Electronic OED?

October 24, 2005 1:05 PM

Electronic version of the Oxford English Dictionary?

I'd like to get an electronic copy of the complete OED. Does such a thing exist for free? Various online discussions talk of a split that occurred a few versions back. Most seem to indicate that the actual text itself isn't copyrighted, but has anyone actually made a digital version freely* available?

The real version you can purchase from Oxford University Press seems to come with unacceptable copy protection, and is not available in any kind of "normal" file. Seems to also be Windows-only. I'd like to use it on Linux, Apple, and Windows machines.

What are my options?

*free in both senses of the word - I'm not interested in downloading one from thepiratebay. I considered it, but I'm not at all interested in the hoops I'd have to jump through just to use the weird file formats with copy protection.

posted by odinsdream to writing & language (32 comments total)

I suppose "digital" would be a better term than "electronic."
posted by odinsdream at 1:06 PM on October 24, 2005

Check your public library -- many make the online version of the OED accessible from home (with a library card). Best part (aside from being free and platform-independent) is that the online version includes updates, including draft entries for the next edition.
posted by words1 at 1:10 PM on October 24, 2005

The University of Waterloo's Database research group built the original electronic version of the OED. They spun the research group that did it off in to the compnay Open Text. I think there was some time when you could search the OED through the research web site: OED at uwaterloo, it doesn't seem to work now though.
posted by chunking express at 1:20 PM on October 24, 2005

OED offers a cd and an online version. I bought the cd several years ago, it's one of my most prized possessions... no kidding. I love the thing. While I would prefer to have it access to the online version, it's very expensive (the cd cost, annually).

Buy the cd, it's well worth it.
posted by ewkpates at 1:25 PM on October 24, 2005

Are you referring to the pre-1923 versions that should now be out of copyright, as described in this mailing-list post?
posted by smackfu at 1:25 PM on October 24, 2005

You can buy what the Oxford University Press sells or not. The OED is copyrighted, so there aren't any legal alternatives to buying what they have on offer. What's the question here?

(Well, someday part of the pre-copyright-extensions OED 1st edition may be scanned, but I wouldn't hold your breath.)

If you just want an easy-to-use electronic dictionary, install a dict client and knock yourself out.
posted by jellicle at 1:28 PM on October 24, 2005

Ahhh, the good old days. . .
posted by rossmeissl at 1:37 PM on October 24, 2005

Even the first edition of the OED (1928) will be in copyright until 2023 according to this Google answer, which is not absolutely authoritative, but sounds right to me. It is easy to find OED subscriber agreements in which a subscriber has to acknowledge OUP's ownership of the OED (redundant, of course -- they just want to make sure no one can begin to claim they didn't know that.)

I've never heard (and can't find) any reason why the text wouldn't be copyrighted, or that there has ever been a legal free version.

In other words, you're out of luck. I got my father the OED CD-ROM, and it's so obnoxious that you periodically have to put the original CD in the computer to remind the OED-reading software that you really do own it.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 1:38 PM on October 24, 2005

You're not going to get it free legally.

If you can't find access at a public library, you go to a college with off-campus database access and purchase a library card, which may run you ~ $100+ a year, but you can get Lexis-Nexis, the OED, EBSCO, JSTRO and a lot of other databases.

Or, if you know a student or faculty member, just get their login or proxy info. But, again, that's not quite legal.
posted by ryrivard at 2:18 PM on October 24, 2005

jellicle, I'm perfectly willing to pay the OUP, but I'm not going to spend this amount of money on something that's Windows-only, in some very weird format (i.e., can't be accessed by my own programs or scripts), and has excessive (judging from comments online only, of course) copy "protection." I'd much rather (and may) buy the dead-tree compressed version.

The suggestions to check the library for what they offer are good, especially given ryrivard's comment about other resources I hadn't thought of. I'll check that out.
posted by odinsdream at 2:36 PM on October 24, 2005

Check the Amazon one-star reviews -- very, very negative about the CD. Some of the 5-star reviews are even annotated down to 1 star after the user got familiar with the product. The dead tree version is around 1200$ US I think.

If you are a university graduate you may be able to get a cheap alumni library card entitling you to borrowing and internet access to the library -- it wouldn't necessarily matter how far away from your alma mater you were. Or as noted above, check the public libraries.

I presume you know about the Compact version of the OED -- the full text photoreduced into two volumes -- this is actually cheaper than the CD. it comes with a magnifying glass -- probably not everyone's cup of tea, but might be worth considering -- less unwieldy than the 20 volumes as well.
posted by Rumple at 3:16 PM on October 24, 2005

Ahhh, the good old days. . .

I'm still pissed at Pretty_Generic for ruining that backdoor. Posting it to MeFi was an incredibly dumb thing to do.
posted by languagehat at 3:28 PM on October 24, 2005

Actually, my relatively new copy of the Compact OED is down to one volume. 9 "pages" on both sides of each physical page.
posted by brundlefly at 4:00 PM on October 24, 2005

brundlefly -- do you find it easy to use?
posted by Rumple at 4:09 PM on October 24, 2005

If you can't find access at a public library, you go to a college with off-campus database access and purchase a library card, which may run you ~ $100+ a year

Some state schools will give library cards (for free) to anyone who lives in the state. I have no idea how widespread this is but I know this is true at least of the UMass system.
posted by advil at 4:15 PM on October 24, 2005

You can get a good 2 volume edition of the OED with magnifying glass for $100-200. Well worth it. Check out Amazon or ABE.
posted by madstop1 at 4:48 PM on October 24, 2005

The dead tree version is around 1200$ US I think.

I'd actually be getting the one brundlefly and madstop1 mention. brundlefly, can you give us a short review? Is it easy to use? Would you scan a page?
posted by odinsdream at 5:47 PM on October 24, 2005

One thing not to do is get an online subscription and then write a script to attempt to suck the whole thing down. OUP does not look kindly on that and will shut off the offending account.
posted by nev at 6:01 PM on October 24, 2005

rumple: Generally. It can get confusing sometimes, but consulting the manual always clears things up. (Yes, the thing comes with a manual.)

The only real pain is how huge it is. I don't have any desks big/uncluttered enough to open it on, so I generally have to put it on the floor to read it. However, this has the upshot of being very dramatic.

"What is the definition of 'manniparous?'"

"Hold on, let me check."
*Kneels down on floor with OED and opens it with a huge THUD*
"Hand me the magnifying glass."

I've considered purposefully coating it with dust so I can blow it off the pages before reading.


On preview: Sure I can scan a page. Or at least as much of a page will fit. It'll take me a few minutes 'cause I'll have to hook up the scanner. I'll post a link when it's up....
posted by brundlefly at 6:08 PM on October 24, 2005

Well, this sucks. I just unpacked my scanner and it ain't turning on. At all. Crap. Sorry about that.

I found this, which will give you a good idea of the general formatting, but is impossible to read, and this which is an example of an individual entry. I checked my own copy and it's the complete definition. Keep in mind that this entry is pretty short by OED standards. The definition of "at," for instance is 3 "pages" long.
posted by brundlefly at 6:59 PM on October 24, 2005

[Disclaimer I work for OUP (you can leave off the article), but not for OED (you can leave off the article there, too).]

Keep an eye out: the paper version drops for part of the year to about $700. Still a lot of money, but some people just prefer paper.

Also, everything people hate about the CDs is not an issue with the online version. It's waaaay better, and they've just refreshed it. Plus, you get the quarterly updates.

For most people—those of us who don't have the space for the paper and don't have the money for the annual subscription—a library membership is going to be the key. The Seattle Public Library is one of many places that allows online access via an library card and PIN, but like many, getting a card has residency requirements. Austin Public Library has access, too. Multnomah County Library no longer offers online registrations, but for a while it was the most famous easy way to get a library card for online access to OED and other databases by registering online no matter where you lived (it still offers that online access, but you have to get a library card in person now). There are bound to be libraries where that is still possible. A search for library oed access -university seems like it would turn them up.

And what're you complaining about, Languagehat?
posted by Mo Nickels at 7:04 PM on October 24, 2005

Pirated copies of the 2-CD electronic edition of the Oxford English Dictionary are around with a crack for the copy protection scheme. It's a crappy, bloated piece of software, IMO, but the content makes up for it. I don't have an ethical issue with it being pirated by private users. Oxford gets enough money from University subscription, and in my ethical abacus a wordy individual's need for a good dictionary overshadows my concern for Oxford's bank accounts. You can email me for more info.
posted by ori at 10:33 PM on October 24, 2005

Thanks brundlefly! Is the magnifying glass that comes with it any good?

I am pretty sure you can buy fake dust for sprinkle g on wine bottles, probably that would be safe for dusting up your volume.
posted by Rumple at 12:00 AM on October 25, 2005

The magnifying glass is pretty good. It gets the job done for me, although I have pretty good vision. My room mate once tried to use it and couldn't read a word.
posted by brundlefly at 12:09 AM on October 25, 2005

ori; but even if I bought the cd, I'd still end up with a piece of crap that requires proprietary software to access the content (which is well worth the price). I just can't justify paying any amount, or even wasting the time to download a pirated version, if I'm going to end up with something even slightly less accessible than paper, and that's saying a lot.
posted by odinsdream at 6:59 AM on October 25, 2005

If anyone would be so kind as to post a scan (or a photograph) of a page from the condensed version, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks for the Amazon links.
posted by odinsdream at 7:01 AM on October 25, 2005

Mo: I used to be able to share that backdoor link with people who wanted access. Now I can't.
posted by languagehat at 7:02 AM on October 25, 2005

languagehat: people who didn't know *you* weren't able to get access before that link was posted. Sorry it impeded your selective favour-granting, but it was great while it lasted for the Great Unwashed, including me. Maybe P_G didn't foresee the unfortunate consequences of his more selfless munificence?
posted by fish tick at 8:54 AM on October 25, 2005

I'd like to say thank you to this thread in general and ryrivard in particular for waking me up to the fact that I happen to work for a university and thus actually have on-line access to OED and a truckload of other services. (Duh.)
posted by Zed_Lopez at 10:14 AM on October 25, 2005

languagehat: people who didn't know *you* weren't able to get access before that link was posted. Sorry it impeded your selective favour-granting, but it was great while it lasted for the Great Unwashed, including me. Maybe P_G didn't foresee the unfortunate consequences of his more selfless munificence?

No need to sound so hostile. They could have found it the same way I did, at P_G's home page, which he linked to from his MeFi user page. If you really think it was worth trashing in order to have access for, what, a day?—fine, we have differing opinions. And to suggest that he "didn't foresee the unfortunate consequences" of posting an illegal backdoor on MeFi is to suggest that he's an idiot. That may be; you'll have to take it up with him.
posted by languagehat at 1:23 PM on October 25, 2005

I have the two-volume microprint edition that came out in the early 70s. While it comes with a magnifying glass, it's (barely) readable without, though those of us over 50 may need drugstore glases to get that close. It's only a minor inconvenience, since it's not a book you read more than half a column of at a time. The edition from time to time on the used book sites.

The current microprint edition is a single volume and can't be read without the magnifier.

I wouldn't blame languagehat. OUP spends a lot of effort hunting down places that have cracked the access code for paying users. There have been several over the last few years, and all of them have been blocked within a few weeks.
posted by KRS at 2:20 PM on October 25, 2005

I can read my single-volume 9-to-a-page compact OED without magnification. It's not the world's most pleasant reading experience, though.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 4:09 PM on October 28, 2005