Accessing the OED remotely

By Oxford Languages | OED

Oxford University Press is committed to helping teachers, learners, and academics during this time of a global health crisis.  Given the recent college and university closures, we would like to do what we can to support institutions and students adapting to distance learning.

Accessing the OED

Your method of accessing the OED will depend on what your institution has set up for remote authentication.

If you are signing in to OED Online from an institution which has a subscription, or if your institution uses a referring URL system, you should enter the site automatically. The most usual methods of access are listed below:

Via a library

Many public, university, and institutional libraries across the world subscribe to the OED Online, and nearly all public libraries in England, Scotland, and Wales subscribe. This means you can access the dictionary, free, via your local library. Please speak to your librarian to find out whether your library subscribes.

Most libraries offer remote access. This means that, if you are a member of your local library, you can access the OED Online for free anywhere you have internet access. Just enter your library membership number (on your library card) in the box provided on the OED homepage under Library account. If you encounter difficulties entering the site using your library card number, please consult your librarian.

If your library doesn’t subscribe, does your librarian know about our free trials?

Via Athens

If your institution uses Eduserv’s Athens service, follow the link to sign in via your institution to reach your Athens sign in area.

Via Shibboleth

If your institution uses Shibboleth to access its resources, follow the link to sign in via your institution, select your institution from the dropdown list, and then enter your details within your institution’s sign in area.

If you are having difficulty accessing the OED

If you are a student

If you are unable to access the OED at this time, please contact your librarian for instructions.

If you are a librarian

Librarians in the US, please contact online@oup.com if you have not already set up remote authentification.

Librarians in the UK and the rest of the world, we encourage you to get in touch with your OUP account representative. If you are not certain of your representative, please visit this page. With the exception of those marked as ‘Consortia’ managers, the representatives on this page are all able to help with OED institutional subscriptions for their specific regions.

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