There is a useful Category Index: Words Related and Opposite in Meaning.
-
Johnson's dictionary
- An electronic version of Samuel Johnson's eighteenth century dictionary of the English language. Available to members of the University of Adelaide community in the Barr Smith Library's Electronic databases area (behind the Information desk) on terminal number 332.
Encyclopædias and other reference works
- xrefer
- Here's a useful search tool for English researchers. It provides quick access to encyclopedias, dictionaries, books of quotations and other reference works issued by trusted publishers such as Penguin, Oxford University Press, Macmillan and Bloomsbury and Oxford University Press through a powerful search engine. It has a strong literary emphasis which I suppose will broaden over time.
Why not put it through its paces now: I think you'll be very impressed!
- The Cambridge History of English and American Literature
- The most important general history of English and American literature, the 18-volume set appeared from 1907 to 1921 with 303 chapters and over 11,000 pages. The online version is a dream to use: there are indexes to chapters, authors and bbliographies or you can use the built-in search engine to find your topic. Wonderful stuff!
-
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
"I have gathered a posie of other men's flowers, and nothing but the thread that binds them is mine own."
Contains a Chronological Index of Primary Authors and an Alphabetic Index of All Authors
- Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
- The Dictionary of Phrase and Fable by E. Cobham Brewer is a treasure -- one of my favourite reference books -- and it is great to see it on the Web! Described as a browser's joy [!] it has been in popular demand since 1870.
The Dictionary is extensively cross referenced, lending itself ideally to the hypertext environment; you may browse alphabetically or search by Headword or full text. This First Hypertext Edition is taken from Dr. Brewer's substantially revised and extended edition of 1894.
- Fowler's The King's English
- The second edition, 1908, of H. W. Fowler's classic and idiosyncratic work on English grammar. 'It took the world by storm' said The Times in its obituary of Fowler. Better-known is Fowler's later work, A Dictionary of modern English usage (1926) which made the name of Fowler a household world in all English-speaking countries. Enjoy!
- Strunk's The Elements of Style (1918)
- Believing that one must first know the rules to break them, this classic reference book is a must-have for any student, writer, and conscientious writer. It aims to give in brief space the principal requirements of plain English style, and concentrate attention on the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated.
- Inter-Play
- Subtitled 'an on-line index to plays in collections, anthologies and periodicals' Inter-Play provides easy access to the locations of printed plays in collections, anthologies and periodicals. Most of the plays cited are not indexed in the standard printed play indexes such as Ottemiller's Index to Plays in Collections [Barr Smith Library Reference collection 809.2 O89.6] or H. W. Wilson's Play Index [Barr Smith Library Reference collection 822.05 P722].
- The Encyclopedia Mythica
- Subtitled An encyclopedia on mythology, folklore and legend. You can browse through the mythologies of individual countries or use the inbuilt search engine to find a particular piece of information.
It contains definitions of gods and goddesses, supernatural beings and legendary creatures and monsters from all over the world, an image gallery, guides to pronunciation and a bibliography.
I find it very useful.
- A Glossary of Literary Terms and A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices
- Online, searchable versions of these two useful titles by Robert Harris, Professor of English at Southern California College in Costa Mesa, California. If you reckon you are pretty good at identifying rhetorical devices, try the Self-Test.
Concordances
- Concordances of Great Books
- Fully searchable word indexes to a large collection of 'classical' book titles. Search by author or from an alphabetic list of titles.
You can view the chosen search word in context, go to the next or proceeding occurrence, go to the next or previous text page and even consult a simple dictionary, all from the same results page.
Literary prize winners
- Nobel Prize in Literature winners
- Links to all the winners from 1901 in a chronological table (or you can use the alpahabetical arrangement).
For each author you get a background summary, books published and links to appropriate websites. An invaluable reference source.
- The Booker Prize
- Perhaps the most significant literary prize given in the British Isles is the Booker McConnell Prize for Fiction, or Booker, for short. Begun in 1969, the award is given to the best full-length novel published in the previous 12 months; nominees are chosen from among the nations of the current and former British Commonwealth. The aim of the prize is to stimulate the kind of public interest aroused in France by the Prix Goncourt.
Maintained by the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association.
- The National Book Awards
- On 16 March 1950, a consortium of book publishing groups sponsored the first annual National Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. Their goal was to enhance the public's awareness of exceptional books written by fellow Americans, and to increase the popularity of reading in general. Since then, The National Book Awards have become the nation's pre-eminent literary prizes. The Awards are given to recognize achievements in four genres: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People's Literature.
- The Pulitzer Prizes
- Search the database by:
Award Listing by Year: An interactive timeline listing the names of all winners of the Pulitzer Prize since 1917.
Complete Works 1995-1998: An archive of all Pulitzer Prize-winning works from the past three years, including photos, editorial cartoons, music clips and the full text of all winning articles.
Interactive Search: Perform a custom search through the list of Pulitzer Prize winners by year, category, author or explanatory text.
- Literary Prizes and Awards
- Divided into two sections, Adult Literature and Children's Literature, this comprehensive site is maintained by the Christchurch City Council.
- The BookWire Index: Book Awards
- A very large list of literary awards and prizes arranged in one alphabetic sequence.
Proofreading symbols
- Proofreader's and editor's symbols
- A handy list of the standard proofreading and editing marks.
If you need help with English resources, click the button | 
|