Oxford DNB wins International Information Industry Award

The online edition of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography has won the Best User Experience Award at the third annual International Information Industry Awards.

Sir Trevor MacDonald presented the Award to Rupert Mann, the dictionary's Electronic Publication Manager, and Susanna Lob, Oxford University Press's Sales and Marketing Director for Online Products, on Wednesday 30 November at a ceremony at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London.

The online edition of the Oxford DNB is updated three times a year. Normally a subscription site, it celebrated its first anniversary on 23 September 2005 with an open access weekend, during which thousands of readers used it for free. The next online update will be published on 5 January 2006

Reviewers of the online edition of the Oxford DNB have been enthusiastic. Jeremy Paxman was quoted as saying,

'I would dearly love to possess the new [printed] edition of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. But I can find out about someone a whole lot more quickly through its online subscription service.

And the Sunday Times Doors (internet) section said,

'The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is a miracle: a towering work of reference containing more than 50,000 acute and riveting pen portraits of remarkable people connect to the British Isles.'

Robert Faber, Project Director of the Oxford DNB, says:

'It's a great honour to be chosen by the IIIA among such a strong field. We've always aimed to present top-quality scholarship in the most accessible form. The award recognizes the sheer usability of our new online edition, which has hugely extended access to all the fascinating life stories it contains, and made it easy for readers everywhere to find what interests them.'