Oxford University Press Celebrates National Library Week
April 14, 2014 8:23 AM   Subscribe

In honor of National Library Week, Oxford University Press is making all of its non-journal products available online for free for the week of April 13th-19th, 2014. This includes the Oxford English Dictionary and the Oxford Handbook series.

No sign-up is required. Use the username and password combination libraryweek/libraryweek. Sadly only available in the US and Canada.

Note: "Due to technical difficulties, access has been temporarily limited on our law databases, Encyclopedia of Social Work, and Oxford Handbooks Online." Presumably those will be available soon.
posted by jedicus (20 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
Just like a crack dealer. Before you know it ordinary people will be stripping abandoned homes of copper piping and electrical wire to support their reading habits.
posted by srboisvert at 8:38 AM on April 14, 2014 [4 favorites]


In other university press give-away news, Liverpool UP are making all of their journals free during April, right back to the first issue of Town Planning from 1910.
posted by ninebelow at 8:49 AM on April 14, 2014 [1 favorite]


Pfft. The Urban Dictionary has been online for free for years.
posted by Cookiebastard at 8:56 AM on April 14, 2014 [1 favorite]


I'm trying to log into veryshortintroductions.com using the supplied credentials libraryweek/libraryweek and that's not working. "User name or password not found."
posted by LogicalDash at 8:59 AM on April 14, 2014 [1 favorite]


Hey, I went to the Very Short Intro's first too! And I'm getting the same error (on both FireFox and Chrome). Anybody having any success logging in there?

(I'm trying to read The Apocryphal Gospels: A Very Short Introduction.)
posted by benito.strauss at 9:02 AM on April 14, 2014


Yale UP also fails.
posted by ocschwar at 9:04 AM on April 14, 2014


Same problem with Biographies :(
posted by Garm at 9:06 AM on April 14, 2014


They seem to be having technical difficulties across all of the participating OUP sites. The OUP Library Week site says "If you have questions or experience any technical difficulties please contact us at library.marketing@oup.com", so I did.
posted by jedicus at 9:08 AM on April 14, 2014


The big obstacle, if you are a normal person you just can't get access to a lot of these resources, no matter what, under ordinary circumstances.

I tried recently to ask about a login for the Oxford handbook on Human rights for an article I was writing, My library did not have access. Turns out my only option was to spend £130 for the printed volumes - crazy.

I know things like libgen.org are bundled under the same "piracy" banner as tpb etc - but I do think they serve a different purpose. Much of the stuff on those kind of sites it is simply impossible to get access to as a private citizen without spending hundreds or thousands, indeed universities treat you with suspicion if you ask for it!
posted by Another Fine Product From The Nonsense Factory at 9:15 AM on April 14, 2014 [2 favorites]


The OED let me log in. Still no final word on the etymology of copacetic, though.
posted by Iridic at 9:15 AM on April 14, 2014


The big obstacle, if you are a normal person you just can't get access to a lot of these resources, no matter what, under ordinary circumstances

I've heard it's possible, in an emergency situation, to ask a librarian who does have access for what you might call a bit of parainstitutional ILL. Just something I've heard.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 9:54 AM on April 14, 2014 [1 favorite]


But if anyone asks, you didn't hear it here.
posted by ocschwar at 10:05 AM on April 14, 2014


Very Short Introductions seems to be working now.
posted by Iridic at 11:14 AM on April 14, 2014 [2 favorites]


The big obstacle, if you are a normal person you just can't get access to a lot of these resources, no matter what, under ordinary circumstances

There are a lot of uni/college libraries that lend a lot (print items, scans) to public library users-- it really doesn't hurt to ask what the policies are for ILL in your area or if any local smaller colleges have open stacks to the public!
posted by jetlagaddict at 11:27 AM on April 14, 2014 [1 favorite]


I tried a few other sites (Oxford History of Western Music, Oxford Art Online, Oxford Music Online), and they seem to be working as well.
posted by jedicus at 11:29 AM on April 14, 2014


Thanks for the updates - working for me now.
posted by benito.strauss at 1:34 PM on April 14, 2014


But I already have more stuff to read than I do time to read it!
posted by Jahaza at 1:39 PM on April 14, 2014 [3 favorites]


Just as a PSA announcement: Check with your local library. I have free online access to the OED all the time through my membership in the San Francisco Public Library. I'm not sure about the other resources.
posted by trip and a half at 3:12 PM on April 14, 2014


This is GLORIOUS!

It feels like the day I discovered Napster.
posted by cacofonie at 7:22 PM on April 14, 2014 [1 favorite]


*logs into Very Short Introductions website*

*whispers to self* I have a PDF writer and I know how to use it.

*valiantly strives to resist temptation*

It's okay for personal use, right? Right? I'm just going to tell myself that. Ahem.
posted by cardinality at 9:46 PM on April 15, 2014


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