THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY asks for assistance from historians throughout the world.

John Simpson, chief editor of the OED, is asking historians for help in the twenty-year revision project. He invites scholars to draw lexicographers' attention to any information discovered in the course of their research that might add to or impove an OED entry. The Oxford English Dictionary will be accessible online from March 2000. For more information now please visit http://www.oed.com; e-mail: words@oed.com

AN AUGUSTINE BAKER CELEBRATION CONFERENCE will take place from 2 p.m. on Tuesday 9 May to 4 p.m. on Wednesday 10 May 2000.

Further details may be obtained from: Baker 2000 Conference, Three Peaks Press, 9 Croesonen Road, Abergavenny NP7 6AE. Tel. 01873-853260; e-mail: baker@p3p.org

The Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (HMC) in its annual Accessions to Repositories exercise collects information relating to manuscript accessions from over 200 repositories and record offices throughout the British Isles. This information is then edited and used to produce a number of thematic digests which are distributed for publication in a wide range of learned journals and news sheets, as well as being published in full on the Commission's website (http://www.hmc.gov.uk). It is also added to the computerised indices to the National Register of Archives (NRA), which the Commission maintains as a central collecting point for information concerning the location of manuscript sources for British history outside of the public records. The NRA, which includes over 42,000 unpublished lists of archives, can be consulted in our public search room at Quality House, Quality Court, Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1HP, whilst the indices to the NRA are also available via the HMC website. The Commission's staff will also answer limited and specific enquiries by post, fax (0171 831 3550) and e-mail: nra@hmc.gov.uk.

Readers should note that dates for records in this digest are given when known, but that these are covering dates which are not intended to necessarily indicate the presence of records for all intervening years. Records have been included in the digest regardless of whether the deposit has yet been fully listed, and readers are advised to check with the staff of the relevant repository as to whether this, or any other factors, may prohibit availability for research.