OED in Modern Times

As a book, I was not overly fond of The Professor and the Madman. But, I was fascinated to learn about how the Oxford English Dictionary was actually painstakingly produced.

“A thousand readers are wanted,” Murray announced in his famous 1879 public appeal. “The later 16th-century literature is very fairly done; yet here several books remain to be read. The 17th century, with so many more writers, naturally shows still more unexplored territory.” He considered the territory to be large, but ultimately finite.

It no longer seems finite.

This update in the NYTimes magazine was interesting as well. It seems they are on the letter P now, having started the latest version on M. Just like in the old days, you can contribute. However,

“Please note,” the O.E.D.’s Web site warns solemnly, “it is generally safe to assume that examples found by searching the Web, using search engines such as Google, will have already been considered by O.E.D. editors.”

What, we would have to resort to reading books to contribute?!?!