Policy Question: Oxford Electronic EncyclopediaRound 2
To: jane.gardner@oup.com
Dear Ms. Gardner,
Thank you for your prompt reply to my email inquiry. Allow me to supply you with the information you have requested.
1) For the German dictionary referred to in my original email, here is the following reference:
The Consise (sic) Oxford-Duden German Dictionary © Oxford University Press and Bibliographisches Institut & F.A. Brockhaus 1991, 1997, 1998 [This is the reference from my computer source. Jane somebody at iFinger might want to clean up the spelling for "concise!" At the iFinger tab when you right click in the corner and then at the dictionary icon double-click on the second of the two German dictionary icons, the spelling there is "consise"] Anyway, at iFinger downloads,http://www.ifinger.com/registration/userdownloads.asp
I found a reference to this dictionary and there "concise" is spelled correctly:
The Concise Oxford German Dictionary
English-German/German-English With over 150,000 words and phrases, and 250,000 translations, The Concise Oxford German Dictionary is one of the leading intermediate English-German/German-English dictionaries.
However the more important devil in the detail at this point is the lack of an entry for Croatia/Kroatien (refer back to original email).
2) With respect to the encyclopedia, that product was purchased here in New York and downloaded into my computer. It is The Oxford World Encyclopedia © Oxford University Press 1998.
I do not have a URL on this product purchase. I did purchase this at a Barnes & Nobles Bookstore in New York City.
Jane when you research this second issue, namely the idea of a "Serbo-Croatian" culture in Dubrovnik, you might want to speak to your policy person who overlooks content matters especially when it concerns Southeastern Europe and especially the former Yugoslavia. You should ask the following question: why it is that Dubrovnik, an important Croatian port city on the Adriatic, is erroneously contextualized as "Serbo-Croatian"? It isa historic and inappropriate to hyphenate national languages and nationalities this way when describing the historical Dubrovnik. And what's more, especially in light of the most recent past, this is a downright painful issue for many people from that region. But be that as it may, aside from the emotional issues conjured up by this subject, Oxford must have some sort of sophisticated think-tank on hand to handle all these gradations with respect to proper nomenclature for this complex part of the world. I'm truly astounded that your content person would allow an assertion to a "Serbo-Croatian culture" to casually slip right by. Believe me, the premise of my gripe is not rooted in any nationalistic impulse, rather in setting the record straight and shedding more truth on the matter here. Simply put, Dubrovnik is and was a Croatian city and it serves no purpose to allude to a "Serbo-Croatian" connection.
Thank you for your further follow-up with respect to the above two matters, and I do look forward to hearing from you as soon as this topic is carried further. On the whole, I do enjoy your electronic dictionary and reference products and a number of colleagues and friends here in New York are aware of your products; aside from the aforementioned oversights, there is of course much valuable content to be gleaned from these resource tools. This is why I am so concerned that the quality of information is fine-tuned to a level befitting a dictionary or encyclopedia that carries the Oxford imprimatur.
Jane, once again, thanks for your further indulgence in this matter.
Best regards,
Michael Spudic
Forest Hills, New York, USA
