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Oxford Writer’s Shelf Software from Oxford University Press, Pounds
sterling 75. The package includes the program discs and an A5 manual Wendy
Grossman

Oxford University Press has moved into the computer age with its release
of the complete OED on CD-ROM and the Oxford Writer’s Shelf software package,
a set of four language reference books.

You’ll need to have 5 megabytes of spare hard disc space to install
the set of books. These are: the Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors;
the Oxford Minidictionary; the Oxford Miniguide to English Usage; and the
Oxford Minidictionary of Quotations. Installation is straightforward, and
a simple set of three utilities lets you choose the hot-key that calls up
the program, the screen colours and the speed at which data is transferred
into your word processor (you’ll have to do some configuring if you’re running
Windows). To insert a quotation, for example, call up the program, find
the quotation you want, and hit ‘Export’. Jump and search options make it
a fast and painless operation.

Oxford is planning to follow up the Writer’s Shelf with software versions
of its science and computing dictionaries.