The dictionary that became a national best-seller is now available on CD-ROM. Since 1998 hundreds of thousands of fingers have traced their way across the bright crisp pages of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary. Now, for those who prefer to have their cursors rather than their fingertips scan the most authoritative reference guide to contemporary Canadian English, there is The Canadian Oxford Dictionary on CD-ROM. The dictionary's new electronic format is as innovative and user-friendly as the original is authoritative and respected. Its most noteworthy feature is that it is completely unobtrusive: all the data sits permanently on your hard drive, and the user interface is simply a small text box that fits entirely in the title bar of your word processor or web browser. Just hold your cursor over a word in your document and it appears automatically in the text box--should you want to see the relevant dictionary entry, simply click on it and instantly the information pops up on the screen. There is no need to deal clumsily with another screen-sized application the next time you encounter an unfamiliar word on a website, or to fumble around for a CD to place into your drive and load up: just click on the word in question. The whole package is always instantly accessible, sitting quietly and inconspicuously until you need it. The dictionary's settings are easily customized--words can be selected with keystrokes, by highlighting, with double clicks, or by being typed directly into the text box. When a definition refers to another entry, one click takes you there instantly (no need to flip back and forth hundreds of pages at a time trying to track down a definition). Text can be copied from the dictionary and pasted into the user's own document. And users can even add their own entries to the dictionary itself. There will always be a place for a hard copy on the desks and shelves of Canadian book lovers, but in an age of instant access The Canadian Oxford Dictionary on CD-ROM now offers an electronic alternative every bit as trustworthy as the original. System requirements: PC with 166MHz Pentium-class processor. Windows 95/98/98SE/ME Windows NT 4.0/2000 or NT 4.0. 32Mb RAM. 20Mb free hard disk space. SVGA monitor, displaying 16-bit colour (64K, High colour). CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. Internet ExplorerRG 4.0 or 5.0 (version 5.0 supplied on the enclosed CD-ROM). Internet access with minimum 56K modem.

Katherine Barber's profile page

Head of Oxford University Press's Canadian Dictionary Department. In 1999 she won the Canadian Booksellers Association's Editor of the Year Award

"The text is the complete Canadian Oxford Dictionary, which can now be used in different modes and ways. Access is by holding the cursor over a word in a document or an Internet site. The word appears in the box, and a click pops up the entry...easy to use." Sources