Introduction to the online edition

The Oxford DNB in September 2004

The Oxford DNB aims to provide full, accurate, concise, and readable articles, based on current scholarship, on noteworthy people from all walks of life who have left their mark on British history. No living person is included in the dictionary. In September 2004 the Oxford DNB comprised 50,113 substantive articles telling the life stories of 54,922 individuals from the earliest times to the end of the year 2000.

The dictionary includes people who were born and lived in the British Isles; people from the British Isles who achieved recognition in other countries; people who lived in territories formerly connected to the British Isles at a time when they were in contact with British rule; and people born elsewhere who settled in the British Isles for significant periods or whose visits enabled them to leave a mark on British life. The dictionary treats the nation very broadly: its earliest subjects lived long before the nation state existed; its geographical range extends to all the changing national entities that have combined in varied ways at different stages to form Britain; and its coverage extends beyond the British Isles to consider subjects from imperial and commonwealth history.

The Oxford DNB builds on the Dictionary of National Biography, which was begun in 1882 under the editorship of Leslie Stephen, completed in 1900, and supplemented by later volumes which brought in people who died between 1901 and 1990. All people included in the first DNB and its supplements keep their place in the Oxford DNB, with the majority of articles being rewritten completely in the light of advancing knowledge and scholarship; the remaining articles have been revised. In September 2004, the Oxford DNB included 38,607 people who appeared in the first DNB. To this the new dictionary added a further 16,315 biographies to produce the final complement of 54,922 lives in 50,113 substantive articles. About one in five of these entries is accompanied by an image of the person who is the subject of the article. Selection of the 10,057 likenesses was organized in partnership with the National Portrait Gallery, drawing on its collection and other sources worldwide. Further details of the history and aims of the dictionary (1992–2004) are available in the Introduction to the Oxford DNB, September 2004.

The Oxford DNB online

As published in September 2004 the online version of the Oxford DNB made available exactly the same content as the print edition. Like the print edition the online dictionary can be read, browsed, and enjoyed as a record of human endeavour and achievement, and also eccentricity, organized biographically.

But the Oxford DNB online is also a powerful and versatile research tool for historical enquiry of diverse types. Online the dictionary may be searched in many ways, most obviously to find individual dictionary subjects by whatever names they were known. The 'people search' facility enables readers to find subjects, where records exist, who lived in specific periods or who were associated with a particular place (from country down to street) as well as by occupation and religious affiliation. 'Full text search' locates mention of specific people, institutions, events, places, and creative works in all articles across the dictionary. 'References search' restricts enquiries to the ancillary information (sources, archives, likenesses, and wealth at death) which accompanies each article text, while 'image search' enables readers to study the portraits reproduced in the Oxford DNB. Finally 'contributor search' identifies those who have written for the Oxford DNB, including contributors to the first DNB where they remain as signatories of articles revised for the new dictionary. Acknowledging the Oxford DNB's development from its Victorian predecessor, the online edition also reproduces the earlier articles as published in the first DNB.

The Oxford DNB online also allows for additions to the dictionary's existing coverage. From 2005 the online edition is being updated and extended in three issues of new material each year, timed for January, May, and October. In January each year a release will extend the dictionary's coverage by a further year in the twenty-first century, by adding approximately 200 new articles on notable people who died in that year (so, for example, those who died in 2001 appeared in January 2005; those who died in 2002 were published in January 2006). New coverage is in proportion to the number of lives previously included in the dictionary and their distribution over time. The dictionary will also continue to add articles on people from the earliest times to 2000 whose claims for inclusion may not have been clear to previous generations, or who may have been overlooked in earlier research. From May 2005 the online edition has also included corrections and additions, keeping the dictionary in step with new scholarship.

To assist readers in the use and interpretation of the dictionary we also publish a range of reference materials in the Themes area of the online edition. As a publication of record, the Oxford DNB online includes 'reference lists' of notable figures in British history, including holders of the high offices of state, leading ministers of religion, award winners, and leaders in various branches of public life. From October 2005 we also publish articles on 'reference groups'. These look at established historical groups—individuals who came together for political, literary, artistic, military, religious, and other purposes—to demonstrate connections between lives and to explore common endeavours and projects among notable figures in British history. Finally, the themes area includes 'feature essays'. These discuss topical subjects of general historical interest (for example anniversaries, places, or research themes), showing how issues may be traced through the lives of dictionary subjects.

The online version of the Oxford DNB is, therefore, a living and evolving resource. It provides, and develops, an authoritative record of noteworthy people from all walks of national life by the dictionary's continuing collaboration with a worldwide community of contributors, advisers, and readers. To this the online edition adds material of different types—factual, analytical, and illustrative—to assist in the study and understanding of British history in and through its pages.

Lawrence Goldman, editor

The Oxford DNB online from October 2008

The October 2008 update adds the biographies of 125 men and women active between the twelfth and twenty-first century. These lives are included in 99 new articles. It brings the total number of Oxford DNB entries to 51,713, telling the life stories of 56,646 individuals. In this new release 19 subjects are women, bringing the dictionary's complement of female lives to 5969: that is 10 per cent of all lives and 28 per cent of first-time entrants to the Oxford DNB across all periods.

Sixteen articles published in October 2008 include a portrait illustration, increasing the number of images of subjects in the Oxford DNB to 10,463. Thirty-nine contributors to this release are first-time writers for the dictionary, with the total number of authors (including contributors to the first DNB where they remain as signatories of revised entries) now being 13,104. The October 2008 update also adds 21 'reference group' articles on well-known groups, clubs, and associations in British history. This brings to 230 the total number of group essays now available in the Themes area of the dictionary.

> Preface to online release, October 2008
> Latest update, October 2008
> Introduction to the Oxford DNB