Lesson 5 Oxford Reference Collection

Discovery Exercises

1.  Go to the English Dictionaries and Thesauruses link and click on the Browse this subject link. This interesting search option lets you browse page by page through all of the dictionaries simultaneously. Go to the H's and find the entries for the term habeas corpus. How many dictionaries have entries for this word?

Six.

2.  Return to the English Dictionaries and Thesauruses link and click on Links for this subject. Examine the list of links. What is the purpose for these links?

To provide quick alphabetical access to content of interest across the various English Dictionaries and Thesauruses.

Go to the link for the Guide to Grammar and Writing. What popular song is used to illustrate nouns?

"My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music.

3.  One last look at English Dictionaries and Thesauruses. Click on the link to the

Visual English Dictionary. Look up the word "boat." Click on the first link for examples of boats and ships. How many examples are given?

14

 4.  From the Oxford Reference home page click the link for English Language Reference. How many titles are offered in this category?

 18

 5.  From the Oxford Reference home page click the link to the Bilingual Dictionaries. Choose one of the dictionary titles. Enter a word in the search box. List the options available to process the information on the results screen. 

Options for managing the results include: reordering the results, help, options to change the number of results per pages, print, email, widen you search results and search tips.
 
6.  From the Oxford Reference home page click the link to Quotations. Enter the word "abolish" in the search box. What is the quote from John Locke?

   

The concise quote is "The end of law is, not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom."  

   

Now click on the link to Browse this subject. Browse to the word "abolish."   Follow the links for abolish and describe how these results differ from the general word search results.

The results of the general word browse of quotations returned an alphabetical listing of people associated with a quotation containing abolish in any context along with a link to the dictionary containing the referenced quote as well as a link to the Individual that provides additional information about the source of the quote. Browsing quotations by subject provided links to quotations and the person associated within a specific quotation in context such as abolish/restrain, abolish serfdom, abolish the death penalty, abolish government etc. as well as the original source and date of the quotation. Both methods will eventually get you to information about how to appropriately cite a specific quotation. 


 7.  From the Oxford Reference home page click the link to Maps and Illustrations. Do a search for "Syria." What type of maps are available?

A physical and political map. I was initially unclear on what the political map represented but the next exercise provided further clarification.
 

8.  From the Oxford Reference home page click the link to Encyclopedias. Do a search on Syria. Explore the links to the World Encyclopedia and A Guide to Countries of the World. Consider the difference between the two resources.

The World Encyclopedia provides "concise entries" of a given subject "including world affairs, science and technology, the arts, modern and ancient history, religion, sports, and popular culture. Information for Syria includes climate, a brief history, politics, economy and fast facts regarding size, population, capital, government, ethnic groups, languages, religions, currency and GDP. A Guide to Countries provides much of the same information with the exception of a brief history but includes additional information regarding life expectancy and major exports. 

According to the introduction for A Guide to Countries of the World, what is the purpose of this source?

According to the writer, Peter Stalker, the purpose is to provide students and teachers at all levels a "brief history brief history and outlines contemporary social, economic, political and religious issues. In addition, for each country there is a clear map and a quick-reference fact box containing data and statistics including languages, population, GDP, capital city, life expectancy, and more. Invaluable supplementary material includes detailed indicator tables showing income and poverty, health and population etc, and list of international organizations, such as the EU and the African Union, with essential information about these groupings."
 

 9.  From the Oxford Reference home page click in the Quick Search Box. Search for the term "recycling." How many entries are in the results screen?

  
25 results. 

 
10.  Optional: Setup an Oxford Reference Online button or banner (such as one at top of lesson) on your school/library website. Oxford also has scripts for search boxes (see below) and subject or book homepages. See the Help and FAQ pages for scripts and directions. The main thing to know about setting up javascript widgets is that you need to be in the html view of the web editor you use.  First, you find the javascript code for the widget you want to insert, and copy that code to the clipboard. Then, in your editor go to your edit html view, find the place where you want your widget, paste, save and view. Finding the right spot to paste the code can be tricky. You can always delete and try again till you get in the right spot. Try it on your blog!