Library research

The dictionary department at Oxford University Press has its own library, which we use when researching the definition of a word.

We also often need the resources of a larger library. In such cases a request is sent to a researcher in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, the British Library in London, the Library of Congress in Washington, or any of several others.

The main tasks of a library researcher are as follows:

• To find extra information needed for the definition of a word.
• To search for the earliest evidence of a word in use, so we can determine as closely as possible when a word entered the language. In some cases, such as scientific terminology, it is often possible to determine exactly when a word was coined, by tracing references in the scientific literature.
• To search for recent evidence of a word, so we can say whether or not a word has dropped out of use.
• To check in an original text a word that has appeared in a later edition, an abstract, etc.
• To ascertain whether a word is registered as a trade mark, so that we can record this fact in the definition if necessary.