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Samuel Johnson: A Dictionary of the English Language

I. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF STRUCTURE AND CONTENT:

The Samuel Johnson: A Dictionary of the English Language CD-ROM compiles both the first and fourth editions of Johnson's massive lexicographical work. It displays the transcription as well as the page images of the dictionary. The data base is fully searchable.

II. STARTING UP JOHNSON'S ENGLISH DICTIONARY:

Place the CD-ROM in the computer's CD carrier by pressing the button below and to the right of it. Click and hold on Start, Programs, Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Dyna Text Reader as the menus open for you. The program should load automatically. If you have any difficulties, please ask a staff member for assistance.

III. USING JOHNSON'S ENGLISH DICTIONARY:

The Transcription: You can look at or work with either the transcription of the Dictionary or the actual page images. If you want to look up a word, click on the small box with the plus sign in it (located to the left of The Transcription in the left frame). All of the letters of the alphabet will appear in a column. Then:

  • Click on the box to the left of any of the alphabetized letters and a group of two-letter prefixes will appear to help you make a more specific selection. (Note: if you click on the letter itself, the right screen will display the first entry for that letter.)

  • Click on one of the two-letter reference letter groups and a list of three-letter reference letter groups will appear. Click on one of them and a full list of words beginning with those three letters will appear. (Note: As long as a + sign appears in the small box at the left of the reference letters, you can still move one level lower; a - sign means that you are at the lowest nested level.) Click on one of the three-letter reference letter groups and a list of words will be displayed. Click on one of the words and it will be displayed, along with its definition and other lexicographical information, in the right frame. (Note: if at any time you don't want to continue through the nesting structure, simply click on the letters rather than on the small +/- box.

The Images: Click on The Images in the left frame. Then choose by clicking on either First Edition or Fourth Edition. Now in the right frame you will see a column of lines, each of which contains a small red box and a word group (for example, ABATEMENT-ABDUCTOR).

  • If you want to view the page image, double-click on the red box to the left of the word group. You can close the page image and return to the word column by double-clicking on the small blue-and-gray icon located in the upper left corner (just below the flashlight icon on the button bar).

  • If you want to view the transcribed text, click on one of the alphabetized word groups (located to the right of its red box) in the column. Once you have opened a page image, you can close it by double-clicking on the small blue-and-gray box located in the upper left corner (just below the books icon on the button bar).

  • If you want to zoom in on any part of an image, draw a box around it by clicking and holding down the mouse button. You may continue to enlarge the selected area several times.

Other Features: Following are a few features that you may or may not have noticed while perusing the Dictionary:

  • The Right Frame: Two distinguishing features in the right frame on your screen are the Roman numerals (left) and the small red boxes (right). The Roman numerals I and IV next to the words in the word list simply denote the two editions of Johnson's dictionary. The small red boxes to the right of every word are links to page images. Double-click on one of these boxes to call up a page. You can return to the word list by double-clicking on the small blue-and-gray box located in the upper left corner (just below the books icon on the button bar).

  • Find: Notice the Find box at the bottom of the screen. If you want to search for every occurrence of a particular word (or phrase of up to 10 words) in the Dictionary, type it in the Find box. The target word or phrase will be highlighted in the right frame. You can look at your various hits by clicking on the left (back) or right (forward) arrows on the button bar. (Note: If the Find box doesn't appear at the bottom of the screen, go to Book and then Search Panel on the menu bar. Highlight Search Panel to toggle Find on and off.) Common words are not searchable. If you attempt to Find one, you will get a message telling you that the word is on the Stop List, which is a list of words not tracked by the search engine.

  • Help: On the menu bar, click on Help and then Reader Guide. Here you can learn more about the more sophisticated features of the program: advanced search and browse, print, annotate, bookmark, etc.

For More Information: For general information about the Dictionary, look at the editorial introduction to the data base. Double-click on the arrow located on the program's introductory page in the right frame (just to the left of the red highlighted text).

IV. EXITING JOHNSON'S ENGLISH DICTIONARY AND REMOVING THE CD-ROM:

When you are ready to exit the program, simply click on File and then Exit. Then remove the CD-ROM from the CD carrier by pressing the button below and to the right of the tray. Please place the CD back in its case and return it to an Etext staffer.