Collins and xrefer form partnership to aid language learning in schools and at home

Citation

Blake, M. (2004), "Collins and xrefer form partnership to aid language learning in schools and at home", The Electronic Library, Vol. 22 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/el.2004.26322bab.022

Collins and xrefer form partnership to aid language learning in schools and at home

Collins publishers and xrefer have announced that six Collins bilingual dictionaries – French, German, Italian, Spanish, Latin and Portuguese – are now available online in fully searchable format in the xreferplus reference service.

In 2001 the European Parliament announced that while half of all other Europeans speak a second language, only a third of people in the UK can do so. On the back of this announcement, both xrefer and Collins publishers have been exploring ways of making language learning more accessible to everybody. With recent changes in the UK National Curriculum making language learning non-compulsory there are fears that language learning in the UK could deteriorate further. Collins and xrefer hope that this new partnership will help those already interested in languages and engage the interests of those who are not currently studying one.

The inclusion of the Collins bilingual dictionaries in xrefer’s online reference library means that a large proportion of the UK population (30 percent) will now have access to these dictionaries online 24/7 at home as well as in the library. With around a third of all UK public libraries and a growing number of colleges and schools subscribing to xreferplus, this collaboration will ensure that all language students and researchers will be able to get access to the full content of the Collins bilingual dictionaries to help them with their studies whenever and wherever they need to.

Catherine Love of Collins Dictionaries said of this partnership: “We are delighted that our bilingual dictionaries will now be available to such a large part of the UK population through xreferplus. Wider dissemination of these reference titles will help to facilitate and encourage foreign language learning in our schools and colleges.”