04-03-2008, 02:58 PM | #31 |
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I think that what lexico meant was that there are open source alternatives for most (non-boring) souftware Kinda like having two versions of Harry Potter, one open and one not...hmm I wonder how that will work.
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04-03-2008, 03:33 PM | #32 | |
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04-03-2008, 04:05 PM | #33 |
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Ah but fan fiction doesn't reproduce the story lines (which is loosely equivalent to open source software reproducing the functionality).
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04-03-2008, 05:33 PM | #34 |
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Well, I'm quite pleased too -- on looking up the information, I discovered that most UK libraries now subscribe to these and (my favourite) the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, as well as the complete OED, and I can access them from home just using my library card number! I'm in my last year of doing a BA as a mature student, and was not looking forward to losing these resources, so this is very cheering
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04-04-2008, 02:47 AM | #35 |
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You've just reminded me that I'm an OU student - I must check to see if they're available through the OU library. I know that the entire "Cambridge Companion to ...." series is available that way.
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04-04-2008, 04:24 AM | #36 |
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I got my first degree from the OU, though that was before the days of email and the internet. I even did some tutoring for them in the early 90s.
Carandol, if you find that your public library doesn't have all the electronic resources that you need, then it could be worth asking your university librarians how much they charge for ex-student access. And I know of a couple of people who signed up for extra-mural courses largely because they wanted to continue using the university library and computer resources. |
04-04-2008, 04:41 AM | #37 |
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Patricia is correct. It is worth checking with your local university library. Several years ago, I got a non-student borrowers card at my local university library. It didn't cost anything, as they are a state funded institution. I can use all of their resources, which has proven very useful at times. When I think about our city public library, the word "podunk" comes to mind.
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04-04-2008, 04:51 AM | #38 |
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I seem to have been an OU student forever - I just do it for fun; certainly don't need any more qualifications . For the last few years I've been doing classics courses; currently doing their "Advanced Latin" course, which is great, reading all sorts of different Latin authors.
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04-04-2008, 09:36 AM | #39 |
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Then you've read The Professor and the Madman, I hope?
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04-04-2008, 09:41 AM | #40 |
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04-04-2008, 09:44 AM | #41 |
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Simon Winchester.
The Professor and the Madman A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary Sorry, I maybe mixed threads, but I saw you talking about the OED elsewhere. |
04-04-2008, 09:47 AM | #42 |
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Oh, yes, thanks; I've heard of it, but not read it. It's definitely on my reading list.
It wasn't the OED I was talking about, but the "Oxford Classical Dictionary", which is a wonderful "encyclopedia" of the ancient world. |
04-04-2008, 11:46 AM | #43 | |
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I didn't jump to HP as an equivalent but since you did I was carrying the analogy over. Dale |
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04-04-2008, 01:50 PM | #44 | |
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about the OED again...
Quote:
have you read "The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary" by the same man ? it looks good too, but it might be sort of the same thing as the other one... plus, for the moment it's only available in mobi format... |
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04-04-2008, 01:56 PM | #45 |
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The Professor and the Madman, back cover:
"The Professor and the Madman, masterfully researched and eloquently written, is an extraordinary tale of madness, genius, and the incredible obsessions of two remarkable men that led to the making of the Oxford English Dictionary -- and literary history. The compilation of the OED, begun in 1857, was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken. As definitions were collected, the overseeing committee, led by Professor James Murray, discovered that one man, Dr. W. C. Minor, had submitted more than ten thousand. When the committee insisted on honoring him, a shocking truth came to light: Dr. Minor, an American Civil War veteran, was also an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane." I read everything from Simon Winchester. |
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