For Future Reference

The brand new Oxford Islamic Studies Online (OISO) database from Oxford University Press is thoroughly impressive. Editor in chief John L. Esposito states in his online "Letter from the Editor" that the resource is "solely dedicated to the study of the Islamic world, the dissemination of current scholarship on Islam, and the promotion of global understanding of the facts of Islamic history and the tenets of Islam." I'll say! OISO contains more than 3000 A-to-Z entries, entire chapters and passages from the Qur'an and other texts, several multivolume works, primary source documents, time lines, numerous graphics, and a ton of other addictive features that entertain as well as inform. "Qur'an Verse Lookup" is a great example of that: you enter chapter and verse numbers and get the Qur'anic passage complete with footnotes, many of which contain links to related passages. Users can choose from two versions of the Qur'an that can be viewed independently, side by side, or in conjunction with an extensive concordance. The "Date Converter" is also pretty neat: here you learn that the Western date "January 1, 2008" translates into the Islamic Tuesday 22 Dhu al-Hijjah 1428 A.H. As with any hot property, OISO has almost too many amenities to list.

Known for its award-winning general and academic reference titles, Berkshire Publishing has found an innovative way to market its products to potential users. For a limited time, the publisher is offering full-text electronic access to some of their best-selling titles in order to showcase their global reference prowess. Just go to www.berkshirepublishing.com to get started. Searching is fast and painless, and each result provides a thumbnail PDF of the full page on which the term is found along with a close-up window highlighting the term as it appears in the text. Clicking on the magnified window brings up a full-size PDF of the actual page, complete with term highlights and laser-quality graphics. A quick search for "Haiti" in the Global Perspectives on the United States yields an easy-to-read map, crisp photographs, and plenty of patron-friendly text. What a great way to experience the quality of Berkshire print titles before purchasing.