she who keeps this diary


22 September 2004 - 10:22 AM

In Print

I'm tired today and have no idea why. I went to bed on time, slept well, all that stuff. But it's been a real effort not to go nose-down on the desk this morning.

The grand and glorious editors of the Oxford University Press have alerted me that the new Oxford Dictionary of National Biography goes public tomorrow in both print and electronic forms. As a contributor (of one small 1500-word article, for which they paid me the lordly sum of 70 quid), I get free access to the internet version for three months, with the option to renew at a discount when the time is up. Or, I could simply purchase the 60-volume set at the special contributor's rate of �5200 (approx. US $8,800), which is a substantial discount -- the regular price is �7500 (approx. US $13,000). Nevertheless, it's still a significant chunk of change, and I think if I had $8,800 just lying around, I'd more likely be sinking it into a new car rather than a ginormous reference work.

Still, it's pretty cool to be part of such a huge project, and I will have to update my c.v. to reflect the fact that the DNB is no longer forthcoming but actually in print. Now, if I could only boot the publisher for my PhD thesis into gear ...

verso - recto

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