For librarians

On this page you will find information of particular interest to librarians and administrators managing an Oxford DNB subscription.

Other promotional material for librarians on Oxford DNB and all OUP's electronic resources is available from the Online Products Librarian Resource Centre.

• For information about how to subscribe, and free trials, visit our How to subscribe page.
• Our Subscriber services page will help you to set up your account.
• We have a range of printable help texts and guides.

Telling your patrons about your subscription

• Should your library appear in our list of subscribing public libraries in the UK?
• We have posters, brochures, and a handy search guide for you to print.
• We have onscreen logos, buttons, and search boxes for you to add to your site.

Regular updates to the Oxford DNB

• Three annual updates add new biographies (including people active in the 21st century), along with quick reference guides
• Updates are published every January, May, and September. Full list of updates

Help your patrons get more from the Oxford DNB

• Local history: use Oxford DNB's simple but powerful searches to reveal your area's past.
• Quick reference: consult our themes section—a reference companion to British history.
• Schools and colleges: reading and project work in our Learning resources area.
• Interactive picture galleries: colourful ways into the dictionary.
• Biography podcast: favourite lives to download and listen to.

History in the news and history near you

• Our daily email service sends out a topical life every morning.
• All topical features are available using our RSS web feed—a useful way of keeping patrons up-to-date with new content.
• Online guides to finding people who shaped your local history.
• Interactive maps: interesting people by place.

Federated search

• The Oxford DNB does not support the z39.50 protocol. However, an HTTP request in the following form can be used in a federated search, where "Winston Churchill" is the search term:
  • http://www.oxforddnb.com/search/quick/?quicksearch=quicksearch&searchTarget=people&simpleName=winston%20churchill
  • This search runs a quick name search for "Winston Churchill" (in other words, a search for the Winston Churchill entry, not a text search for his name.
• However, note that the results from a search are presented in alphabetical order. If a user searches simply for "Churchill", Winston Churchill is the 25th result. This highlights the difficulty of using federated search with the Oxford DNB.

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