1. WISER: learning a language Lucile Deslignères Librarian, Language Centre librarian@lang.ox.ac.uk Johanneke Sytsema Linguistics Subject Consultant Johanneke.sytsema@ouls.ox.ac.uk

2. ?!?!?! “Longtemps, je me suis couché de bonne heure » (for a long time I used to go to bed early) A long time, I lay down early Oud, vroeg bepaal ik Vieux, je détermine tôt (Old man, I determine early) http://uk.babelfish.yahoo.com

3. Aims At the end of the session you should be able to: find relevant language learning material in the Oxford University domain (SOLO/OXLIP+) and on the internet

4. Finding Searching: know what you are looking for. Thinking about relevant keywords, especially with search engines Browsing: discover what’s on the shelves. Browsing through relevant subject headings in catalogues/gateways

5. SOLO Searching: Simple and Advanced search Browsing: put language in subject box + Language Centre Library/library of choice Please note: only 30% of the LC library is catalogued on OLIS so far so use the card index or browse our shelves Video guide to searching at http://languagelibraryatoxford.blogspot.com

6. OXLIP+ For advanced levels: which database? Browse by subject, name, cross-search (as a starter), use the "i" button for info about coverage of the database Search if you know the name For Dictionaries Oxford Reference Online or CREDO

7. Online Dictionaries (1) Use trusted dictionaries from OxLip+ rather than free online dictionaries Oxford Reference Online –English Thesaurus for definitions –Oxford Bilingual Dictionaries (French, German, Italian, Irish, Spanish, Welsh) for translations –Select Bilingual Dictionaries, advanced search, select required dictionary –The Encyclopedia may also help to find definitions

8. Online Dictionaries (2) CREDO Reference Collins Dictionaries French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish Use Advanced Search, select Subject > bilingual dictionaries > one of the dictionaries Finds search terms in headings and descriptions unless box ‘search headings only’ is ticked OED Oxford English Dictionary the authority on English language Meaning + etymology

9. Online Dictionaries (3) Free online dictionaries www.lexicool.com Over 4000 dictionaries, quality may vary!www.lexicool.com http://bubl.ac.uk

10. OXLIP+ News NexisUK for Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish. Search by keyword in the language Factiva browse the news from Bulgarian to Turkish (in 23 languages) News just in Chinese? Japanese? Russian? Browse by subject in OxLIP+ and get help from Subject Consultants http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/libraries/subjects

11. e-books Project Gutenberg: has audio books in Chinese, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Spanish www.gutenberg.org Google books: do choose the corresponding Google site for languages other than English http://books.google.com/books The online Books Page http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/ English mostly but foreign material too

12. Searching the web Blind Search compares between Google, Yahoo and Bing http://blindsearch.fejus.com http://blindsearch.fejus.com Google but which one? Be cautious with the Language Search facilities Advanced searches: site search.ac.uk and.edu for EFL, exact title search etc…

13. Browsing the web GATEWAYS: BUBL http://bubl.ac.ukhttp://bubl.ac.uk SITES: As a starter: Omniglot http://www.omniglot.comhttp://www.omniglot.com and Wikipedia http://www.wikipedia.orghttp://www.wikipedia.org For learning: BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/languageshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/languages for English: STELLA www.arts.gla.ac.uk/STELLAwww.arts.gla.ac.uk/STELLA for less commonly taught languages UCLA http://www.lmp.ucla.edu

14. Language Centres AULC: Cambridge Language Centre, King’s College London… and many others… www.aulc.orgwww.aulc.org Oxford University Language Centre www.lang.ox.ac.uk Language links: individual, multilingual Language Exchange Programmes WebLearn: Chinese, French, German pages

15. Start-up page http://www.netvibes.com/languagelibrary Google i-reader http://www.google.com/ig Netvibes http://www.netvibes.com/privatepage/1#MyRussianPage

16. Other ways… MIT open course: Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish Mobile phone “aps” Facebook groups Twitter Blogs E-books http://www.netvibes.com/ebooksjonhttp://www.netvibes.com/ebooksjon

17. Where to go from here WISER sessions of interest: www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/services/training SOLO and OxLIP+ Finding quality information on the internet Session organised by your Language Subject Consultant: Arabic, French, Russian etc… Key News Resources Getting information to come to you

18. Reference Bradley, Phil, Internet Q&A in Library & Information Update, p.22, Sept 09 for http://blindsearch.fejus.comhttp://blindsearch.fejus.com http://socialouls.wetpaint.comhttp://socialouls.wetpaint.com for help on RSS feeds Andrews, Jonathan, e-books and more! http://www.netvibes.com/ebooksjonhttp://www.netvibes.com/ebooksjon for more information on e-books readers WISER presentation archives http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/services/training/wiser ©Oxford University Language Centre and Oxford University Library Services