Internet resources: Oxford bibliographies online launched

After many months of anticipation, the first-of-its-kind Oxford Bibliographies Online (OBO) officially launched on April, 19 with four subject modules: classics, criminology, Islamic studies, and social work.

Described by its publisher, Oxford University Press, as a series of “ultimate reading lists” or a virtual "guided tour through the key literature," OBO crosses the line between encyclopedia and traditional bibliography, providing students, professors, and librarians a package of 50 to 100 of the highest quality, most influential works to date in specific academic fields, via "a hierarchical body of interwoven entries."

Authors of the project see it as the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) of the 21st century. Their challenge was to build a resource that would guide scholarly research through the growing mass of unqualified academic input, offering selective annotated research paths that are insightful, increase productivity, save time, and raise the level of quality in new scholarship. The works selected for each collection have undergone rigorous scholarly review by a panel of subject experts and an editor-in-chief; each article is signed and includes a citation and link to full text.