OED Online FAQs

General FAQs

What is available online?

The complete contents of the 20-volume Second Edition of theOxford English Dictionary

The complete contents of the three Additions volumes published 1993-7

PLUS

Quarterly releases of work in progress from the massive revision of theOED - material not available in any other form

IsOED Online updated?

Yes - 4 times each year

Each update offers 2,500 new and revised words plus a subscriber newsletter

• OED News

What's so special aboutOED Online?

• Unparalleled access to the ‘ultimate authority on the English language’ -The Times
• Search the equivalent of 23 printed volumes of information with speed and ease
• Everything from simple word look-ups to complex proximity searching, using any of the many fields in the Dictionary, is made easy through the online edition's sophisticated yet straightforward search capabilities
• Select how entries are displayed by turning pronunciations, etymologies, variant spellings, and quotations on and off
• Find a term when you know the meaning but have forgotten the word
• Find words that have come into English via a particular language
• Search for quotations from a specified year, or from a particular author and/or work
• Search pronunciations as well as accented and other special characters
• Gain unique online access to 2,500 new and revised words each quarter
• Compare revised entries with entries from the Second Edition to see how language has changed and how new scholarship has increased understanding of our linguistic and cultural heritage
• Keep up to date with exciting developments from the revision of theOED through quarterly online newsletters

IsOED Online available on annual subscription?

Yes, annual single user and network licences are available

IsOED Online available on a pay-as-you-use basis?

Not in the short term

How much does an annual subscription cost?

• Price for individuals: £195+ VAT/ US$295. Quarterly and monthly rates are also available
• Prices for network licences available on request - seecontact details

Is special pricing available to library consortia?

Yes, please contact us for further information - seecontact details

Is it possible to have a free trial?

Free trials are available to institutions

Please register your interest by completing the appropriate form for your region:

• North and South America

• Rest of the world

What are the system requirements for usingOED Online?

OED Online should work with almost every browser that supports frames, on almost every computer

We specifically support versions 4 and above of Netscape Navigator and versions 4 and above of Internet Explorer

For more details, see thebrowser and hardware requirements

Is theOED Online accessible to visually impaired users?

The online Dictionary has been designed to work as well as possible with screen-readers and text-only browsers, in order to be usable by visually impaired readers, and by those who prefer not to use a mouse. Alt text, title text, and frame names have been designed for compliance with the WAI guidelines and section 508 (1998 amendments) of the US Rehabilitation Act 1973. Pleasecontact us if you believe any barriers remain

How do I get more information?

Please visit the relevant page:

• Institutions (North and South America)
• Institutions (Rest of the world)
• Individuals (North and South America)
• Individuals (Rest of the world)

Access FAQs for subscribing institutions

1. Will our proxy server IP address(es) be enough to allow access toOED Online?

In many cases, yes. However, this depends on the configuration of your proxy server(s). You may have to configure the server(s) to forward originating IP addresses (seequestion 3 below).

2. I've registered our network's IP addresses and/or our proxy server IP address(es), but I still can't accessOED Online

If your IP range has been registered correctly, and you still cannot accessOED Online, your firewall may be preventing you from accessing the site. If this is the case, please contact your IT administrator to check the firewall settings. To test these, use a computer on your network that is not covered by the firewall and see if it can access theOED Online web site.

3. How do I gain access toOED Online via a proxy server?

If your proxy server is covered under theOED Online subscription, you may register the proxy server's IP address under your institutional subscription. If your proxy server is not covered under theOED Online subscription, for example if the proxy server is shared between multiple institutions, then you should configure the proxy server to forward the originating IP address.

Many proxy servers have the ability to forward the originating IP address, but some may use different terms when referring to the feature. Some examples are:

Turn on transparent proxying

Activate IP forwarding

Disable anonymous proxying

OED Online will look for the following HTTP headers in incoming requests:

X-Forwarded-For

X-Originating-IP

Client-IP

If IP addresses are being forwarded, the access control system will check both the forwarded addresses and the proxy server's actual IP address against those registered with your subscription. If IP addresses are not being forwarded, our access control system checks only the IP address of the proxy server.

• Help with IP addresses

4. After previously successful IP-authenticated access, why am I now being requested to sign in with a user name and password?

If there is no obvious technical solution to the problem, please contact your Internet service provider (ISP) to check whether they have changed their configuration in a way that might hinder your IP-authenticated access toOED Online.

5. How do I register a large number of IP addresses?

Contact the office appropriate to your region with the list of IP addresses.

• North and South America:onlinesubscriptions@oup-usa.org
• Rest of the world:subscriptions@oed.com

Tip: remember to use the asterisk (*) wildcard character if you are registering an entire class of IP address, and condense IP ranges in the following way, e.g.nnn.nnn.1-30.*

• Help with IP addresses

6. Specific IP addresses are not being accepted at registration

Ensure that the IP addresses are correct, and also ensure that the format is correct: if terminal zeros in your IP address(es) are meant to signify a range, they must be registered as asterisks rather than zeros: e.g.nnn.nnn.0.0 should be registered asnnn.nnn.*.*

7. How do I update my institution's IP addresses?

Contact the office appropriate to your region with the updated list of IP addresses. Please include your customer number and the full name of your institution.

• North and South America:onlinesubscriptions@oup-usa.org
• Rest of the world:subscriptions@oed.com

Tip: remember to use the asterisk (*) wildcard character if you are registering an entire class of IP address, and condense IP ranges in the following way, e.g.nnn.nnn.1-30.*

• Help with IP addresses

8. I've forgotten my site administrator password

Select the link appropriate to your region:

• North and South America
• Rest of the world

9. Can I distribute my site administrator user name and password to allow access for colleagues?

No, this is a restricted ID which should be kept in a safe place for use only by the site administrator. It will not grant access to the Dictionary.

If access toOED Online for your institution is IP authenticated, your colleagues will be able to access the Dictionary without a user name and password.

10. How do I view my institution's usage statistics?

To access your statistics, please go to theUsage Statistic Report page. You will be prompted for your site administrator user name and password.

11. How do I create a customized usage statistics report?

From theUsage Statistic Report page, you can create a custom multi-month report by downloading the statistics into Excel.

12. What do the usage statistics mean?

Definitions of each field on the usage reports are available. To view these, sign in to theUsage Statistic Report page with your site administrator user name and password, scroll to the foot of the page, and click "Definitions of fields on the usage reports".

13. How do I update my institution's subscription record?

Select the link appropriate to your region:

• North and South America
• Rest of the world

14. I've tried to set up IP-authenticated access toOED Online without success

If, for some reason, you are unable to accessOED Online by IP address authentication, referring URL access may be possible. PleasecontactOED Online to enquire about further possibilities for your institution.

15. I wish to enable off-campus access via a proxy server

Off-campus access is typically provided via a Remote Access Server (RAS). Ask your IT administrator whether there is a proxy server available for this purpose. If there is, enter its IP address into the Proxies section of your browser's preferences, generally located in the Proxy or Connection menu tabs. (In Internet Explorer, this is located in theTools / Internet Options/ Connections Tab / LAN settings, the second section of which deals with proxies. In Netscape, it is located underEdit / Preferences / Advanced).

You will need a server at your end that is specific to one of the IP addresses you supplied toOED Online. The degree to which the security of the server is configured is at the discretion of your institution - it just needs to be able to authenticate the end user for access toOED Online.

16. How do I avoid having to click "EnterOED Online" from the home page?

Bookmark theWelcome toOED Online page and accessOED Online from this page each time you visit.

Alternatively, authorized subscribers may now perform a Find Word search directly from the home page, using the box in the panel headed ‘OED Online subscribers’.

17. DoesOED Online support meta searching?

Yes;OED Online can be accessed by meta search software via HTTP request and supports the method="get" using a base url of: http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/findword?query_type=word&queryword;=

Access FAQs for individual subscribers

1. My personal user name and password subscription repeatedly prompts me to sign in during a session

Your browser may not be set to accept cookies, which are packets of data sent to your computer to verify your identity. IfOED Online cannot send cookies to you and receive them from you, it will prompt you to log in repeatedly.

You are not required to accept cookies to use this site as a subscriber. However, if you choose not to accept them, please click the ‘alternative sign-in method’ link on thesign-in page. If you do not accept cookies, the only way you can sign out is to quit your browser.

• Our use of ‘cookies’ and your privacy

To change your browser's preferences to accept cookies, do one of the following:

• If you are using Netscape, go toEdit / Preferences / Advanced, and check the button labelled ‘Accept all cookies’.
• If you are using Internet Explorer, go toTools / Internet Options / Security Tab / Custom Level and ensure that your security is set to ‘Medium’.

This problem may also occur if you are behind a firewall, in which case you should contact your technical department or Internet Service Provider.

2. I've forgotten my password

Select the link appropriate to your region:

• North and South America
• Rest of the world

3. How do I access theOxford English Dictionary Online using my library card?

1. Go to your library's web site from where you can click on a link to access theOED Online with your library card. If you cannot see this link, ask your librarian for details.
2. You will be taken to a web page that prompts you to enter your library card number.
3. Enter your full library card number in the box provided to gain access to theOED Online.
4. If you go direct to theOED web site, without coming from your library's web site, you will not be able to access the resource with your library card. This is because theOED's 'Library Card Sign in' page has been set-up to identify readers from libraries with valid subscriptions to theOED Online. It does this by using the URL of the web site you used immediately before coming to theOED Online site. This means that you won't be offered a log-in box for your library card number if you have arrived at the login page via a different route (e.g. using an internet search, or from a saved favourite in your web browser).

4. I have followed the steps above but am still not prompted for my library card number

1. Internet security software packages (such as Norton or MacAfee) installed on home computers sometimes prevent theOED from recognising your referring library's URL. This is a very common problem affecting many web sites using referring URL as part of their authentication process.

   Fortunately, remedying the problem is quite simple and requires you to add theOED to your list of 'allowed' sites for receiving referring URLs from your web browser. For users with Norton software more information on how to adjust your security settings is available from the relevant link below:

   Norton Internet Security and Norton Personal Firewall 2003 and 2004

   Norton Internet Security and Norton Personal Firewall 2002 and earlier

   When you follow these instructions the URL you will need to enter that addsOED to your list of 'allowed' sites ishttp://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/lclogin (you may need to enter this link as just dictionary.oed.com/cgi/lclogin).

   Please note, these instructions are specifically for Norton products, but similar procedures can also be used on other products such as McAfee. You may wish to contact your security software provider for further details.

2. Once you have amended your security settings, you may need to check that your computer is set up to accept 'cookies'. Further details on what 'cookies' are and how to enable your computer to accept them are available in our help section on'cookies'.

If you don't find the answer you need, pleasecontact us.