New Product Release: Oxford Announces New Online Scholarly Reference Program

["Nachtigall, Lisa" <lisa.nachtigall@oup.com>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oxford University Press Announces New Online Scholarly Reference
Program 

NEW YORK, NY, November 19, 2004 -- Oxford University Press is pleased to
announce the Oxford Digital Reference Shelf, offering librarians and
end-users web-based access to Oxford's leading scholarly reference titles
never before available online.

Providing a new "purchase" option for reference collection development
programs, the titles offered through the Oxford Digital Reference Shelf
will be available for a one-time purchase fee, including remote and
unlimited user access. Libraries can purchase any number of titles offered
to fit their collection needs and discounts will be offered for multiple
title purchases. Print/electronic packages will also be available, as well
as reduced prices for libraries that already own print editions and wish
to purchase the electronic edition. Oxford University Press will offer
hosting services for an annual fee or will provide customers with
digitized files for self-hosting. MARC21 records will be provided to
customers at no charge to allow for linking through a library's OPAC.

Recently published and award-winning titles to be offered through the
Oxford Digital Reference Shelf include the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and
Drink in America, the Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, the Oxford
Encyclopedia of Economic History, and the Oxford Dictionary of the
Renaissance, among others. Additional titles will be released in
electronic format on an ongoing basis-including simultaneous new print and
electronic reference works and additional backlist titles.

Each title offered through the Oxford Digital Reference Shelf program will
be available as a fully searchable, stand-alone resource. The articles
will be delivered in HTML format and the bibliographic references in each
e-reference title will be OpenURL compliant to bring together Oxford's
scholarship and libraries' collections. Libraries that subscribe to the
company's general reference resource, Oxford Reference Online: Premium
Collection, will enjoy the added optional benefit of accessing the content
of e-reference titles via the Premium Collection as well as through the
stand-alone sites.

By offering this new model for its reference content, Oxford hopes to
ensure that users who rely on web-based research will benefit from the
scholarship its reference works provide. According to Casper Grathwohl,
Vice President for Reference and Online Publishing at Oxford, "With the
Digital Reference Shelf, Oxford is launching a major initiative to migrate
the cornerstones of librarians' print reference collections to an online
environment. These are the sets they've been sending students and
researchers to for years as the starting point of their inquiries. With
Google indexing the world, we think it's important to create reliable and
authoritative web-based resources that can assist librarians in assisting
their own communities. We're dedicated to maintaining the integrity and
authority of our online reference resources while offering buyers
flexibility in building their own online reference collections."

James Mouw, Acquisitions Librarian and Electronic Resources Officer at the
University of Chicago endorses this new venture: "I'm excited about Oxford
University Press's plans to bring their major scholarly reference works
online through the Oxford Digital Reference Shelf. OUP has a fine track
record of making their content appropriately available in online format
and we are pleased with the utility and acceptance of collections like
Oxford Reference Online and also stand-alone products like the Oxford
English Dictionary, the American National Biography and now the Oxford
Dictionary of National Biography. OUP's plan to make additional content
available through the Oxford Reference Online platform will make available
valuable sources that were not previously accessible in the online
environment."

Oxford will be previewing the Oxford Digital Reference Shelf at the
Midwinter meeting of the American Library Association, January 15-17,
2005.  The first release of titles is scheduled for March 2005.

Oxford's recently released Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
received "A perfect ten" from Library Journal's Cheryl LaGuardia.  The
company's other online resources include Oxford Scholarship Online, Oxford
Reference Online, the Oxford English Dictionary, Grove Music Online, Grove
Art Online, and American National Biography Online. Information about the
company's online resources is available at www.oxfordonline.com.

For more information, please contact Lisa Nachtigall at Oxford
University Press: 212-726-6425 or lisa.nachtigall@oup.com.  

Lisa Nachtigall
Oxford University Press
Project Director & Associate Director of  Sales and Marketing
Online Products
212-726-6425
www.oxfordonline.com