The former chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary will next week discuss paper versus electronic dictionaries.

Chief editor from 1993 to 2013, John Simpson presided over a major programme of change from the print version of the OED to electronic and online formats.

His visit will coincide with the development of a Maltese online dictionary. Prof. Simpson’s public talks, organised by the university’s Department of Maltese and the Kunsill Nazzjonali tal-Ilsien Malti, will be held free of charge from 6.30pm to 8pm at Dar l-Ewropa, Valletta, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The first, ‘The OED: a short history of an institution’, will be followed by ‘From paper to electronic dictionaries: is it merely a change of media?’ on Wednesday. Friday’s will be ‘A new dictionary of Maltese: what are the issues?’

Prof. Simpson joined the OED team in 1976 and edited works including the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs (1982) and the Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang (1992).

He has also acted as an adviser to a number of other national dictionaries.

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