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New additions to the Oxford DNB -- including a new featured essay by
Frank Prochaska.<br><br>
-Sue<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""> <h2><b>New Lives added in
January 2006</b></h2><br><br>
The 202 new biographies capture the diversity of recent British history :
from royalty to comedy, scientific discovery to leisure time, and theatre
to business enterprise. New lives include:
<ul>
<li>Royalty: detailed biographies of
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/76927">Queen Elizabeth the
queen mother </a>and her daughter
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/76713">Princess Margaret
</a>
<li>Comedy and entertainment: the inclusion of
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/76715">Spike Milligan</a>
now completes the dictionary's coverage of The Goons; an entry on
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/76775">Dudley Moore</a>
reunites him with
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/59802?docpos=3">Peter
Cook</a> (d.1995), recreating one of the best-known comedy double acts of
the 1960s and 70s.
<li>Science: the new release recalls an age of scientific excellence with
four Nobel prize winners: the chemists
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/77176">Archer
Martin</a>,<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/61414"> Max
Perutz</a> and
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/77183?docPos=3">George
Porter</a>, and the molecular
biologist,<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/76774"> Cesar
Milstein</a>.
<li>Theatre and film:
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/76933">John Thaw</a> ,
best known for his role as the Oxford-based sleuth, Inspector Morse; plus
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/77336?docPos=3">Richard
Harris</a> whose career ranged from King Arthur to Professor Dumbledore
in the Harry Potter films. Other new lives include the directors
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/77256?docPos=3">Joan
Littlewood </a>and
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/77405?docPos=3">Karel
Reisz</a> (best known for the film version of Saturday Night and Sunday
Morning).
<li>New musical lives show the diverse and changing tastes of post-war
Britain: from 'king of skiffle'
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/77381">Lonnie Donegan</a>
and novelty folk singer
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/88712?docpos=3">Jake
Thackray</a> to The Who's
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/76977?docpos=3">John
Entwistle</a> and
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/88710?docpos=3">Joe
Strummer</a> of The Clash.
<li>Business entrepreneurs include
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/76700?docPos=3">De
Haan</a>, creator of Saga Holidays; the industrialist
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/77068">Arnold
Weinstock</a> who built GEC into one of Britain's most successful
companies;
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/76712?docpos=3">Erna
Low</a>, pioneer of the package ski
tour;<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/77327?docpos=3"> Sam
Alper</a>, caravan manufacturer and creator of the Little Chef restaurant
chain, and
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/76925?docpos=3">Gerald
Whent</a> who, as chief executive of Vodafone, was a key player in the
early stages of the mobile phone revolution.
<li>Shapers of the 1960s: many of our new lives were figures who define
the Sixties: football
commentator<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/76796"> Kenneth
Wolstenholme</a> (of 'Some people are on the pitch ' fame), the
sociologist
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/76682?docpos=3">Michael
Young</a>, a leading figure in the new Open University, and, of course,
the firebrand Labour politician,
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/76877?docpos=3">Barbara
Castle</a>.
</ul><br>
<h2><b>New Themes for reference and research</b></h2><br><br>
The January update also includes new feature essays in the 'Themes' area
- the Oxford DNB's online companion guide to British history. New
features include essays by:
<ul>
<li>Frank Prochaska on
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/theme/94910">'The monarchy and
charity' </a>
<li>Douglas Gray on
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/theme/94766">'Geoffrey Chaucer and
vernacular literature' </a>
<li>Anita McConnell on
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/theme/92750">'Scientific
instrument makers, c.1300-1945' </a>
<li>Geraint H Jenkins on
<a href="http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/theme/93796">'Iolo Morganwg,
"Bard of Liberty"' </a>
</ul><br>
<h2><b>New website features</b></h2><br><br>
We've added <b>10,000 links from Oxford DNB biographies</b> to the
personal records in the <b>National Portrait Gallery's</b> online
catalogue. The NPG catalogue is free, and illustrated, so you can use the
link at the left of the Oxford DNB biography to go straight to the NPG's
likenesses of that person.
<ul>
<li>Users can now add a <b>'Search the Oxford DNB'</b> button to their
browser's toolbar. It's as easy to install as adding a bookmark. Once
you've installed it, you can highlight a name on any web page, click the
button, and you'll run a search for that person in the Oxford DNB.
<li>We're also providing a small <b>'Search the Oxford DNB'</b> box,
which subscribers can add to their own web pages. Now you can make the
Oxford DNB <b>accessible from anywhere within your web site.</b>
Librarians might want to add it to a reference databases page; tutors
might add it to a reading list.
<li>Both the button for the toolbar and the search box are available at
<a href="http://www.oup.com/oxforddnb/subscribers/customize/">
http://www.oup.com/oxforddnb/subscribers/customize/</a>
</ul><br>
<b>From January 2006, the Oxford DNB includes 50,731 articles in which
are told the life stories of 55,557 people, from the earliest times to
2002.<br>
</b><br>
Don't forget you can sign up for '<b>Life of the Day</b>' and have a new
biography delivered daily to your mail box.<br><br>
<a href="http://www.oup.com/oxforddnb/info/freeodnb/">
http://www.oup.com/oxforddnb/info/freeodnb/</a><br><br>
<h2><b>Spread the word about the Oxford DNB...</b></h2><br><br>
To help you alert your users to the availability of the Oxford DNB, we
would be delighted to send you posters. Simply email
<a href="mailto:oxfordonline@oup.com">oxfordonline@oup.com</a> and let us
know how many you would like, and we'll send them to you straight away.
We would also be pleased to send you a Powerpoint tutorial and
promotional film on CD ROM.<br><br>
FREE 30-DAY TRIALS OF OTHER OXFORD ONLINE RESOURCES...<br><br>
Why not try one of Oxford's other acclaimed resources? A full list is
available at
<a href="http://www.oxfordonline.com">www.oxfordonline.com</a> and you
can request a free trial at
<a href="http://www.oxfordonline.com/freetrials">
http://www.oxfordonline.com/freetrials</a><br><br>
Please don't hesitate to contact us at
<a href="mailto:oxfordonline@oup.com">oxfordonline@oup.com</a> if you
need any further information.<br><br>
Best wishes,<br><br>
Rebecca Seger<br>
Sales and Marketing Director, Oxford Online<br>
<a href="http://www.oxfordonline.com">www.oxfordonline.com</a>
</blockquote>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Suzanne Lorimer<br>
Coordinator of Research Services<br>
Research Services and Collections Department<br>
226 Sterling Memorial Library, Yale University<br>
P.O. Box 208240<br>
130 Wall Street<br>
New Haven, CT 06520-8240<br>
(phone) 203-432-8371 (fax) 203-432-8527<br>
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